Update: 1920's Barry Drum Manufacturing Co. Arrived

The Barry snare drum I cited in my 8 December post arrived today. This is a fairly rare snare drum that is historical for a number of reasons. First is in In The great American drums and the companies that made them, 1920-1969 By Harry Cangany Harry states that he had only seen three Barry snare drums. Second, this snare drum is all original and in pristine condition. It also came with a canvas bag that doesn't look a day over one year old like the snare drum itself.

The dimensions are an interesting 2.5" deep (shell) x 13" diameter. I tried a brand new 13" Remo Coated Ambassador head on the batter side and it was a perfect fit. A drum key will not fit the tension rods - this is a function of how close the rod caps are to the hoop (see last photo). Modern drum keys are too thick to fit between the gap.

I prefer playing snare drums I collect, but given the rarity of this one and the pristine condition I am going to relegate it to display only. It is far too nice a specimen to expose to the wear and tear of even casual drum playing.

The rest of the story in pictures:

Shot showing badge

Original head!

Unique Throw-off

Butt Assembly

Bottom View - those gut snares look brand new

Tension rod detail