Insights into Ed can be easily discerned by his demeanor and skill on The Essence of Brushes, an instructional (and performance) DVD that showcased Ed's teaching style as well as him in performance demonstrating techniques.
Here is Ed in action (with sticks):
With Oscar Peterson
Of course, these two books are essential for anyone interested in vintage drums:
Ludwig: The Ludwig Book - A Business History and Dating Guide Book and The Making of a Drum Company: The Autobiography of William E. Ludwig II. Also check out History of The Ludwig Drum Company for purely historical information about the company.
Rogers: The Rogers Book
Slingerland: The Slingerland Book
Leedy: The Complete History Of The Leedy Drum Company
Gretsch: Gretsch Drums: The Legacy of That Great Gretsch Sound
Bruce was many things: a Rogers collector of some renown (Rob Cook devoted a few pages to his collection in The Rogers Book, and an incredible drummer who can be heard on Cathy Sings (his wife is the vocalist on this album.) Bruce's brush playing on the album, in particular, is inspiring to me.
However, Bruce was much more than a drum collector or even a drummer: he was one of those rare spirits who went out of his way to provide advice and guidance to anyone, and who was, well, nice. His [too short] life touched a lot of people, especially those who got to know him on Drum Forum Dot Org, a.k.a. DFO, where Bruce went under the username of Longroll. Do a search of DFO and you will see more than one thread that was a tribute to Bruce's memory, but more importantly, the posts by Bruce himself where his eagerness to impart knowledge and help is manifestly evident.
Here are a few pictures of Bruce and a link to a site in his memory. I, for one, was deeply touched by his approach to life and want to do my part in keeping his memory alive.
In Memoriam: Bruce Wayne Felter.
This is one heavy, great sounding snare drum that is made from the same heavy, two-piece shell as the coveted Ludwig Black Beauty (Leedy apparently sourced these shells from Ludwig.)
The person with whom I traded is a collector, but interestingly, his percussionist daughter has quite a collection of Barry snare drums, so the one I traded is going to a good home. I believe we are both happy with the deal. I was never going to play the Barry because it had original heads that I did not want to mar, but this Leedy is definitely a snare drum I will play (and have more than a few hours on her already.)
It came with the original cable snare assembly, but I also received a set of specially made Puresound wires that I can swap in for a more modern sound. I like it as is, though, so will set the Puresounds aside. It also came with a weathered and beaten original bag, but as ratty as it looks, that is the drum's home. I will be getting a hard case to store the drum inside the original bag.
First, there is virtually no difference between this snare drum and a Worldmax Dawg except the Ludwig engraving. The S9 strainer is identical to the Dawg, the bearing edges and the seam look to be near identical, and even the vent behind the strainer is the same.
What is different, besides the laser engraving and the 100th Anniversary batter head, is the snares that ship with this appear to be the high-end Worldmax German steel variety instead of the very low end wires that shipped with my Dawg.
Oh, and the die cast hoops that came with the 100th Anniversary model are interesting. They are thinner and lighter than Ludwig's regular die cast hoops and - amazingly - are stick chopper style. I swapped the Ludwig hoops to my Worldmax Pup (the 4x14 model) and put the Pup's single flanged hoops with clips on the Black Magic. I also swapped out the 100th Anniversary head for a Remo Skyntone I had laying around so I can preserve the special anniversary head in case I ever want to sell the Black Magic.
She tunes up beautifully, and the brass shell on this baby makes her sing.
