beautiful drum!

(oeuflike ? Egg shaped ? )

Have you taken it apart, & given the inside a good look to see if it has been altered ? Here are some possibilities : It started out as a Bass w/ out post guides, & later on, someone rebuilt it the way you have it.

It could also have been cut down from a larger Bass. I worked w/ an old timer who had a drum shop in Hollywood, who told me that some drummers c. 1950's would bring him their large Basses to be cut down to the new smaller diameter sizes. He showed me an example & it was a bit egg shaped. I've seen a Top Hat & Cane that was also cut down.

Or, it just could have been made that way,(as a fluke) ?

My 1938 catalog shows that L&L professional level basses were 26"&28". ..& all the smaller Tango, & Jr. kits

that were 22" & 24" also were much thinner , 6,8,12 ". (BTW, 3402 = Feb 1934)

I have a Radio King that the Pro Drum Shop in Hollywood cut down to a 22" from a larger drum. It's now a 9 lug drum.

My best guess:

I've never seen a double post set-up on a single tension drum before. I'll bet a hundred bucks that the drum had 10 'centered' posts originally that were filled, sanded and painted over. The guy only had nine of the original 10 single tension rods, set the drum up for 9 rods and added extra posts in pairs.

Those double posts are not original... check the inside of the drum for signs of plugs where the original centralized posts were located. There may be some sign of the work.

John

I worked w/ an old timer who had a drum shop in Hollywood, who told me that some drummers c. 1950's would bring him their large Basses to be cut down to the new smaller diameter sizes. He showed me an example & it was a bit egg shaped.

Was it Pop at Drum City on Santa Monica?

Labcoat guy?

I worked w/ Roy Harte at Drum City, in the 90's. I believe 'Pop" was his father, who ran the store decades earlier. Drum city in the 90's had no contracts w/ any brand names, & no commercial inventory. It was basically a playground for Roy to enjoy his last years. It was a center for drum repair, vintage drum sales,& refurbishing, supplying parts & information.

That is when I was there. Decades earlier.

In the 60's with my Dad.

First drum store for both of us.

Pop wore the Dentists type lab coat.

They had a Zalmer twin pedal for sale.

And 1 that went back and forth with 2 beaters in 1 motion.

Hello again good people,

Thank you all very much for your insights, much appreciated. After a bit of further investigation I believe I can announce that the star prize may well be claimed by Mr tdennis. See here the first of several interior photos which would seem to confirm that the drum was at some point re-diameterized ( I made that up):

http://s752.photobucket.com/user/dirtyboppa/media/P1110522_zps983b4a19.jpg.html?sort=6&o=3

http://s752.photobucket.com/user/dirtyboppa/media/P1110525_zps02b15971.jpg.html?sort=6&o=0

Clearly some funny business has gone on! Several sets of fixing holes and a loose ply overlap along with the rather enthusiastic stapling job. Clearly the re-ring has been shortened too. However, further to Mr Purdieshuffle's 100 dollar wager suggestion we have this:

http://s752.photobucket.com/user/dirtyboppa/media/P1110523_zpsbe44a54d.jpg.html?sort=6&o=2

I see no evidence of filled holes from any former centred fixing on any of the lug lines. The badge grommet is nice and tight appearing unmolested. It is a single ply drum, maple by the looks of it, originally black lacquer, then white, then wallpaper. So I have a couple more questions for you all...

Would single ply construction have featured in "budget" lines?

Is it worth fixing up for sale or am I better off parting it out? I should admit at this point I was rather looking forward to a bit of steam and heavy bondage.

Many thanks...

Spart