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1950-55 LEEDY & LUDWIG 5 x 14 “ZEBRA” BROADWAY STANDARD MODEL Last viewed: 3 hours ago

Posts: 1334 Threads: 235

Hi,

I got this drum from Bun E. Carlos at the 2013 Chicago Vintage Drum Show. Bun E. had the only two known Leedy & Ludwig Zebra snare drums, a 4 x 14 Broadway New-Era and a 5 x 14 Broadway Standard. He sold me the 5 x 14 Broadway Standard. The drum was previously owned by Mark Cooper of Coopers Vintage Drums and a special thanks goes to Mark for the additional info on this drum. Bun E. also helped me to authenticate the Zebra finish by giving me a few photos of his Leedy & Ludwig “Salesman Sample” floor tom shell that shows the Zebra finish as one of the samples. Bun E. added this: "The wrap was available to the general public. Aside from your drum, and my 5 drums, I've seen only 2 other Zebra drums, a big bass drum and floor tom on EBay a few years back. Only 8 drums, rarer than an original Triumphal!!!!! Haha!!"...? I love Bun E.’s wry sense of humor.

1950-55 LEEDY & LUDWIG 5 x 14 “ZEBRA” BROADWAY STANDARD MODEL

The Shell:

Mark Cooper told me that the shell was originally painted black when he got the drum. I must commend Mark on the excellent job of removing the black paint and preserving the original Zebra finish. I still had to get my licks in so I did some additional cleaning and polishing. The shell brightened up nicely. The badge is clean with a tight grommet. There were three extra holes, one at the strainer where a P-85 was probably added at one time and two at the butt plate where it looks like a regular butt plate had replaced the original extended butt plate. Fortunately the holes were small (approx. 6-32) and were easily repaired by my good friend Al Schneider (the original Drum Doctor). The white interior shows its age but is in original condition. There was no visible date stamp, it was probably worn away over the years.

The Hardware:

All of the nickel plated hardware was in very good shape and cleaned/polished up nicely. No parts were missing.

I found a nice pair of Leedy & Ludwig logo calf heads that fit perfectly. The drum came with original Leedy & Ludwig logo wires.

The story goes that the Zebra finish was made for The Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. There was an RB B & B Circus advertisement showing a Zebra drumset. I vaguely remember it but I have not been able to locate it. Feel free to weigh in if you know of this advertisement or any other Zebra drums.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto

Posted on 10 years ago
#1
Posts: 1334 Threads: 235

Three more...

Mike Curotto

Posted on 10 years ago
#2
Posts: 10714 Threads: 579

Man that is another way cool snare drum Mike !

Your drummers not much good is he!? What you need is someone that's as good as me. ! John Henry Bonham !!
Posted on 10 years ago
#3
Posts: 168 Threads: 10

Love it, what an individual and interesting finish, imagine a kit in it, crowd stopping

Posted on 10 years ago
#4
Posts: 5356 Threads: 87

Mike very cool drum and history. I found this old message board. The person states they own the Zebra stripe kit. Maybe a lead for you? Post was from 2010 #3359 about 3/4's down the page.

http://www.circushistory.org/Query/Query10d.htm

Glenn.

Not a guru just havin fun with some old dusty drums.
Posted on 10 years ago
#5
Posts: 1334 Threads: 235

From FFR428

Mike very cool drum and history. I found this old message board. The person states they own the Zebra stripe kit. Maybe a lead for you? Post was from 2010 #3359 about 3/4's down the page. http://www.circushistory.org/Query/Query10d.htm

Thanks, that was very helpful.

Mike Curotto

Posted on 10 years ago
#6
Posts: 750 Threads: 69

I wish I had saved the rest of the "before" photos but here is the one I found. When I found this drum, it had five layers of paint (blue and black). I almost removed the wrap because it looked like it was ordinary white pearl. Then I decided to try to see how difficult it would be to remove the paint. I applied citrus stripper and it started to show white pearl but for some reason, there were areas of black that refused to come off. That's when I realized it was something special- an un-catalogued L&L finish! It took about a week but it finally turned out pretty nice. I buffed all of the hardware on a wheel and applied car polish.

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Posted on 10 years ago
#7
Posts: 1334 Threads: 235

From cooper

I wish I had saved the rest of the "before" photos but here is the one I found.

Ah, the rare Blue Zebra finish...LoLoLoLo

Mike Curotto

Posted on 10 years ago
#8
Posts: 1955 Threads: 68

From FFR428

Mike very cool drum and history. I found this old message board. The person states they own the Zebra stripe kit. Maybe a lead for you? Post was from 2010 #3359 about 3/4's down the page. http://www.circushistory.org/Query/Query10d.htm

Glenn,

That might be a good lead for Mike. I looked up the post you referenced, and it was posted by Vik Foxx, drummer for the Veronicas:

[SIZE="2"]"3359. Rex Ronstrom, 23 May 2010 - Hi, my name is Vik Foxx. My great grandfather was a friend of Emmett "Rex" Ronstrom. My great grandfather ended up with his famous leedy/ludwig zebra striped drum set. It was passed down to me and have since become a professional touring and recording drummer. I still own the drums which has the original logo bass drum head that say's Rex Ronstrom on it. My family was part of the vaudeville era that was the connection to Rex. Just wanted to share this information"[/SIZE]

She obviously liked the zebra striped pattern of her great grandfather's set. Here she is with a modern version/copy of the zebra pattern:

[Attachment: 76662]

It appears Vik has the original ultra-rare L&L set sitting in her home or studio. It's amazing the research and info available on this World Wide Web Internet thing. What did we do without it?

Mike

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-No Guru... still learning more every day-
Posted on 10 years ago
#9
Posts: 5356 Threads: 87

Mike that's cool you were able to track that down!! Excellent! Yes hopefully Mike can follow up and get some information. Your right it is amazing the info that's out there.

Glenn.

Not a guru just havin fun with some old dusty drums.
Posted on 10 years ago
#10
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