I just acquired a towers snare with a very low number...594.
It is completely original with the original heads/snares etc.
The one thing that amazed me is that it came with TALL BOY Hoops.
Again in perfect condition. It has a mahagony finish
two questions...
1-Was this drum made in the last 50's or very early 60's
2-What is its value
What type of lugs (Bread n Butter or Beavertail)?
What type of strainer/throw-off (Sta-Tite or the basic type)?
What size is the drum?
These are nice 8 lug snares that used the same shells as the rest of their snare drums. The price point for the Tower ($72) was with the strainer and the number of lugs. Change it to a Clockface strainer and you get the Holiday at a higher cost ($17 more). Keep the strainer, but make it a 6 lug drum and you get the Luxor at a lower cost ($13 less). These are the prices from the 1962 catalog.
I have a Silver Sparkle Luxor and found the sweet tuning spot/heads/wires combination. It sounds great.
Please post some pictures.
-Tim
Drum is 5 inches
Bread and Butter lugs
Strainer is the same as shown in the 1962 catalogue...long handle..(not CF and not stay-tite)
Tall Boy hoops.
If you need pics I can shoot a few
Tower snares are not listed in the 1960 "Drum Set" catalogs.
Since it has B & B lugs, Tall Boy hoops, standard long handle strainer and low serial number tag, I'm going to guess late 1961-ish to 1962. I'm sure Ploughman might chime in. :)
How are the lugs?
If you have pictures, go ahead and post them.
-Tim
That's one of the first Towers to leave the shop. Remember, they used that same tag on basses, toms, snares. Very early, 1960 or so.
Towers did not have a standard tone control, it was optional first for $3.50, then $3.75, for the entire run. Optional on the Tower toms too...
Any drum wearing b&b lugs came with high hoops. Even after the beavetails were introduced, the high hoops continued for a short time: "Let nothing be wasted".
