If you ordered a 60`s Supraphonic, and this one showed up,...would you be satisfied ?

Hello everyone,

So it was you guys who were watching my auction? hahaha! I had over 50 guys watching this thing. Sorry I insulted some of you by customizing a nice old drum and still referring to it as a "Supra". Didn't think much of it at the time.

So why did I trick out this poor innocent snare drum? My good friend Bill Cardwell wanted to kick my ass when he saw it. He said next time give it to him and he'll trade me for a new C&C drum.

Anyways, I'm a boutique builder. Not really into dust sniffing but I do respect old stuff. I started gathering old Supra's a few years back. Most of these were just the shell, no hardware. Most of the time I would find original parts and flip them on the bay for some good cash. I've probably done that to at least 50 or 60 drums.

The drum in the auction came to me naked but it did have a badge. I always wanted to see what they would look like de-chromed and polished so I took about a half dozen of these orphans and de-chromed and polished them. I sold the other shells to buddies and I kept this one. At that time my good friend Eric from Drum Foundry was getting in these special tube lugs. (He was told that he would be the only one who could get this style...little did he know that Gretsch got a variation of them too...but that's a different story). So I took some of his prototype lugs and put them on this shell. A few of my buds are in tight with Ludwig so I got the other Ludwig parts at a very good price. Topped it off with some brass t-rods just for the fun of it.

I gig about 3 times a week and this drum was in my rotation for awhile. I haven't really used it much in the last year so I decided to throw it up on the bay to see what would happen. This isn't the only place that the drum has raised a few eyebrows. Some of these shells looked so bad that they were actually headed for the trash. So you see, I really saved these things...well, kinda :)

To wrap it all up, I promised my vintage purest friends that I would no longer to this to a piece of history. (But you have to admit, it made for some real good conversations.)

Take care,

Bob

Here is a pic of the shell when I got it.

Ha, he said dust sniffers.....

Nice work Bob, as always.

I don't chicken, I like potatoes!!!

And in my defense, here is a 1951 Slingy that I brought back to life...without any customization. She too was headed for the trash and I talked a buddy into giving it to me.

If I ordered that one, just as it looks and just how it was described, I would be satisfied because I would know what I was getting. How many people would order a 60's Supra without a picture or description? I guess I'm falling on the side of pro-choice in this debate. I love factory original, OEM, stock, and 100% correct restorations. I also love "one of a kind" custom refurbs, a little flair and imagination. As long as the pictures and description of the customized drum are accurate (and I think this customized Supra is) the seller has a right to sell it for what he can get. In this instance I don't see any intent to deceive.

Hey Bob - you wanna sell that Slingy snare? I just bought the matching kit! (no snare) Serious offer!

Welcome to VDF!

I'm the guy that posted a photo of a similar 'customized' 60's supra earlier in this thread. My shell looked just like your 'before' photo prior to being stripped/polished/re-clear coated. I felt good about the save and you should feel good about yours. Your shell came out great. The vehemence of some of the responses to your drum and more so to the wording of your ad, really caught me by surprise. You apparently kicked up some 'deep feelings' with the way the ad was worded. One member sounds like he's ready to cave in your skull for it. As you can read, not all the members felt as strongly about it. It's 'all-good' as far as I'm concerned and your project came out great.

Hope you stick around. Not everyone here is a "dust-sniffer". lol

John

Thanks John. Sorry buddy, I flipped that snare last year. I don't keep too many of them. The wife says that I'm not suppose to :D

I have no issue with it. He very clearly defined what it is. If I were to buy the drum (and I considered it) the reason I would have bought it is that it had a Supra shell and the customization was top notch. I knew it wasn't an off the shelf Supra and so did anyone reading the description. If someone cannot be bothered to read a description of an auction piece then they get what they get. Not a ploy in my book.

I planned on staying out of this one but I can't resist. I had a feeling this project started out as a flaked out bare shell and, given the condition, I see nothing wrong with what was done here. The description was presented in a way even a 10 year old novice could understand and the final result is nothing short of stunning. I don't think the price was unreasonable either if someone wanted a drum like this. In the auto world this is known as a "resto-mod". As far as I'm concerned, it's still a Supra because of the shell and rims and the builder even stayed true to Ludwig by using a P-86 throw-off. As far as the analogy of Thornbecks '68 Chevelle, yes it's still a '68 Chevelle. It would still be a 68 Chevelle if it had no drive train, interior or wheels. Just a body and frame and you'd still be proud of it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. My 72 T-Bird eats pavement for breakfast after building a performance 460ci for it since the stock 429 was pretty much toast and handles far better after replacing all the susp. bushings with poly graphite and bigger sway bars. But it's still a '72 t-bird. So, yes! a resto-mod can be better when done correctly. This is a shell that would've had no life but it was revived with a vision. I don't see much difference with what people do to shells with damaged wraps. Some will strip and lacquer and some will re-wrap in the color of their choice. Personally, after owning a '66 Supra, I was not impressed and probably won't be looking for another one any time soon but it was original and in great shape and that sold for $350. So $250 for a unique looking resto mod is not unreasonable to me.