Go for it. You won't be able to hurt it recording. Those drums respond best to a medium tuning. The mind set is to not try to tune them high like you might a modern drum. I have used a variety of standards and a scroll engraved BB and never broken a clip, but I don't push them to that higher modern tuning As they sound perfect at medium tension. Put some modern ambassadors on top and bottom, some modern wires and enjoy.

I swapped out the clips on mine just so I could tune it up and play it. Keep the original clips in a safe place, buy a set of modern repro clips and go for it. I use mine at home but I alternate it with other favorite snares. Great drum. Mine is one of the early ones, wave pattern, pat. pending stamped on the strainer, dates it to 1924.

[IMG]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n632/PurdieShuffle/bbp1_zpsa18877a0.jpg[/IMG]

John

Hey John,

Where did you find the brass clips? Thanks!

Creighton

Looks like we have the same drum, John. I'm under the impression mine is 1924-1925 also, 5x14 Scroll engraving with pat. pending on the P338. I assume yours is an 8-lug as well? The main difference in our drums is on mine the Ludwig Chicago USA engraving is not on the panel with the strainer. And yours looks to be in great shape. Mine looks quite a bit more worn.

I attempted to use the drum tonight in pre-production rehearsals at the studio. Ugh...it didn't go too well. It didn't help that on the first song out of the gate I'm switching between brushes and sticks.

I am having a hell of a time getting the Puresound wires to sit tight enough on the resonant head. No matter how tight I have the string on the strainer and butt, the snares are loose and rattling horribly. I tried taping them down but it killed the resonance of the drum and responsiveness of the snares. The local Guitar Center didn't have either 12 or 16 strand wires so I had to go with 20, which I really didn't want to. I can't figure out how to make these wires work. Very frustrating. I think it's could be because of the narrow snare bed. I ordered some Ludwig Heavy 12 Strand wires, hopefully that will do the trick.

Hey Creighton, I bought my replacement hooks from Drum Factory Direct. I bought these in 'Aztec Gold'. It's not a perfect match, but it doesn't look bad. I wish they were aged.

http://www.drumfactorydirect.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2451

Hey Dan,

Thanks! I had looked at DFD but didn't see those clips. Cool on the link. May be able to help with getting them aged. Traveling but send an email: [email]cjs@lost-coast-designs.com[/email].

No idea where to buy such things but wondering if gut snare strands or long bits of coiled copper strand wire can be had to get closer to what was there in the first place???

Thanks to any that can help.

Creighton

Creighton - I got em at Drumfactorydirect.com. They are modern repro's of the originals only heavier, so you can tune up the drum where ever you like it. It really does sound great in the mid-range though. I swapped out the original gut snares for a vintage NOS set of Snappi-Snares from the 30's that Mike Layton gifted to me. The drum plays and sounds excellent, hi, lo, hard, soft, the drum is responsive and fun to play. Hook yours up and play it! Later for leaving it on a shelf as a display piece. I paid two large for the privilege!

Red - Shop around ebay, or here at VDF and see if you can track down a set of 12 strand Snappi-Snares. (Try Mike Curotto, they might be the kind of thing he has some stock on hand.) The set I put on mine worked great right out of the gate. No problema at all. The problem may be that you're using wide 20 strand wires on it. Try the narrower 12's. I put an Evans Hazy 300 on the snare side, and a new/old stock coated Ludwig on the batter side. Dream drum! I got the 1924 date from Mike Curotto when I did a thread on the drum. Mike also recommended that I use a light oil to clean and polish the shell, as you can see, the bugger cleaned up to a treat for the eyes. It was in good physical shape, everything there and unmolested when I got her. It just needed a serious cleaning and then a set-up for playing. Mine has the earlier wave pattern, the scroll pattern became the main one, so there aren't a lot of wave pattern black beauty's out there. I'm proud to own this one.

I had a thought for you... try drilling the snare cord holes in the strainer tabs closer together, so that they sit directly over the snare beds. I have a feeling that the hole spacing on the 20 strand is running the cord over the bearing edge and not the snare bed! That's why you can't get good contact. Just a thought...

John

Thanks John, your explanation seems very plausible. Hard to find specific parts locally. I ordered some narrower 12 strand wires so I'm hopeful that will sort it out.

One thing I was able to determine is the attack on this drum is awesome. I'm going to love going for it on this brass shell.

I gigged last night with this Leedy. It's ratty with extra holes and some non-original tension rods. It sounds fantastic!