Hi,
This latest addition to the collection came from Wagga Wagga, Australia. The deal was done at the Cooper, Campbell & Curotto “Hang Out Booth” at the 2016 Chicago Vintage & Custom drum Show. Thanks again goes to Mark Cooper of Cooper’s Vintage Drums for selling me this cool snare drum.
1936 LEEDY 6.5 x 14 ORIENTAL PEARL/FULL DRESS BROADWAY DUAL MODEL (No. 2182)
A word about Leedy Oriental Pearl vs. Ludwig & Ludwig Abalone Pearl:
Personally I think the two finishes are one in the same. The Leedy Drum Co. and Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Co. were both acquired by C. G. Conn Lmt. and were literally being manufactured across the way from each other so to me it makes marketing sense to keep Leedy’s Oriental Pearl separate from L & L’s Abalone Pearl. My research indicates that Leedy may have offered the finish a tad earlier than L & L. The Leedy catalog “U” (copyright 1934) states “Here, for once. man has excelled nature in reproducing the irridescent [sic] multi-colored abalone (mother-of-pearl) which the Oriental Pearl simulates”. On the other hand, the Ludwig & Ludwig Silver Anniversary Edition catalog (copyright 1935) lists their finish as “Abalone Pearl”. Oriental/Abalone Pearl was around for about 3-4 years, as early as 1934-35 and probably no later than 1938. I have seen more L & L Abalone snares than Leedy Oriental Pearl snare drums. At this writing I know of only two Leedy Oriental Pearl snare drums. I can only imagine what that finish looked like with all of the reds, greens, blues, yellows and purples.
The SHELL:
The Oriental Pearl was in great shape for an 81 year old drum although the red sparkle/silver sparkle Full Dress diamonds showed some wear but the good news is that they were all intact. There were no cracks or separations but the finish was filthy so I used Goo Gone to get rid of any dirt and grime, “schmutz” is the term that I use. After the schmutz was cleaned off of the shell I used Maguire’s #17 Plastic Cleaner, #10 Plastic Polish and #18 Clear Plastic Detailer. As you can see, the shell brightened up nicely. The Full Dress diamonds are clean but definitely look their age. The white interior was a bit soiled and cleaned up as well as can be expected. There is a strong 0236 date stamp (Feb. 1936). The badge is clean with a tight grommet and is placed at the butt side of the shell which is the normal badge placement on a Leedy Full Dress Model.
The HARDWARE:
Most of the original chromium hardware looked like it came from the Barrier Reef, somewhat pitted etc. The purchase deal with Mark included a “donor drum” from the same year so I was able to swap out the hardware. Yes, a purist viewpoint would be to leave the drum as is but I chose differently on this restoration. All of the “donor” hardware works fine and does add to this drum. The top and bottom rims are engraved with the “fish” pattern. The top snares are intact and straight but the bottom parallel snares present an interesting story.
I think all of the orchestral/symphonic percussionists out there will enjoy this next part of the article.
The Parallel Snares (bottom):
When I first saw the photos of the bottom parallel snares I had planned to swap them out for an original set of Leedy Parallel snares but when saw them in person I changed my mind. These 11 snares are not original factory snares but were expertly machined sometime after-market. Be sure to check out the photos. I chose to leave these snares on the drum as maybe this drum was concertized on at some point... Is there or was there a Wagga Wagga Philharmonic or Wagga Wagga Percussion Ensemble?
Of-the-era top and bottom calf heads rounded out this restoration.
As always I encourage you to weigh-in if you have any comments or know of any drums like this one.
Enjoy!
Mike Curotto
