Hi,
While I am still in between restorations, I thought that I would continue with two snare drums that I never did articles on. I am a big fan of 1920s-30s Peacock Pearl, to me that color is so ugly that it is cool. We collectors lovingly call this finish “Frog in a Blender”, “Clown Vomit” and “Walt Disney Threw Up”. Here are two modern day versions of Peacock Pearl that I will call “Hawaiian Shirts”.
2003 LEEDY 5 x 14 “HAWAIIAN SHIRT” BROADWAY STANDARD MODEL (#00004)
I got this drum at the 2003 NAMM Show. This drum and a few other Leedys were displayed at the Gretsch booth. At this time, Gretsch was attempting to bring back the Leedy name (I think Fred Gretsch still owns the rights to the Leedy name).
A quick history lesson on this finish:
This finish precedes the Leedy snare drum in this article. On page 141 of Rob Cook’s Book, The Slingerland Book we can find the history of the “Hawaiian Shirt” finish: “This was from when I was doing a lot of stuff with Steve Dahl. He always wore loud Hawaiian shirts and Spencer (Aloisio) told me, ’we can make you a drum that will be as loud as his shirts’. They only had enough of this material to do this snare for me and a floor tom. I wanted a whole outfit but it couldn’t be done.” Gregg Potter.
Back to the 2003 NAMM Show:
Sam Bacco (Principal Percussionist, Nashville Symphony) was running the Gretsch/Leedy booth. I purchased the drum that day and had it shipped to me. I am not sure if Sam told me how the finish was produced but I did learn from someone that the finish is made of melted guitar picks. The attached photos will verify this. Sam told me that he had acquired the remaining material from a source who had access to the last of the remaining sheets of this finish. Sam built-out the drum as a solid maple shell/chrome hardware replica of a late 1940s Leedy Broadway Standard Model. As far as I know, this Leedy snare and Gregg Potter’s Slingerland snare are the only two snare drums in existence with this finish.
c2006 (DUNNETT DRUMS) GEO. WAY DRUMS INC. 5.5 x 14 “HAWAIIAN SHIRT” SNARE DRUM
I got this drum from Ronn at a NAMM Show or a Chicago Vintage Drum Show somewhere around 2006 or so. I think that this is the only Geo. Way snare drum with this finish although I have recently seen a Dunnett snare drum on Facebook with this finish. I am not sure where the solid maple shell or the wrap originated but they are both exceptionally done as you would normally expect from any Dunnett snare drum.
Feel free to weigh-in with your comments and stories.
Enjoy!
Mike Curotto
