Hi all,
About a year ago I was given a vintage snare drum from my grandmother who used to play back in the 30's. It wasn't until about a week ago I decided to research the drum and begin the process of restoring it. There was no drum badge on it so I didnt even know what brand to google to begin my search. All I had to go on was that she played it in the late 30's and it was relatively new to her at that time. She also told me at some point in time a neighbor of hers used it and painted it with a gold flecked paint (almost like sandpaper). This snare is very distinctive as it features single tension lugs, which is what got me started searching in the right direction. The flanges on the rods to tighten the lugs are also very distinctive and sit above the rim of the drum. On my quest to find out more about this, I came across an eBay add for a 1920's Leedy snare that was a complete match to mine, with the exception of the lovely sandpaint finish someone foolishly applied. After carefully removing this finish, a beautiful mohagony wood shell was exposed, along with what looks like maple hoops. After more closely looking at the bottom head, I could make out a faint Leedy stamp along with a cowhead symbol (I'm assuming that indicated the head material). I'm pretty sure this drum is indeed a 1920's Leedy, but without the badge I don't know for sure. I want to restore this to its original condition, but I want to be sure this is indeed the drum I think it is. Does anyone know if there are any other "look fors" that would help me date this? I have all the original pieces to the drum, including the snares, strainer, and lugs. If you can help me out I would really appreciate it. I've been playing for 25 years and am really psyched about restoring this for my son who is now showing an interest in playing (as a collectable only).
