Pgm554 …

… I’ve been playing Fibes since 1973 .. and still do! .. and in that time have had 6 snare drums, one of which was a 1973 Crystalite. I currently have three, two COF, and one in Black FiVel, with all of them pre CFMartin. The 1967/68 was built by Bob Grauso. Anyway … in all that time I have never seen a bottom hoop for the SFT throw/butt without the drop gate/guards. I HAVE seen those come off though! Fortunately none of mine however. As I am fond of saying, there can be exceptions to everything back during this time of manufacture. I suspect the hoop on your drum is a non Fibes replacement of some type. That said though, if it allows the wires to drop without hanging up or rattling, great! Play it and enjoy it! .. and .. keep your eye peeled for a replacement as they do come up from time to time. A NEW Rogers Dynasonic hoop looks like it would make a fine replacement as it has both the guards on it. Here’s a couple pics of my 1972 Fibes SFT 690/COF showing both guards in place.

Tommyp

The butt plate that came with it only has one setting hole as opposed a slot or 3 holes with others I've owned.

Seems to be missing foil gaskets too.

I saw a sold fiberglass one on Reverb that has a similar snare gate config,so it might be a production run thing.

I'm doing a refurb as I have the gaskets on order and just picked up some Pearl free floater replacement snares.

Those snares are on backorder from just about everybody.

Did you happen to catch the Fivel bop set Steve Maxwell was playing on Youtube?

I did indeed! … and I was taken more by the Blue FiVels than those HUGE Zildjian Ride cymbals too of course! 😎 I have always liked the FiVel series, although they weren’t a very good seller for Fibes back when. Guys were mostly interested in COF or Crystalite. Today as you no doubt know, guys love ‘em. When that 1973 Fibes Black FiVel snare drum presented itself, I grabbed it. Had to seriously clean and restore the FiVel itself as well as all the hardware .. but .. it’s still all there and OEM, save the wires as they were trashed. Back then I opted for the PureSound Fibes replacement wires, and they were perfect for that drum. I cleaned/restored the FiVel with carpet and upholstery cleaner. Worked like a charm! I’ll attach a couple pics of it. Otherwise, ya … certainly is plausible on the bottom hoop, which is why I mentioned there are always exceptions to the norm with this stuff. It’ll be nice when you’re done I’m sure. 😎

Tommyp

About ten years ago, I was in full tilt collecting mode. I felt that it was my duty to fill up the two unoccupied bedrooms in our 3,000 square foot house with drums. I admit to what I now refer to as RDAS--reckless drum acquisition Syndrome. One set that I acquired in Houston was this 1972 Red Fivel outfit that was played on several tours by Dennis Allen with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and several other R&B acts. The drums sounded great. I honestly don't remember what the underside of the snare drum looked like. After a couple years of owning the set, I sold it to a man somewhere in the northeast part of the country who said that he has the twin of the set in Blue Fivel. I did pretty well in recovering my investment plus a couple hundred bucks.

pgm554/leedybdp

The more I thought about it, I remembered that I bought a then NEW Fibes SFT690/COF back in 1973! I knew I had pics of this drum .. and .. here you go! That bottom hoop design was indeed CORRECT on some of these! I have attached a pic of my drum, and it was NEW and OEM as I bought it ... from EU Wurlitzer in Boston, MA, 1973! So ... yours is indeed correct pgm554! Good to know. I don't know how long this lasted, as I have owned/seen MANY from this period with the dual drop down guards .. so .. could have been they had to source a different supplier perhaps. Truth be told, it's really the SFT throw side that needs the room to "drop" the wires .. so .. a standard gate on the butt side still works fine!

leedybdp ... NICE set of early 70's Red FiVel's! Those are SWEET! Do you remember where the buyer was in the Northeast? Just curious! BEAUTIES!

Tommyp

Tommy...I have forgotten the particulars of this transaction. I remember that the the guy was eager to get this set so that he could trade off gigging both sets without incurring much damage to each set. He emailed me for my phone number, and we made the deal over the phone. Sorry about not remembering more about this. What I can tell from the picture of the full set is that I sold the drums shortly after moving into our present house in October of 2013. I can tell that this is when I took the photo because the cedar fence looks brand new. Within a few months, the yellow color of the fence boards begins to age to a weathered gray.

Thanks for the post.

I've seen Ludwig and Sliherland with similar hoops.

Maybe they used the same OEM?

For a minute there ,I thought you might have had the orchestral holy grail Fibes with the Spiraltone snares.

I would love to get my hands on one.

leedybdp/Howie

THANKS for the reply on the FiVel set! No worries on remembering ... I know how that can go too!, and especially so going back to 2013. Those were indeed beauties though!

pgm554

Right??!! You know, in the entire time I've been playing, buying, and selling Fibes .. ( 49 years! ) .. I have NEVER seen a single Fibes SFT Concert/Orchestral Snare with the Spiraltone wires! I agree with you ... should I ever see one and it's available, I'll just buy it regardless! Holy Grail indeed! 😎

Tommyp

[QUOTE=Tommyp;

Right??!! You know, in the entire time I've been playing, buying, and selling Fibes .. ( 49 years! ) .. I have NEVER seen a single Fibes SFT Concert/Orchestral Snare with the Spiraltone wires! I agree with you ... should I ever see one and it's available, I'll just buy it regardless! Holy Grail indeed! 😎

Tommyp[/QUOTE]

Probably in some church basement.