1925- LEEDY 5 x 15 NOB MULTI-MODEL *MARVEL MODEL - Page 1

[COLOR="Red"]For some reason this site is reversing my photos...not sure how to correct this, sorry for the kinked necks...[/COLOR]

Hi,

I got this drum in 2021 from my good friend and fellow collector Bill Wanser (Olympic Drums & Percussion). As you will see, this drum is in excellent-plus condition.

1925- LEEDY 5 x 15 NOB MULTI-MODEL *MARVEL MODEL

*A little Marvel Model history from Rob Cook’s book THE LEEDY WAY: “The Marvel Snare Strainer was Leedy’s first attempt at a strainer that would keep the snares under tension when released.

It was featured in only one catalog, Catalog N of 1925. A selling point of the Marvel system was that the type of snares being used (gut, wire) could be quickly changed.”

THE SHELL:

Any 15” Leedy shell with the Marvel Strainer system is pretty rare as compared to a 14” shell. This 5 x 15 shell is in excellent-plus condition and is one of the best NOB Leedy shells that I have seen.

THE HARDWARE:

The hardware is also in excellent-plus condition. As we collectors know, many of the steel Multi-Model rims from the 1920s can be pretty thrashed and are a bear to clean and restore. Not the case here as these are also some of the best conditioned rims I’ve ever seen. The Marvel Strainer System is also very clean and works nicely. The 16 tension rods needed the normal thread cleaning/polishing and came out great. The 8 two-hole lugs (1923-) are nearly perfect but I noticed something interesting. Prior to this drum my thought was that because of tensioning the two-hole and four-hole lugs cracked/split on either side opposite the inserts. I may have learned something, the 16 lugs on my drum have a uniform “slit” on either side of the lug opposite the insert. I talked to Bill Wanser and he has also seen this on his and other Leedy two-hole lug drums. I checked some of my other Leedy snares and discovered the four-hole lugs had no “slits” but some of my two-hole lug snares had “slits” BUT some didn’t so there you go. I had some NOS 15” top and bottom calf heads to finish up this drum.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto