I recently responded to an add for what the seller claimed was a champagne sparkle Jazz Fest. He wanted $180 for it, and claimed that it was in very nice shape. Considering the price, and the supposed condition, it seemed like a no-brainer.

The drum had been in his wife's family since new. It was played by one of her siblings in school band for a couple of years. Since then, it has been cased and stored in a closet all these years.

When he pulled it out of it's case, and I saw what he had, my heart skipped a beat as I tried to keep my composure. Needless to say, the transaction went down and I am now the proud owner of this wonderful drum.

Dated October of 1966, it represents an early example of this wrap. As claimed, the drum is in excellent condition, with the only real issues being a bit of wear on the hoops and upper tension rods that looks like they had been subjected to adjustment with a pliers. I replaced the tension rods with period correct parts, but left on the original hoops for now. Enjoy...