Hi,
[COLOR="Red"]NB: SORRY FOR THE "PHOTOS OF PHOTOS" AS THIS SITE WON'T LET ME UPLOAD PHOTOS FROM MY iPHONE...
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Here’s a little fun with some cool and unique finishes from the past to the present.
[COLOR="Black"]1930-32 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 5 x 14 PEACOCK PEARL “FROG-IN-A-BLENDER” STANDARD MODEL[/COLOR]
I got this one from a private party many years ago. This finish is sometimes called —in a loving way—“Frog-In-A-Blender” and sometimes –again, with love-- “Clown Vomit.”
The colors are still pretty vibrant and remains a good example of 1930s Peacock Pearl.
1930-32 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 5 x 14 PEACOCK PEARL “FROG-IN-A-BLENDER” (“RAINBOW PEARL?”) STANDARD MODEL
I got this one a while back from my good friend Donn Bennett. As you can see this is a different pattern than the Peacock Pearl we are used to seeing. Even though there is no L & L catalog listing some have thought of this as “Rainbow Pearl”. Leedy had Rainbow Pearl in their catalog and since L & L and Leedy were both owned by C. G. Conn Musical Instruments at the time and literally manufactured right across from each other the speculation is that this finish was maybe Leedy but used on this L & L snare…or..it could just be another “run” of Peacock Pearl…makes for an interesting theory either way.
LATE 1990s LEEDY 5 x 14 “HAWAIIAN SHIRT/GUITAR PICK” BROADWAY STANDARD MODEL
I saw this one at a NAMM Show in the late 1990s, maybe early 2000s. At that time Leedy was trying for some type of comeback. I got the drum from Sam Bacco who at the time was associated with Leedy. He told me that he located one long-lost piece of this material from Slingerland and there was enough material left over to make a Leedy Broadway Standard snare drum. Sam told me that the finish was made with melted guitar picks (you can see some un-melted guitar picks in the finish). This finish can be seen on page 141 of Rob Cook’s book THE SLINGERLAND BOOK. The story goes: “This was from when I was doing a lot of stuff with Steve Dahl. He always wore really loud Hawaiian shirts and Spencer [Aloisio] told me ‘We can make you a drum that’ll 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”. Thank you Leedy Drums and Sam Bacco!
EARLY 2000s DUNNETT/GEORGE WAY 6 x 14 “MULTI-COLOR” STANDARD MODEL
I got this drum from Ronn Dunnett (Dunnett Drums & Geo Way Drums). It was at a NAMM Show or a Chicago Vintage Drum Show. I’m not sure what Ronn calls this finish but it definitely belongs in this article with these other snare drums. I seem to remember that this was the only snare drum Ronn made in this finish.
Enjoy!
Mike Curotto
