Thanks Mark! I wonder if the stories of it getting "banged up" are incorrect, as everything else seems to add up. LV Strip, early 60s, snare stolen and pawned, laquered, no internal tone control... the mystery continues!

As far a lacquer on the inside shell, all wooden Dyna's had lacquer. Buddy's drums just had more of it.

-Tim

I see... thanks for the clarification! Don't know how I'd tell if there was "more" than normal, might take an expert eye, which mine is not!

Could it be the Buddy Rich Dyna that was stolen, as mentioned in Rob Cook's book, with the serial number scratched out to prevent 'a trace? Just fun speculation, but why else would someone EVER rub out a serial number on a Dyna? Don't think Buddy used a muffler, but the size could be wrong.

Hugh

I have seen BOTH Louie Bellson and Buddy's WMP Dynasonics, and had first shot at buying the BR drum!, but the price at the time was around $20,000.00... and I almost did it too! Anyway, both those WMP Dynasonics DID indeed have the extra lacquering and no tone controls.. but .. they were both Beavertail lugged drums. I will say that the extra lacquering is very easy to see too. Gives the interior almost a "mirror" shine/reflectivity, which this drum does not have. But!... that isn't to say that this drum isn't BR's or Louie's, but I also think that the extra lacquering that Buddy and Louie requested came later on the 5 ply/rings Beavertail lug model, and not the early 3 ply/fruitwood stain B&B model shown here. I don't think that not having the extra lacquer diminishes the mystery of just WHO'S drum this was. Could very well have been either of them... or not! Don't know that we can definitively know... but ya never know of course!

Tommyp

Glad our B.R. expert chimed in. So even if this isn't the fabled stolen BR Dyna, let me pose this wild idea. Since there couldn't have been a whole lot of WMP wood Dyna's floating around Las Vegas in the early 60's, and LB and BR occassionally gave away their Rogers-supplied drums to associates, isn't it possible that this was gifted to someone who then turned around and sold it to a pawn shop? That would account for the scratched off serial number, as it could later prove that the recipient sold something he shouldn't have. This has happened a few times with Oscar awards in L.A. They're forbidden to be sold by the recipient, so they remove their nameplate so it can never be traced back to them.

So maybe this Dyna isn't "hot". Regardless, it's a beautiful piece even if we can never know it's true story.

Mike

I say we all get together over pizza and (insert the beverage of your choice) and have a great time discussing this one!

Mark

Without the serial # on that baby you guys would be discussing this for years and tons of beer/pop/coffee,etc.Good luck on getting to the bottom of this mystery as only the drum knows for sure-if only they could talk...

Wayne

If only someone from that era could verify some part of this story! I have no doubt that either Louie or Buddy had some connection to this drum, as this story came from my father and he certainly had no reason to lie about it to me. Could be that the guy at the pawn shop told him it was LB's, but he was confused and it was really BR's. Perhaps they "told" the BR camp that it was trashed because they had already sold it!

Either way, it has been sitting unused in its case for 30-40 years, I'm glad I finally brought it out and made some inquiries. You have all been so helpful, thank you.

So Rob, are you going to sell it?

Mike