Hello all,

I picked this shell up for cheap yesterday. The badge on it matches the badge of my 1941 Ludwig 7x14 snare drum, but this drum has a lot of "weird" going on with it and I'd like to hear everyone's input.

The shell is a 14x20 bass drum, wrapped in white marine pearl. I am not aware of seeing a 20" bass drum from the late 30s or early 40s... Looking at the badge, it doesn't appear to have been tampered with, like it was added at a later time.. but who knows. It has several aftermarket holes drilled and appears to once have had the "zephyr" lugs perhaps.

Now for the really strange.. inside the drum is a piece of wood bolted onto the interior of the shell running from front to back (see photo). This is painted the exact same color of "off white" as the entire interior of the drum. On the outside of the shell, opposite of this board, a straight seem in the wood (but not through the re-rings) is visible where the wrap once met. It's almost like this board bolted inside is an extra support for holding the drum together. This seems to be deliberate, and not a repair job.

In any event, my plan is to fill the extra holes and get it re'wrapped. The drum is about an 1/8 inch out of round, but a 20" head fits fine on it. I would like to find an "aged" white marine pearl wrap to replace it, as it would match my '41 Ludwig snare.

Any ideas what the heck is going on here? I bought the drum for less than the cost of the Ludwig badge, so if I end up scrapping it, ill sell the badge off of it and make a small profit.

Thanks in advance guys!