Hi,

I was fortunate to have known Johnny Craviotto from his early days at DW up until his passing. It was always fun hanging with Johnny at The Chicago Vintage Drum Show and we had a blast discussing Italian words and phrases. He always got a laugh when I would tell him that another person came up to me and said “I love your drums” obviously confusing Cur OTTO with Cravi OTTO. He had a great sense of humor.

For a brief period of time Craviotto Drums partnered with C & C drums to offer a short run of snare drums and drum sets in various shades of real abalone shell material that was applied to the solid maple Craviotto shells. From what I remember there were only 1 or 2 drum sets made but I wasn’t sure how many snare drums were made so I consulted my good friend Steve Maxwell (President of the Craviotto Drum Co.) in order to get the facts correct. Steve’s reply was: “On the abalone: There were only two kits, that is correct. But, there were about 20 snares made. There were 4 different abalone used. One was almost like a bright orange burst (I had a 5 and a 6.5 and stupidly sold them), one was more of a white oyster look, one was almost like a black diamond but with some purples in it, and then your color. The problem was that the abalone didn’t work well with the solid shell because of the way the shell “breathes”. So, many of these snares were returned due to bubbling. I know of one of the orange burst that survived, and one of the black diamond style, plus your drum. Not sure about the rest of the short run. And, your snare is of course even more unique with the gold hardware. Not sure if any of the others in your finish survive. Steve”

2005 CRAVIOTTO DRUM COMPANY 6.5 x 14 ABALONE/GOLD PLATED CUSTOM SNARE

I ordered this drum from Johnny at the 2005 Chicago Vintage Drum Show. These snare drums were offered with chrome or nickel plated hardware but I had a different vision and asked Johnny if he would use gold plating on my hardware. Johnny accommodated my request and the drum came to me as you see it in my photos. Later on while talking with Johnny he mentioned that this was a “good call” regarding the gold plated hardware as it matched and really added to the Abalone finish.

This drum checks all of the boxes as it looks great, plays great and sounds great.

Fond memories from a good friend and master craftsman.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto