Very cool piece. What's the "Max Watts" rating on the light fixture? (I always get a kick out of the lighted drums.) Those old snares are really something else.

Have fun with the resto.

B

I agree with the others that it is probably not a black beauty under there, considering the inside of it appears to be possibly a nickle plate. If, and I say if because the lugs appear to be painted white too, the white paint on the shell is original then I would agree that it would be a Leedy as I don't believe Ludwig ever painted their drums like that from the factory. However, with that said, I'm leaning more towards a Ludwig & Ludwig Pioneer model as well.....and the pioneer from that era would have been nickle plate over brass shell, NOT chrome. Chrome wasn't popular until after WWII with the manufacturers and usually not until after the mid-1950's

Either way, that will be one sweet looking and sounding drum when you are done. :D

A light fixture, eh? I was trying to figure out what that thing was. I would think light bulbs wouldn't last long with all the pounding a drum takes. And the heat doesn't create any problems in there?

They used a "rough service" bulb inside. That would usually take the pressures. Also, they were usually of low wattage for snare drums. The heat actually helped things back when the drum was made.....it kept the tension and tuning of the calfskin heads more even and stable. That's how they did it before plastic heads....

Yeah, and those OLD service bulbs were built to last! My folks have a house that was built in 1890 and when they bought it back in 1960, the front porch light had an old Emerson bulb in it! And...it works! They took it out and replaced it with another bulb, but that old Emerson still lights up. It has to be somewhere around 80-90 years old! Things CAN be built to last.

The size and profile of the bearing edge lip on the inside of the shell make it most likely a 20's ludwig drum before they went to 10 lugs. Although it could be a later 30's drum – a 8 lug drum would not have the bigger bearing edge lip. Try stripping the paint to the left of the throw off near the top – there should be the ludwig logo.

The electric part is what's cool it looks factory. I know they made some kick drums like that in the 30's and 40's. Never seen a snare drum.

Got it, started stripping the paint, found the trademark... it's a Ludwig!

I'll start a new thread about the rehab.

Been lurking this thread. Can't wait to see the results. I was thinking that a modern light bulb wouldn't last past a couple rim shots. It's an old drum, use a candle!

heh heh heh

Wow....!

I can honestly say that I have never see an electrical outlet built into a shell of a snare drum!!

Its in almost "abandoned" shape, but what a nice project. I have a snare project of my own coming up, but that is AFTER I finish my Valencia set restoration (which is actually, almost done).