I have no idea about that one. Mike Curotto would know, though. The flakes in the sparkle are kind of interesting. It's definitely not the hexagonal shaped flake that I am familiar with with my 60's era gold sparkle snare drum.

Re-edging, wrapping or "re" ANYTHING will diminish a drum's originality value as a collectible. But since there are already extra holes drilled into the shell, I wouldn't worry about the originality factor. If you want to sell it "as-is" (with chewed-up edges and all), then the badge and the lugs are probably worth something to somebody who might be looking for a parts-only drum.

Well, the Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Company (as indicated on the badge on your snare) got it's start in 1909. It was run by William & Theobald Ludwig. Theobald passed away in 1918 and his brother ran the company alone until 1929. At that time the company merged with or was sold to the C.G. Conn manufacturing company in Elkhart, Indiana.

I believe that your drum, then, was more than likely manufactured somewhere between 1918 and 1929. There's no way that it's a 60s snare.:)

Whoa.

A "hold the boat" piece.

The badge indicates before the sale, in transition, etc.

My thought is to lovingly clean and tweak.

If you desire a "modern" drum, buy one...this girl deserves TLC and a

calf head set-up.

Beautiful!

Thanks for the input guys!

Nope, don't desire a modern drum (well, have several of those, anyway), just want to get an idea of what I shouldn't do to it :). I've always liked the look of the drum, just didn't realize until recently that it might have more history to it than I originally thought.

I guess I'll start looking for some hardware to return it to it's former glory!

It's a '20s or early '30s drum. What are the numbers on the inside of the drum? There may be a clue as to the actual year and month the drum was made.

If you can post a picture of the holes for the strainer and butt side, we can possibly determine what model drum it is. The multiple holes may indicate the drum was a "super" or "super sensitive."

I would leave the finish as is...some of the old gold sparkle drums look much worse. If you don't want to find all the missing original hardware, which will be hard to find and expensive, you could make authentic looking with clip type rims and clips from drum foundry, drum supply house, precision drum company, or one of those other parts suppliers. (It's hard to tell, but if the lugs are gold plated, you could get those parts in brass, which would look pretty cool.)

It the edges are shot, and there are extra holes, having the edges done to make it a great player might be worthwhile.

It's a nice piece...would be a good restoration project.

The lugs on it are chrome, and appear to be original. The numbers inside are "504", someone penciled in a "3" in front of the "5", seen in the picture.

I don't have a picture of the strainer holes, but can snap one tonight when I get home and post. It appears consistent with the super pictures I've seen, but I'm no expert.

[Attachment: 2222]

Pretty sure the drum is from April, 1935. Soon after that drum was made, Ludwig and Ludwig switched to the Imperial lugs for their high end drums.