Sparkletone!

Try not to get too excited... well ... I was excited too when I saw the "NEW" Leedy a year or so back. So much so that I ordered a Leedy 5X14 "Black Brass Elite" snare drum complete with the 3-point throw, extended butt, etc. What a drop dead beautiful drum... and a beautiful wait for it too as it never came! The dealer/distributor informed me that Leedy was having trouble with the manufacturer of the brass shells... quality control was atrocious. I guess so much so that NO BRASS SHELLS are being made until they can straighten out the problem. My deposit was refunded, and they couldn't give me a date as to when they might be manufacturing again. That was at least a year ago. Sigh. But!...

I heard that the wood shell Leedy's are available as there weren't any problems with the manufacturing of those. I also heard that Leedy was "eventually" going to start producing full kits... but I have heard/seen nothing since.

The Fred Gretsch Company OWNS the Leedy name, and they have the rights of manufacture on the line. What they are doing with it, I don't know. I think it's kind of stagnent right now. I have seen the NEW Leedy snare drums on eBay here and there. They don't seem to sell real well, although they look fabulous. The attention to detail looks excellent.

Tommyp

Yikes. Sorry to hear about your snare drum snafu. That's too bad, it'd be really cool if they could get their act together and make a great comeback.

You're right. Those drums absolutely look beautiful, and it'd be great to see complete sets. Seems most of the classic companies are in these weird limbo patterns (Slingerland, Leedy) or are having their cheapo import lines backfire against them (Ludwig at Guitar Center).

Wish I could excited when I look at a Tama or a Mapex, but I'd much rather walk into a music store and see the classic American companies offering full lines at decent quality levels and pricing.

Oh well, once I get my Flux Capacitor working I can travel back to the 50's and it'll be all good!