Most likely it's a Leedy Elite made for Wurlitzer. POST PICS

Not sure I did this right.

That's a late 1920s Leedy Elite...one of the more common or popular Elites.

In the mid 20s Leedy went to the 4 screw lugs and used the presto throw off. Then, I'm guessing in '25 or '26 they upgraded the throw off to the speedway which is the one you have. Very common for the extension arm to have gone missing. (In 1930, with the move to Elkhart, Leedy changed their lugs to the "box lug" design and their flagship drum became the Broadway.

Wurlitzer was a large musical instrument distributor in the 19th and early 20th century. Leedy would make many drums with the Wurlitzer brand on them.

I recently sold a nice one like that...it didn't sell for the asking price...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38095&item=140299239531

Yours seems to be in nice enough condition that it doesn't need an expensive restoration. The "browning" is pretty common.

If you want to shine it up a bit, disassemble the parts from the shell. Clean everything in a mild soap and water and then polish with a lacquer cleaner or polish like lemon oil or Pledge.

If you're going to sell it, let us know!

[COLOR="DarkRed"]That will be a nice snare once cleaned up ![/COLOR]

Thanks Rich I'm sorry it took me so long to find this site. Very informative. The snare is missing two lug screws and of course the throw off lever. Are these parts available? Phil

AK drums in Italy makes repros of the throw offs and tension rods, but they can be very pricey.

I had a machinist once may a decent replica for an extension arm.

The slotted 10/24 rods are hard to find. They were made of steel, so over time they would rust and / or bend...often these drums are missing them.

You can go to a good hardware dept. ( or possible find on line) some brass 10/24 filister head bolts in brass which are a good substitute.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Is the throwoff lever screwed, riveted ? or is it broken off ? If one of the former , you may just be able to be creative and whip up a replacement to attach correctly.

pic ?[/COLOR]

The upper portion of the lever is missing as well as the screw. In a picture, I saw what looked like a nurreled thum screw which I could replace with a brass light fixture screw. I have brass flat stock that I could make the lever out of. These two new pieces of brass would look much brighter than the plating on the rest of the hardware so I'm not sure how that would look.

I have the drum dis assebled and am in the cleaning stage right now.

Thanks Jaye Phil

Those brass light fixture screws make a great replacement. I've used them and have trouble noticing the difference unless I look carefully. Try to find and old one that has aged!

When cleaning that elite, I'd recommend light soap and water, and maybe some lemon oil, or furniture polish like pledge.

At one time some folks recommended 3 in one oil, but that will dissolve the lacquer that's left on the drum and eventually dull it a bit.