Joe Morello's Brubeck Era Supraphonic

[donbseattle]

Dudes,

Let's travel back in time to digging Joe Morello with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, playing his legendary silver sparkle kit. Was his snare drum an off the rack Supraphonic? The aluminum one, NOT the COB? I am thinking about getting one, once I know which one, so as that I can play a ONE HANDED ROLLLLLL!!!!! Thank you!

 

[Mcjnic]

It is my understanding that his was a COB.
Ludwig used Joe's quote in the catalogue specifically in reference to the COB Super-Ludwig.
"Man, it cuts through like crazy!"

 

[LarryJ]

1964ish I bought a COB SuperSensitive because that is what I thought he was using at that time. Can't swear I was right about what he was using, but can swear I am right about what I bought and why.

 

[wflkurt]

I saw his WFL super 400 in person once. It was a regular 5x14 and had a WFL DRUMS badge on it with his name etched on a gold plate. Super cool drum!

 

[bellbrass]

I believe Joe's COB Ludwig snare was a two-piece welded shell; correct? I remember trying to get that sound many years ago, when the price of vintage Ludwig COB snares were through the roof. I did a side-by-side with a Ludwig "Brass Edition" and a Tama Stewart Copeland snare. The Tama sounded more like Joe's Ludwig, to my ears.
I wonder how close the new Ludwig Reissue Super 400 snares sound to the WFL Super 400 snares.

 

[donbseattle]

Thanks, guys! I believe the vintage COB's are still through the roof. A knowledgeable drummer recently told me that he thinks the Ludwig reissues sound great and save you dough. Probably not EXACTLY the same as the Vinties, but who the hell is going to be able to tell?

 

[kdgrissom]

He was using a Super Sensitive for while. Note the snare guard sticking out next to his knee.
Additionally the 1962 catalog (in which Morello is pictured) specifically says that the Super Ludwig and the SS were made from "heavy gauge" brass.

 

[equipmentdork]

He told me that the Time Out era snare was COB, which of course makes sense.



Dan

 

[K.O.]

I believe Joe's COB Ludwig snare was a two-piece welded shell; correct?

It's a welded shell but not a two piece, at least not on the sense that that phrase is usually used. Generally that refers to the Ludwig and Ludwig metal drums from the 1920s and 1930s that had a top and bottom half that were soldered together at the bead. The 50's and early 60s "Super Ludwig" brass shells were just one piece of brass but it was formed into a circle by rolling and the two ends welded together. So there is a seam and a weld but it's all just a single piece of brass. In late 1963 the Supra-phonic replaced the Super-Ludwig and ushered in the age of the seamless shells that (obviously) had no seam and were made via metal spinning techniques (although now I guess they use hydro forming). I believe all the subsequent brass versions are made in this same fashion so any post-1963 (approx.) COB version of the drum is different from the pre-1963 version (like what Joe Likely had) in that way. How much that effects the sound is hard to say....is seamless an improvement or a downgrade from the original? I suppose that is in the ear of the beholder. There are other differences too....lighter lugs, lug gaskets, heavier (and steel) hoops (Super Ludwigs all had the thin COB hoops that Ludwig used on everything up to around 1965).

There are different explanations floating around behind the small numbers of brass shelled snares Ludwig produced in the 60s and early 70s. One version I read somewhere was that Joe was one of the instigators of a small run of them, seeking for a new drum with the sound of his older drum. Whether true or not I don't know, and Joe is sadly no longer around to ask. He was probably one of the few people with enough pull with Ludwig to make it happen.

 

[kdgrissom]

There are different explanations floating around behind the small numbers of brass shelled snares Ludwig produced in the 60s and early 70s. One version I read somewhere was that Joe was one of the instigators of a small run of them, seeking for a new drum with the sound of his older drum. Whether true or not I don't know, and Joe is sadly no longer around to ask. He was probably one of the few people with enough pull with Ludwig to make it happen.

Are you referring to the cut-badge brass shells of the early 70's?

 

[K.O.]

Are you referring to the cut-badge brass shells of the early 70's?

Yes, among others.