Questions on Late 20s Leedy 7x14 Brass...

[levelpebble]

Recent pickup. Not exactly sure what this model is called, as I can't find any Indianapolis-era catalogs on line. I know Chris Ardoin has one available he calls Professional Elite, but mine is a bit newer with a four point strainer.

Definitely 7" deep, which seems scarce. I assume this is nickel over brass, haven't opened it up yet. Was CoB also available?

A couple of minor dings, but other wise in absolutely amazing condition for approaching 100 years old.

These are acquisition shots; enjoy.

 

[JDA]

those guys/ drummers back in the day knew how to strut their [email protected]!!

that looks meaner than "Frankie Banali on a Friday Night!!"

~

 

[dtk]

wow...

 

[Rich K.]

It's a mid '20s Floating Head Professional. Nickel over brass. Chrome wasn't available yet. An Elite would have been black nickel, "gold" hardware with or without engraving or white lacquer with gold hardware.
A 7" is very rare for that model and yours looks to be all original in really nice shape.

 

[levelpebble]

It's a mid '20s Floating Head Professional. Nickel over brass. Chrome wasn't available yet. An Elite would have been black nickel, "gold" hardware with or without engraving or white lacquer with gold hardware.
A 7" is very rare for that model and yours looks to be all original in really nice shape.

Rich - Is there a name and timeline for the use of this particular 4-pt strainer?

Thanks! - john

 

[kdgrissom]

Taken from Coopervintagedrums.com:
A variation of the Presto strainer was offered in 1928 on intermediate model snare drums. In the 1928 Leedy catalog, it is referred to as just the “muffler strainer”.

However, I spy what may be a hole spacing inconsistency on the shell. The strainer bottom holes seem waaayyy to close to the lower inverted bead. The washers look to be hanging over the empty space of the bead and I can't believe Leedy would do that. It may be that this Floating-head model was originally fitted with the two-hole "Speedway" strainer (which was prone to binding and breaking in some cases) and retro-fit with the Low end Muffler strainer.

Edit: I meant the lower legs of the 4-point strainer seem to be hanging over the empty space.....

 

[levelpebble]

Taken from Coopervintagedrums.com:
A variation of the Presto strainer was offered in 1928 on intermediate model snare drums. In the 1928 Leedy catalog, it is referred to as just the “muffler strainer”.

However, I spy what may be a hole spacing inconsistency on the shell. The strainer bottom holes seem waaayyy to close to the lower inverted bead. The washers look to be hanging over the empty space of the bead and I can't believe Leedy would do that. It may be that this Floating-head model was originally fitted with the two-hole "Speedway" strainer (which was prone to binding and breaking in some cases) and retro-fit with the Low end Muffler strainer.

Entirely possible, I'll know more when I pop it open this weekend. Do you have any of these late 20s catalog pics? I'm familiar with Mark's work on the vintage strainers.

John

 

[kdgrissom]

Entirely possible, I'll know more when I pop it open this weekend. Do you have any of these late 20s catalog pics? I'm familiar with Mark's work on the vintage strainers.

John

There is a pic of this strainer with measurements on Vintagedrumreference.com
The Leedy "Presto" Muffler snare strainer can be seen on Reliance model drums in the 1933 catalog on Drumarchive.com
Unfortunately, no catalogs from the twenties on that site.
I don't have any complete catalogs from the twenties, however referencing the Leedy Drum Topics book by Rob Cook might have some catalog pictures.

 

[levelpebble]

There is a pic of this strainer with measurements on Vintagedrumreference.com
The Leedy "Presto" Muffler snare strainer can be seen on Reliance model drums in the 1933 catalog on Drumarchive.com
Unfortunately, no catalogs from the twenties on that site.
I don't have any complete catalogs from the twenties, however referencing the Leedy Drum Topics book by Rob Cook might have some catalog pictures.

Wow, that vintage drum reference website is great, thank you so much!

 

[levelpebble]

This strainer certainly looks to be nicely installed from the inside, no traces of a hack job that I see. And this snare is so clean, I can't see how it would have needed a new strainer installed without any evidence of heavy use anywhere.

Also some interesting prior owner history found inside the shell; appears to have been in Youngstown OH before traveling east to DC.

John