I’m not a collector, never thought of myself that way. I’m a drummer who likes to work on and fix drums, and most everything I have is for sale. Often as soon as I finish restoring it!
Sometimes though, I acquire a drum so nice though that I don’t know what to do with it so I just sit on it for a while and enjoy looking at it. These are two such drums that I’m now selling.
Carlton Greenwood Pearl 30s 5×14 Snare
This snare is very similar to the Slingerland Artist snares of the same era, and in fact it’s easy to mistake it for such at first. 10 tube lugs, solid birch shell, 3-point strainer, single flanged rims and clips. But Carlton of course never used a tone flange, so this drum has bearing edges top and bottom.
At first glance it appears to be the famed Sea Green Pearl available on Slingerland and other US brands. Carlton called the wrap on this drum Greenwood Pearl, after a British drummer who was assumedly an endorser. It’s a shade or two darker than its American cousin.
No extra holes, no damage to speak of on this snare drum and it’s all original. The strainer arm and nut are long gone. I put a brass replacement nut on the post to make it easier to use. It works smoothly without the arm, in fact it’s unusually smooth for an 80-year-old 3-point throw.
$1000 plus ship.
Walberg & Auge 1940s 6.5×14 Snare
Walberg & Auge supplied the majority of the hardware and moving parts to US drum makers for decades, far more than most people realize. They sometimes made drums in their factory as well. The story as I’ve heard it is that they would take parts in trade for orders occasionally, lug casings for instance. I don’t know if the drums they produced were special orders. Maybe it was their employees using the tooling to produce whatever they could dream of.
In any case, this snare drum is one of a kind as most W&A drums were. 6.5 by 14 6-ply shell, wooden hoops, Gretsch “rocket” lugs, W&A strainer, butt plate, claws and hex rods.
The shell appears to be scraps in some places, and may have been a factory second that someone decided to save. While the inside has some weird areas, the bearing edges are crisp and flawless.
A lack of rerings in the 40s would generally mean a Jasper shell, but the plies are not the uniform thickness that I’m used to seeing on Jasper’s 6-ply shells.
The wood hoops are the real crown jewel of this drum. They are original, never touched up and are in excellent condition with no cracks. The hex rods and other W&A parts all combine to make a striking drum.
$1000 plus ship.For more info and photos or to purchase one of these, please contact me.