JimmyM
Diamond Member
Last time I cleaned the hoops on my beloved 6 1/2 x 14 Ludwig Standard maple snare was about 30 years ago. They were all pitted and bent already, and they got a little extra shine but they still look 70 or 80 years old. So I never bothered with it till tonight when I got to feeling a little guilty about not doing it in so long. Didn't take the hardware off but I gave it a cleaning, too. I put the heads back on, tuned it just like I had it before, and...
I never thought that it would do anything but pretty it up a little from a distance. Instead, it turned my very woody sounding snare drum into a Black Beauty
Actually, to me, it sounds way better than a BB now. Has all the gorgeous cracky harmonic content with none of the drawbacks (IMHO) of metal shells. Never would have seen that coming. If I'd have known this was going to happen, I would have done a before/after recording.
I am so lucky that this drum still performs like it does. I never really abused it but I stripped its finish long ago and neglected it for long periods. I thought it sounded awesome before, but man, it's like it woke up and crowed the National Anthem! Still looks like you could get tetanus from it, but looks less extreme in regular lighting:
Just spotted an area I have to touch up with teak oil, too. Thank you, too-bright iPhone flash. I know that every drummer on here has 7 or 8 vintage Ludwig snares that expresses their personalities as a musician best for every gig, along with about 20 different snares that are just as cool, but I really think I hit it out of the park with my first and only snare, and everything else I would ever get is going to sit on the shelf, especially now that I know to keep the hoops clean. I suppose I need a backup, but that's about it. But I'll be quite happy to wake up to these freshly cleaned rims, and defile it for a couple hours with my CB700's and intermediate-but-getting-better playing.
I never thought that it would do anything but pretty it up a little from a distance. Instead, it turned my very woody sounding snare drum into a Black Beauty
Actually, to me, it sounds way better than a BB now. Has all the gorgeous cracky harmonic content with none of the drawbacks (IMHO) of metal shells. Never would have seen that coming. If I'd have known this was going to happen, I would have done a before/after recording. I am so lucky that this drum still performs like it does. I never really abused it but I stripped its finish long ago and neglected it for long periods. I thought it sounded awesome before, but man, it's like it woke up and crowed the National Anthem! Still looks like you could get tetanus from it, but looks less extreme in regular lighting:
Just spotted an area I have to touch up with teak oil, too. Thank you, too-bright iPhone flash. I know that every drummer on here has 7 or 8 vintage Ludwig snares that expresses their personalities as a musician best for every gig, along with about 20 different snares that are just as cool, but I really think I hit it out of the park with my first and only snare, and everything else I would ever get is going to sit on the shelf, especially now that I know to keep the hoops clean. I suppose I need a backup, but that's about it. But I'll be quite happy to wake up to these freshly cleaned rims, and defile it for a couple hours with my CB700's and intermediate-but-getting-better playing.
