kestrou Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Greetings all, A buddy of mine recommended I drop by (insert echoes of "hiya noob!" ) to show off one of my recent drum building projects - said this is the crowd that would REALLY appreciate it! As the drummers in the crowd know, Neil Peart's "Number One" snare from the mid-70s up through the late-90s was an early/mid-70s Slingerland "Artist" snare (5 1/2 x 14) wrapped at the factory in Copper (called "Copper over Wood"). I happened to have a late 60s Slingerland Artist Series in Blue Sparkle and just changed it over to a mid 70s Slingerland Artist Series Copper Over Wood. First (before the snare porn!) a little background: the Artist Series wasn't a real popular product line from Slingerland - it wasn't the cheapest (that was the 6-lug Student) and it wasn't the most expensive (that was the Radio King) - so there were relatively FEW Artist Series snares sold. The Artist Series shell was available for quite a while though, and from 1972 through 1976 was available with a Copper wrap that wasn't particularly popular. So... Neil's snare being an unpopular model, in an unpopular wrap, it's estimated there may have been as few as a hundred snares made that matched what Neil played - and they're prized collector's items when they can be found - last one I saw sell was about a year ago for $1,600. But, being a resourceful guy - here's mine, although it looks "golder" in this picture since I took it outside in bright sunlight (normally is more red/copper colored as you'll see below): http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare12.jpg Here's what it started as, which is a late 60's (same exact shell!) Slingy Artist: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare1.jpg I have a great source for copper wrap, and used all period correct mid-70s hardware on the finished snare: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare3.jpg Was interesting that after I got the wrap off, could see the shell was originally labelled for Blue Sparkle - or "Sparkle Blue" as it were... http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare5.jpg The shell cleaned up nice before being re-wrapped: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare6.jpg Main method of adhering the wrap was contact adhesive, although I had to use something more aggresive where the seam overlapped a half inch: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare7.jpg Used lots of clamps and a veneer roller to hold the wrap on while the glue dried - and you can see the outside of the wrap had a protective film over it to keep it from being scratched/marred during application: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare8.jpg One of the tricky parts was that the wrap then needed to be drilled from the INSIDE - and the holes in the wrap would need to be centered in the original holes in the wood. To pull that trick off it takes a centering drill bit in a right angle drill attachment: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare9.jpg I drilled pilot holes (as shown below) to then follow-up with the correct sized bit: http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare10.jpg After all the drilling was done, I taped up the inside and then sprayed it with an excellent corrosion inhibitor for copper called "Permalac": http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare11.jpg And, once again, here's the finished product - on an original Slingy snare stand even! http://kestrou.com/images/bow-slingy-snare13.jpg I think even Neil himself would be proud! kestrou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumnut Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Great job, nice attention to details. Even if you weren't trying to replicate "Number One", very nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumnut Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Welcome to TRF by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kestrou Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share Posted October 23, 2008 QUOTE (Drumnut @ Oct 22 2008, 11:28 PM) Great job, nice attention to details. Even if you weren't trying to replicate "Number One", very nice job. Thanks drumnut - besides the obvious badge difference, there's also a subtle difference in the "tone control" (felt pad) knob between the late 60s and mid 70s that I ***HAD*** to have correct too! kestrou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtothesky Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Very cool man. Looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yes.2 Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 That's phucking awesooooome!!!! Bravo!!!! I'd love to go fishin' with you man!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrHands Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 That is a beautiful snare drum...great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Great work ! That's killer man thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sword and Armor Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 SWEEEEET!! great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
different strings Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 That is a beautiful looking snare that you have and thanks for your pics,Kestrou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 kestrou, here's an interesting question that, surprisingly, no one has yet to ask.... How's it sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kestrou Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Oct 27 2008, 10:19 AM) kestrou, here's an interesting question that, surprisingly, no one has yet to ask.... How's it sound? Actually, if you look closely in the pictures, I don't have the snares on yet! I changed over the badge (from mid-60s gold/black to mid-70s silver/black) and my grommet crimping tool is still en route, so I haven't put the snares on it yet. Even when I do, I'm planning to keep those original Slingerland heads on it - so I'm not expecting anything PHENOMENAL. Although... I am planning to make me another one for "playing" though - and keep this one on the shelf. The hard part of something like this is getting the shell - but I have a lead on a source (fingers crossed) for the correct 3-ply (maple/poplar/mahogany) shell - and then I might make a half-dozen or so of them. So, if anybody wants one - then let me know! kestrou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shifty Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Beautiful. Hope it sounds as good as it looks. Nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscipleofLerxst Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 AWESOME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the masked drummer Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Snare porn??? I love it!! Awesome, man. Thanks for sharing! I used to have a chrome slingerland snare from the 70's and I loved that one. I still play my 1980 powerdrums. They are my favorite drums I've ever owned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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