A gem of a lid - for sale now.

[havershaw]

Douglas,
I have two Flagships...there's one I actually am thinking about parting with, possibly.
I have to just take a moment to give you kudos, Douglas. I haven't really been around here in a while and in looking through many other posts, I have concluded that you have one of the most amazing and drool-worthy hat collections on this planet. Man, you have some great hats!
Thanks for the kind words concerning the drums. I am a little behind on the photos (there are two or three kits which have been meticulously restored but I haven't taken new pics yet), but when my '59 Ludwig Transition Badge Downbeat kit arives, I will most certainly break out the camera.
But back to what I was saying: jeez, you have some nice hats!

 

[DOUGLAS]

Thanks havershaw, right back at you. I have lusted over many of your hats. What I have in quantity you have in sheer quality. You have that special eye.
Would the Flagship be a 7-1/4 ?
Your drum collection is stunning as well. I have only kept one kit at a time.
A five piece Tempro kit in blue sparkle
Another four piece Tempro kit in Tiger stripes
A Five piece Vistalite in blue
A ten piece Roto Tom kit with eight octabons
A seven piece Pearl kit in red mahogany
A six piece Sonor-lite in Natural wood
and finally the five piece custom Modern Drum Shop in pearl white
It seems the older I get the more I enjoy playing the smaller kits.

 

[havershaw]

Douglas,
Thanks for the kind words. Your eye is not doing bad for you either.
I know what you mean about the smaller kits - but I think our concepts of that are a little different! I generally play 5-piece kits, and I'm getting more and more into the smaller sizes - 20" kick, 12" rack tom, 14" x 14" floor toms. They seem a little punchier and they allow my guitar players to not have to turn up as loud and then vocals seem to make it through the band a little better.
My Flagship is actually supposed to be a 7 1/8 - but it's pretty loose for being that. I generally sport a 7, but 7 1/8 works for me as well, and this one still seems kind of big even at that. But I'm not sure about it yet. Think I need to take some new pics of all my hats and see what seems redundant in my collection (that's what I generally do when weeding hats out).
In fact, if I get time to do that toward the end of the week, I'll post 'em on the Lounge here. I got some real beauties in the last two months that none of you guys have ever seen. I mean...some of these hats I just recently got are (in my opinion) the finest in my collection. Some of my old standbys are starting to collect dust (well, their boxes are, anyway).
I've never tried a Tempro, but I do have an Apollo in White Tiger Stripe. I also just sold a Star snare drum in orange tiger stripe which was a cool snare, but I bought those 59 Ludwigs and I sort of got ruthless on the price, so I really had to thin out the collection a bit. My favorite kits that I play most live are:
- 1964 Rogers in BDP (just got a virtually NOS Tower, 8-lug snare drum for it!) - I can use a 20/12/14 or 13/22/16 configuration, as I have all those sizes in that color
- 1957 WFL 13/22/16 with Super Classic snare in what used to be green sparkle but has faded to what I call "lime sparkle" - just finished restoring this kit - I have to take new pics of it. It's stunning.
- 1958 WFL 13/22/16 duco blue and grey enamel finish - I have three different snares for this kit - different sizes. I also have a 14" floor tom for this, too. Both of my floor toms for this kit are 60s Ludwigs, though - I've never found a 14" WFL tom.
- 1930s Slingerland Radio Kings - still one of my best recording kits. The only 24" bass drum I have and it records beautifully.
Those are the main four I use live, besides the white tiger kit which has been expetnsively for the last three months because it's kind of a crowd favorite.
But my new '59 Ludwigs are really something special. I don't know how well-versed you are in vintage drums...but they are Transition Badge Ludwigs in rare downbeat sizes - 12/20/14. not a really cool color - just black, which is not my favorite - but I've never had mahogany shells in those sizes, and mahogany drums tend to be my favorite. very dark and warm sounding.
OK, I've managed to bore half the folks on the forum. sorry.

 

[scotrace]

OK, I've managed to bore half the folks on the forum. sorry.

There's not the tiniest chance of that. Great to see you here.

 

[DOUGLAS]

Absolutely nothing boring about hats and drums:eusa_clap I've thoroughly enjoyed looking at your gear site. It is amazing. The size kit I use is 24x20 kick,12x10 tom, 14x14 and 16x16 fl.toms with either a bell brass snare at 5" or a Sonor 6" wood. I play rock and need the volume.
I would love to see the hats you've collected resently. You've baited my curiosity.

 

[havershaw]

Yeah, I agree. Hats + drums = expensive hobbies. I'm pretty good at sniffing out the deals, though.
Might be selling some more hats to acquire this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Leedy-Drum-Set-...ryZ38097QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A friend of mine (with a drum collection to rival mine) has a very similar kit to this - same era Leedys, anyway, and it sounds amazing. I've been looking for one that's similar to his, and this is it.

Is that a Tama bell brass snare? I made a record in LA once and they rented one of those. Pretty amazing sounding drums, but pricey.

Generally speaking, live, I use whatever snare matches the kit, but if I do swap out, I'll use my 1965 Rogers chrome over brass Powertone or my 1968 Ludwig Supraphonic. Those two snares are pretty much guaranteed to sound deadly no matter what they're paired with. in the studio, of course, I'll mix and match as the song requires. Generally speaking, I too play rock - the band I play for most often live requires one of two impersonations: Keith Moon or Ringo Starr (but more often, Keith Moon). this means I have to play a lot to stay in shape or I can't keep up with all of those fills. but anyway, if we play a place that mic the drums, I'll use a smaller-dimension kit and if they don't mic, I'll use a bigger one, and usually a brass snare drum (or a wood Rogers, since Rogers drums tend to be so bloody loud).

Luckily, being a producer and owning a fairly busy studio, I record a lot of drummers, most of whom choose to use my gear, so I'm proud to say that my drum collection sees quite a lot of use. I love knowing that all of these vintage drums are constantly being played and recorded.

I did just get a 1966 Rogers Tower snare drum in BDP, and I swear, someone used this drum for three months of drum lessons, then put it in a case and forgot about it. I've never owned a drum as mint as this. I'm actually afraid to play it! (No photos of that one yet.)

I gotta take some photos of the complete kits set up - much cooler-looking.
And I'll take some more photos of my hats as well. There may be an old thread with all of my previous hat photos - I can't recall - but if not, maybe I'll just do a new one with everything I've got (helps me to recall what's in storage!).

 

[Kentucky Blues]

Might be selling some more hats to acquire this

Please do! lol You always seem to get all the best hats (or at least all the ones I'm actually looking at ) And good luck with your big round noise maker things

 

[DOUGLAS]

Havershaw,The snare is an experimental model signed Kiplinger 86. It has DW hardwear and is stamped NOT FRAGILE. It weighs a ton, but it has a great tone and is very responsive for volume control and tuning.
Good luck on the Leedy and would love to see both collections.