Single Tension Drums
Every month, Modern Drummer sends me readers' questions for
their feature, "It's Questionable". Quite a few nowadays, have
pictures of single tension drums, and some of those are even rope tension
models.
Some drums have interior labels, some have decals, and many
have no identifying marks at all. I look at the thumbrods, the clips, the
strainers, the grommets and quite often, guess.
There are two problems
to overcome. The first, is that single tension drums are not really worth much.
The inability to tension each head to a different (i.e. specific) pitch is a
detriment. So, these drums are really- museum pieces, collector display pieces,
or just conversation pieces. I am not in favor of destroying them or changing
them by adding lugs. I am merely in favor of recognizing what they are- stepping
stones to better products.
The other problem is that back in the last
part of the nineteenth century and all the way to World War I, there were lots
of little drum makers. That's really true today, too!
It's hard to
value the products from "cottage industry" drum manufacturers. They
were just too small.
We just try to record them and see what we can
learn from the next round of inquires.
If you'd like to learn more
about the Golden Days of American Drum Manufacturing, I invite you to order my
book for Modern Drummer. It's called The Great American
Drums ! Email us for details. | |
