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08/14/2005 Entry: "The Greatest Snare Drum Score of My Career"

I was browsing ebay the other doing what I do: looking for snares. I found this one auction. "Snare drum, stand, and case." That was the title. Opening bid? $50. It was what ebay calls a "Live Auction." That means some auction houses list their catalog on ebay. When they hold their live auction, the ebay bids are treated just like "order" bids. So I looked at this snare drum, and got a little tingle. It was a black, engraved, metal shelled drum. Some of you may be familiar with Ludwig's "Black Beauty." Same kinda deal. But it wasn't a Ludwig. I thought it was a Leedy. The lugs looked Leedy. Anyway, since it was a live auction, I had to register with the auction house; it's another step that sometimes turns regular ebay-ers away. I registered, and threw in some crazy low bid. $301.10 or something like that. Well, again because of the live auction aspect, I couldn't place a bid in that amount. I could do $300, or $325. Being the auction hound that I am, I knew never to take an round figure like $300, so I opted for the $325. Then, I pretty much forgot about it.

Imagine my surprise when I checked ebay Saturday morning (just for something to do, really, not checking the auction in particular) and finding out I'd won!!! There were two bidders. Guess where the other guy stopped? That's right, $300! That extra $25 paid off big time. After I came off the ceiling, I pulled out some vintage drum books I own. What I bought was a Leedy Black Elite, made between 1923 and 1925. When I posted my win on the Internet drum message boards, people went nuts! Mike Curotto (the guy who owns 5 of 7 known Ludwig Triumphal models) has alread offered to buy it off me! Here's one for sale, with all its black worn off. The guy's asking $1500! (Note the four screws used to hold the lugs on. Mine has only two per lug, making it an older model.)

I have never even really considered owning a drum like this. A $1000 snare drum? I'd never do it. I just wouldn't. I wouldn't spend that much. To this point, around $400 is the top end on what I'd spend. And that's still what I spent. But I what I got is just beyond me! I can't hardly wait for it to get here. I know some of you are rolling your eyes, or maybe aren't really reading--just scanning. But this, if I were to use the car analogy, would be like "Hey I have this old car for sale, you can have it for $1000," and when you get there it's a '55 Chevy. It's just crazy. For more info on the Leedy Black Elite, click here.

Posted by HARVEY @ 08/14/2005 09:31 PM EST