DRUMMER CAFE

First post, hello everyone.

I have a 1940 Ludwig set which consists of a 28" Kick and a 14" Snare. just those two things, i have a satisfying hi hat from the 70's and a really terrible ride that i need to replace. I came into the bass and snare from my grandmother, who gave them to me a few years back. they belonged to my grandfather, who passed away before i was born. he bought them brand new in may of 1940. they have the original calf-skin heads on them. I play other instruments, but i have to say that i love playing drums the most (though i'm passable as a drummer, i could stand to be a whole lot better) in a live band. i feel like i 'm the one who gets to guide the energy. anyway...

i want to replace the drum heads (especially on the bass) and see what can be done to improve upon / resurrect the sound. i've tried putting a small blanket inside the bass but that only muffled and muddied it too much. another problem is the resonance - loud and bombastic as this bass drum is, it "rings". i have an old clamp-on mute that i use on the outer head, it helps a great deal, but not 100%. The snare is pretty much awesome, but resonates a great deal too. that isn't hard to control though, my concern lies with the bass drum.

i don't know much about drum physics per se, but i do have a good ear and know what i want and don't want out of it. so my questions are:

What can be reasonably expected out of drums like these?
What should i be looking for in new drum heads (besides size)?
What can i do to control / shape the sound?

thanks

thanks!

they do tend to turn heads when played, and they have been well taken care of. and will continue to be, as long as i know what i'm doing

Do you have to "special order" a 28" head?

i'm sure i'm not the only one who's heart flutters knowing you've got a ludwig kit from the 40s.  provided the shells are round and not cracked, you should be golden.  28" head s aren't impossible to come by at all. 

coated ambassadors all around, a small blanket in the kick, and as Chris Whitten said, a nice light snare head-- you might want to replace the snares as well.

enjoy it!  and save the orig heads-- calfskin is outrageously expensive these days.

overwhelming response - thanks everyone.

well, i've found that 28" drum heads are quite easy to come by and average about $34 - $65 a head. Remo and Evans seem to have the most diversity of heads in that size.

The drum itself, for those who are curious, looks good. not great, but good. the paint is a bit cracked here and there which i suppose is to be expected for an old wooden circle expanding and contracting over the years with seasonal temperature change (it was stored in my grandmothers attic for about 50 years of it's life). There is a patched square hole on the bottom of the drum where there used to be a light inside of the drum. I'm not thrilled about that, but it seems to have zero effect on the drum aside from aesthetic appeal, and like i said it's on the bottom. i guess i could take a picture, but i sold my camera... i'll put up a link to a photograph...

http://danielh33.googlepages.com/0312081401.jpg

i apologize for the poor quality photograph. There is a painting of the ocean at night on the front drum head.

From my old tired eyes it looks like the bass drum is more yellow on the band around the drum than the snare is. The snare band looks to be more silver. Or is it just the quality of the picture I'm seeing? Or just maybe he had the snare stored and used the bass drum in a smokey old bar or barn dance? Or even town parades? The ride cymbal looks to be tightened down a bit much in that picture. No idea about the high hat cymbals. Should check those also. I would definately put that bass head aside somewhere. Pretty classic art work the way I see it. I had old drums like that when I was transfered to the Army band. They disappeared very quickley. They were great sounding old drums. I'd go around both drums with a tape measure and check to see how round they are. The tape won't lie, keep records of those measurements for future use. Then you can tell if anything has moved since you last checked them. When you take the heads off them, look for any nicks or gouges. Just a little wood putty will fill in any little chips on the edges. Just a little, then sand the filler with fine sandpaper. Just enough to fix any nicks, but don't overdo it. That's as bad as not enough. Once you put on new heads fine tune the drums. I can do it by ear, but prefer using a Drum Dial. Just quicker and easier, especially for someone inexperienced at doing something like that. Great looking old drums, enjoy them. I'm very happy for you. 

The larger bass drums were typically used by Big Band or Swing Era drummers. That was definitely 1940's.
The Be-Bop era reportedly started around 1945 with some early recordings, but I think it was more a 1950's thing, which is when the Gretsch 18" bd, 12" & 14" tt combo was very widely used.

You can get a Remo Fiberskyn in 28" with a built in muffle ring around the outside edge, which will tame the 28" characteristics a little. I just bought two for my civil war marching group.