DIY time: flip-over drum mutes by Pearl, and by Yours Truly

Yeah, I know. 

Technically, this is some kind of copyright infringement.

But since I don’t plan to sell mine, I figure no harm, no foul.

Pearl’s design retails for $25.

 

My copy, which cost less than five bucks in materials.

The idea, I think, is to muffle the worst of the overtone ring, which my design does pretty well.

I suspect making it with suede would work better as the suede offers more flexibility, but I can just play with the leather to work it a bit and eventually achieve the same result.

I noticed that in the customer reviews, someone said Pearl’s design was faulty because you couldn’t keep it from popping off the tension bolt when playing a rim shot or loud accent. My thinking is that ther user might be faulty because if you’re muting the drum, why would you 0ay, you know, loud?

It’s a good design, and works nicely on my new-old drum.

Shuffling along with LIDO (vintage sticks)

 

A recent find, these Lido 2B drumsticks date from probably the early 1960s.
                                             
       

Lido was a brand used on drums and sticks made in Japan during the late 1950s/early 1960s. But the catch -- and what makes it harder to research -- is the fact that one Japanese plant manufactured sticks and drums for Lido and a host of other budget-level brands, simply stamping the product with whatever brand was ordered.

For a model 2B the sticks feel rather lightweight, but the grain still suggests some kind of hickory.
There's a lovely patina to them, and only a tiny bit of wood has been worn away from one of the tips. They're decently balanced as a pair, and they play nicely on my vintage Slingerland pad.
They feel more like a large-tipped orchestral stick than a concert band stick.
Eventually, Lido and a few other budget brands from this Japanese plant would be subsumed into the Pearl Drum Company.