Dating vintage practice pads

Some key points for those looking at old pads:

— Brown gum rubber may have been lighter tan. The only way to verify this is to peel back an edge and peek. Gum rubber that hasn’t been exposed to sunlight will retain more of a tan color. (If you accidentally pull off the gum rubber too far, simply glue it back. Spread a thin coat and roll a drum stick across the top to spread it evenly, turn over and weight down until dry.) 

— Mass produced, or homemade? How to tell? While it’s not an exact science, it’s worth noting that in the mid 20th century, a lot of Americans still knew how to work with simple hand tools and many did their home minor home repairs. The wood finishing here is just rough enough for this to possibly be homemade.

On the other hand, lower-grade wood was reserved by drum companies for things like practice pads, and the nicer quality planks 

That said, the small matching “feet” on bottom, and the clean cut of the round rubber and the edged wood top and bottom panels, both suggest that this may have been made in a local factory for a music store to sell. I’d guess a smaller, local outfit made it because of the lower overall standard of the wood used. (Most homemade pads wouldn’t be edged, and I’ve yet to see one with matching feet.)

— The larger 9 x 7” sized pads became less common in the late 1950s, as bigger drum companies sought to streamline pad manufacturing by offering fewer models. A smaller, standardized size would reduce the material required and cut costs. 

A pad that has no label or stamp can be harder to place, but I’d feel comfortable estimating this to be a smaller-scale, mass-produced pad from the late 1940s to early 50s. Happily, the rubber still feels great to chop on.

I can still play, so it's all good.

Dear readers: You may have noticed things going a little quiet here of late, so here's a little update, in fits and starts:

1. I was diagnosed, after a few months of difficulty, with Long Covid. I'll spare you the details, except to say that right now I am unable to work. I have a referral coming to get me into Portland's only Long Covid Clinic, and hope I will get some relief there. PSA: If you had Covid and your symptoms are lingering or reappearing, talk to your doctor asap.

2. I can still play drums, as long as I sit in one place. So every day I spend some good, productive and healing time chopping on a practice pad. Right now, it's more meditative than goal-oriented, and that's okay. I will share some of my Pad Music on Facebook from time to time. Here's my most recent.

3. I am preparing for another Industry Interview, this one with Brian Keithly of Ingrained Instruments, a custom and semi-custom stick maker creating some really beautiful drumsticks from ordinary and exotic hardwoods. He's been expanding his workshop and also creating a new web site, which is still in process. But you can check out his Facebook page and get a sense of why I wanted to interview him. Hopefully gonna happen in the next 2-3 weeks or so.

4. Because of the whole Long Covid thing, a great many of my warmer-weather goals have been put on hold for the time being, including rejoining the Unpresidented Brass Band. Rehearsals would be too much for me right now, and they understand that. Still, I have a little marching snare drum all set to go (that sweet little 13 x 11 tom that Kaleb at WestCraft Drums converted for me), and chopping daily on my pad has definitely brought some improvement.
Kaleb has also created a floor tom (from another 13 x 9 rack tom) to complete my drum kit. I'll show that off in a future post when I can set it up here in my studio.

5. I continue to research and study old, vintage practice pads. Here's one I recently acquired:

This pad which dates from probably the late 40s or early 50s is branded "Down-Beat". I don't think there's any connection to Ludwig's "Downbeat" drum kits, but I'm investigating that anyway. It's gorgeous and the rubber is still in good shape.

 

This may be a hard one to research but stay tuned. I think it's gorgeous and I'm glad to have it.

6. In order to make space for the things that matter in my studio, I have slowly been letting go of most of my more modern, marching-specific pads. They don't hold my interest as much and they take up a fair amount of shelf space. If you have a modern pad you're looking for, I may have it here, so feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading.
Happy chopping.

VIntage pad: 1960s Pep Pad

This is a recent find, a vintage Pep Pad from the mid 1960s, which I found in the original box.

Pep Drum Products, based in Kankakee IL, produced the pad for what seems to be a limited period of time.

A patent from 1963 is on file, and shows an anticipated expiration date of 1982. There doesn't appear to be any follow-up on file, and the patent permanently expired this year.

The pad is unremarkable in design, though the angle of the tilt seems to be good.





























The pad I found came in its original box, which is rare and cool. The box has been repaired with clear packing tape, which I don't mind at all as I'm not fussy about condition issues in my collection.

The pad itself is a solid piece of rubber and is still lively and offers good bounce for its age.

Playing the pad proved easy. There was plenty of rebound, but not so much as to take away some work from my hands -- which is generally how I like my rubber practice pads to feel.

A little video below gives you an idea of how well the pads works for its size and design.

(Apologies for the camera holder obscuring my right hand)

While it's still winter, I drum. A lot.

So with the late winter weather gracing the Portland area this month, it is SO cold out my knees can't handle a bicycle ride. I may hop a bus to the drum store later to just hang out and breathe the rareified are, but otherwise I feel no guilt staying put.

Now that I'm home from my songwriter touring for awhile, I need to prepare for the Passover holiday (you would not believe how much stuff has to be done in advance, and how crazy I and my fellow MOTs can get this time of year as a result). But today, I had extended time for drumitation.
Today's pad was my late 40's Slingerland Radio King (you may drool now) the sound and feel of which always make me smile.

The feel of this pad is wonderful, the rubber still has plenty of bounce after all these years and it sounds great. If you come across a similar pad, I suggest you stick with slightly smaller sticks. I'm playing here with some Jeff Queen sticks, which are smaller than the typical modern marching stick and very comfortable in my hands. I also like Firth's IMS-10 indoor stick, which is no longer made but can be found online for cheap ($4.50 plus postage on eBay right now and he's got a few pairs. If you can live with nylon tips they're a bargain at the price).  Makes a nice stick on older vintage pads, or a heavier concert band march stick for Sousa or similar. I'm tempted to get myself a second pair...

So I kept trying to get a clean video of this but kept forgetting a repeat on one of the camps. Finally, I put this one together, and since it was the cleanest playing I called it good.  (Recommend you check out Donka Drums, for an enlightening video on the difference between diddles in duple meter and triplet meter. It will open up your playing beautifully.)

Next week: Some new arrivals in the vintage sticks department. Stay tuned and happy drumming!

The Studio: a work in progress

When we first moved into our house the back room was used to hold Sweetie's piano, a Steinway baby grand from her grandparents.
Several years later, between jobs and hard up for money, she decided that she wasn't playing it enough to keep, so she sold it. The room became mostly a dumping ground for extra stuff.

Last year, tired of sharing the front room "office" with Sweetie (who works from home), I announced that I'd like to turn the back room into my music studio for teaching and composing.
Sweetie was relieved to get her office back, and I got some much-needed quiet space for myself.

Today the studio serves as both a teaching space and a creative space. It also allows me to display my vintage practice pads and sticks in a pleasing way that gets everything up off the floor.

I recently came into a collection of vintage sticks that required some re-pairing and cleaning. Once done, I donated the oddballs to a friend and created storage space for the remaining paired sticks.

I'm pleased with how it's shaping up.

The stick displays are available on Etsy, and I like them because they allow the entire stick to be seen easily. The only drawback is that oversized sticks (think 4S or bigger) won't fit in the holes.
I'm looking for a very small, adjustable height student desk, like the kind you'd find in a school.
I'd also like to find a way to store the guitars in their cases, to get them up off the floor -- if they fit in a closet, I might stow a couple of them in there.

Coming soon -- more research on some recent arrivals.
Happy drumming!