Your shopping cart is empty!
MENU
This is a beautiful 3 ½” x14” Barry professional snare drum in very good condition. It is a rare drum sought after by orchestral players for its crisp and sensitive response. All parts are original except the gut holder for the strainer. The gut holder was missing so it was re-produced by altering another gut holder from the era. The shell has been re-painted to its original black color and all parts have been cleaned. The drum's cast Aluminum shell has 12 lugs with hex head tension rods. Regular drum keys will not fit but a ¼” nut driver can be used. The shell is in round but like many “vintage” drums, the heads fit tightly because the shell is a true 14” in diameter. The snares are original “Snappy-Wire” snares from the era with one strand missing. The drum is complete with a new Remo diplomat snare side head and an Aquarian batter head. As shown in the attached Barry catalog, snare drums were listed in both 3" and 4" sizes. The original calf skin snare side head, which is the thickness of a batter head, will also be included. It adds some interesting provenance to the drum. The head is patched and torn but a previous owner (perhaps the original owner) has written dates (1937-38) and play lists on the head. Our guess is that the drum was used in a small venue, where very light playing was needed, the owner played on the snare side head for a very dry and sensitive sound and also wrote the play list on the head to follow as they played a set. Although Barry snare drums and collapsible bass drums do show up once in a while, the small 3”-4” drums are quite rare. This drum was designed to fit inside a suite case along with the collapsible bass drum so the owner could easily carry the whole kit while riding the street cars to and from engagements. This drum is historically interesting as a circa 1919 to 1939 instrument made by a Philadelphia company that was one of the first in producing cast aluminum shell drums and collapsible bass drums. The other cast aluminum shell snare drum produced in the same time period is the earliest Slingerland "Geisler" model drum. The drum is a great player drum due to its great sensitivity and will make a terrific addition to any drum collection.
| General Characteristics | |
| Model | E-123 |
| Era | 1900-1928 |
| Condition | Very Good |
| Extra Holes or Modifications | None |
| Hardware Finish | nickel/polished aluminum |
| Drum Characteristics | |
| Color Group | Black |
| Shell Size | 3 1/2"x14" |
| Hardware Type | tube style lugs |
| Shell Construction | cast aluminum |
| Lug Count | 12 |
| Shell Finish | Black |
