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Legacy Drum (long story)
6.5 x 14.5 ambrosia maple snare drum. Out of the blue I was contacted by a person that said he was a custom drum maker and he had visited my website. He educated me in that most quality durms were steam bent Maple with some sort of sparkly overlay on top. He asked if I had a better idea for a top end drum that would still sound good without using a veneer for a more of an "artsy" look. My suggestion was to create a solid wood drum created from glueing precisly cut staves. If maple was the standard for sound quality, so be it. Lets at least choose a maple that looks good without having to cover it up with veneer, thus I chose ambrosia Maple. When he asked my price, I made him aware that I had a 17 year old son that was seriously into percussion instruments and was seeking a college schoarshp in music education. I made a deal with him that I would turn two drums. One for him and one for my son. We would split the cost of the wood and hardware, I would do the turning, and he would assemble the hardware. It was a challenge especially from a chucking standpoint since both ends are open and the measurements and edge bevel angles had to be 100% precise. The bottom line is that he sold his drum for $800 and I gave mine to Billy for graduation. He wept openly when he saw it. By the way, he recieved a four year scholarshp to play in the Pride of the Southland band at the University of Tennessee starting next year. Sometimes we take for granted this talent we call woodturning. This was a lesson that it is truely a gift from God as this is a treasure (made by his Dad) that will be apart of my legacy for many generations to come.
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