3 Drum Kits, 14 Cymbals and 5 Snare Drums

Premier Drums. Made In England.



Pacific Drums.



Gretsch Blackhawk Drums.



Ludwig CS Custom Series Drums.



Downstairs at the Callbox Lounge.



Pork Bun Under Glass.

The Joe FranklinS - Percussion Overdubs 11/1/10 HesDeadJimStudios Queens, New York

Whilst Abusing Sleep Deprivation Artistically as a tool of inspiration and just plain The Freakin' Reality Of My Situation!!! (3 hours sleep folks) I commuted down to the studio for an early morning overdub session (slated for 9:30-10 a.m.) and we (Tom & I) worked quickly and efficiently speaking the same language of "EngineerEase" that Thomas and myself were schooled in agreeing marvelously on colour choices in the percussion department for the tracks we felt were in need of them,..... We worked well together with the minutiae and knocked off the overdubs (one or two takes) vocals notwithstanding (fourth take) into submission and satisfied in under two hours.



See the Guiro, She's My Hero.

I overdubbed Guiro, Claves, Tambourine and Shaker onto various tracks and Thomas even got a vocal performance out of me (final chorus of "Empty Walls") which is easier said then done. WELL,...... by reminding me of Peter Criss' vocal prowess (like a friggin' cat) on the KISS debut LP track "Nothing to Lose" whilst Joe likens it to a Paul (starchild) vocal we still got some more BROOKLYN accent into the recording. My coffee was decent and the music was soothing, the man in the deli was very polite as well albeit he was on the telefono at the time.





My minds ear heard a powerful, cracking snare drum a la Hal Blaine pushing the solo of "Another Brooklyn" along so I brought down the new DW Snare Drum for its recording debut.

Snare Some Change ? - Drums From a Life / DW Collectors Series Snare Drum

It brings tears to my eyes just looking at this pic.

L to R - Ludwig supraphonic (?) (serial number 255043 making it from Christmas 1965) Ludwig Accent CS Custom 6X14 (2009) DW Collectors Series 6X14 (serial number M566235) (10/21/10)

Ludwig - My second snare drum and my first Real snare drum (the previous was a twenty dollar jobby) was the metal vintage Ludwig that I purchased in 1982 along with five (maybe six) Zildjian cymbals and a five piece gold sparkle Ludwig Ringo kit for the unbelievable (even by 1982 standards) sum of $250 !!! These drums served me well and proved themselves roadworthy with the Sub Basement Blues Band (That snare has been onstage at CBGBs 3 times and L'amour once)

Ludwig Accent CS Custom - Once I started becoming professional on a regular basis (White Wedding) I figured it was time to get myself some decent drums of my very own instead of borrowing Doc Brown's very adequate Ludwig "School Bus Yellow" five piece kit and cymbals so I purchased a five piece Ludwig CS Custom Accent drum kit ($700ish) and a set of Sabian AAX cymbals ($800ish) at a later date. More than Nice and A Set For Life, The Ludwig CS snare drum has been on stage three times at B.B. Kings Blues Club in Times Square and has consistently made me proud and sound great for nearly one hundred gigs, Like I Said A Set For Life but frequent higher paying gigs made me strive for loftier goals. Is this beginning to sound like a Grimm's Fairy Tale ?



The House where I bought my first Drum kit on 58th street & 18th avenue.



The Drum department at Sam Ash on Flatbush Avenue where I purchased my DW snare drum..



After taking a blind taste test at Guitar Center (Union Square) I came very close to purchasing a Pork Pie snare drum (Tama was the close second) but kept eyeballing the unaffordable $600 DW snares off to the side.



With some prodding from J and deciding to eat my words and finally take my own advice "Do It Right The First Time" and in this case it was "Do It Right The Third Time" I bit the bullet and plunked down five and change ($520.39 MSRP $884.00) and did it right. Now we are Really Talking about a Snare Drum for Life.

The DW is seen above with its "Mag" throwoff switch in the "off" position.



3P Three Position Butt Plate (BWAHAHAHA), Oh Really



Numbered Lugs on a Drumhead ? (1 through 10) who knew ?



My DW Snare is sympathetic to Timbre Note B.



Of course we are talking features without foundation, I will be able to finally take the DW out for a morning drive with full ensemble playing this coming Wednesday evening with White Wedding so watch this space for more details as they develop. (see above 10/28/10)