Gladstone Society A Lang Percussion Inc. publication serving owners and admirers of fine historical percussion instruments Volume 5 No. 3 Fall 2002 Lang Percussion to Sell Direct to Consumer We have all noticed the change in the way drums are being sold. With ebay, the big box stores and extreme discounters , the “List Price” on equipment is just silly. Every high school kid knows that he will not be paying the published price on everything from cameras to drums. The “List Price” of the Gladstones appears astronomic, although no one actually pays that price. We have decided to LOWER all of our prices and sell direct to our valued customers. (If you must go through a dealer, we can work that out). The new prices will put us in line with other high end manufacturers, although no one can offer the quality and innovation of the Gladstone Drums. |
| THIS & THAT I received two calls from percussionists in as many days, who stumbled into the “best deal in town”. On a routine shopping jaunt to Mars Music in Florida they noticed a Gladstone Snare Drum laying behind the counter. The salesperson told them that they were “leftover” from a large order that Mars had placed and they could have a good deal. One drum was sold for $500. and the other sold for $250. because it had a broken part. Now, for the “Rest of the Story”. In a moment of madness we tried to sell to Mars Music, since, at one point, they had 52 stores. They wanted an exclusive on the Gladstone Drums. I offered to give them an exclusive color, and agreed to make two 5” samples in gray (that was the buyer’s wife’s favorite color). About a year and a half went by without getting paid for the drums and not hearing from the buyer. After many faxes and unanswered calls, I finally received a check. The drums disappeared into the system, and I assumed were sold. After a rapid expansion and predictions that they would take over the world, Mars is in liquidation. The only good news is that there are two lucky drummer who got a great deal (the broken part has been repaired) and that I finally got paid. ******** Michael Gilbert, avid collector and fan, sent us two rare shells. One of Cocobolo and one of Wenge. Both were made by True North up in Canada. They both sounded and looked beautiful, but the Wenge is a strange, stringy wood. One of a kind! ******** In 1938, the year the first Gretsch/Gladstone snare drums were released, they sold for $100. The following appeared in the “1938 Almanac for New Yorkers”. “A nation-wide census of living cost completed last year by WPA indicates that only Washington and San Francisco, of 59 cities, are more expensive places than New York in which to maintain a family of four. To support such a family at a “maintenance level”, including adequate clothing and diet, a four-or-five room flat, a small radio and occasional movies, requires a yearly expenditure of $1,375. in New York.” That $100. drum (gold plating was extra) represented almost one month’s salary! Gladstones at work Phil Wilson (his day gig is pastor of the El Bethel Baptist Church in Twin City) played at the Emanu’Ole Opry at the Emanuel Arts Center. In addition to his 7” Lang/Gladstone he owns 13 vintage drum kits and 18 vintage snare drums: David Pasquarella, a very talented percussionist and drum builder, is teaching at Montana State this year, subbing for Brad Fuster who also own a number of Lang/Gladstones. Brad went back to USC to complete his Ph.D. We will soon have to call him “Dr. Drummer”: Richard O’Donnell performed Ionization with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland using all Lang/Gladstone snare and tenor drums: Steve Clarke with his London based band, NETWORK, released a new album, “Highly Committed Media Players”. Steve uses a 7” with cable snares in the band: At a faculty concert at Brooklyn College, Morris Lang, Brian Willson, and David Cox (7” black lacquer) used an all Lang/Gladstone set-up; a 6” with wood hoops and gut snares, a 4” Birch and a 15” military drum with calf heads and gut snares;Dom Falularo, that inspirational speaker and inspirational drummer, (5.5” solid Birch) writes, ”everyone who plays it loves it”: Juan Ubiera, Latin and all-around percussionist, has been using his 5” Walnut stain in his new church job: Tony “Funk” Alston tried out about ten snares before deciding on a 5” and a 6” copper shell, to use with “The Eternity Band”, a popular club group in the city. Morris Lang brought a Cocobolo to Kosa this year. |
What’s New at Lang Percussion ECO-LOGIC SOUND™ “What’s with the divers and the five hundred year old trees? It’s the latest gimmick, the flavor of the week. I wasn’t born yesterday, and after all, I am from Brooklyn, where they regularly sell the Brooklyn Bridge.” Well, as rare as it might be, I admit I was wrong. After making a number of birdseye Maple and a 4” Birch from the recovered wood, I have become an ardent fan. For those that have not heard the story: Starting in the mid-19th century, there was extensive logging on the shores of Lake Superior. Old growth forests were cut down to supply lumber for the construction industry. Trees were felled and rolled into the lake where they were strapped together and floated down to the sawmills. Some of the heaviest, oldest and most dense logs sank, and since the supply seemed inexhaustible, they were just left underwater. The cold temperature and lack of oxygen preserved the wood and leached out the sap and impurities. Some 100 years later salvage operations have brought up the logs. Some of the trees are said to be 300-1200 years old, with 40-50 growth rings per inch and beautifully figured. After research and testing the quality of the “Recovered Wood”, we are converts to its remarkable sonic qualities. It has been pointed out that Stradivarius had kept his wood under water for many years before fabrication. Washburn Guitars presented a new line at the 2002 NAMM Show, convinced of the superior acoustic qualities of recovered wood. Larry English, Washburn vice president, confirmed that recovered submerged woods “offer acoustic advantages to other comparable woods”. Aside from the musical and artistic benefits of the recovered material, the benefits to our ecology are evident. Using wood that was already harvested years ago will give our forests time to recover from decades of abuse- hence the name “ECO-LOGIC SOUND™”. What could be a better partnership: the best SOUNDING drums coupled with a SOUND ecology. ........................... We had a booth at the Atlanta Vintage Drum Show where we sold some drums and met a number of interesting collectors. Dean Embrich, who is a fabulous rock drummer, and who specializes in original replacement parts for vintage drums, purchased a 5.5 X 13” solid Craviotto Maple for his personal collection. We also met Charlie Benton who runs a museum of vintage drums and sets. Check out the site, drumlegends.com There was a wonderful article about our Millennium drum set in Vintage Drummer Magazine. The one-of-a-kind set was sold to John DiGiovanni, who wrote the article. Talk about a collectable- thanks John! The Craviotto supplier involved with the “Lake Superior” woods has gotten re-financing and is again selling recovered wood. As of this writing we have 5.5” and 6” birdseye Maple and 4”and 5.5” Birch Craviottos in stock. We are working on a number of chain drums and conversions, finishing a 31’” chain for the Ridgefield Symphony, a 26” & 29” for a customer in Japan and a 31” and 24” for Brooklyn College. Also an order from an old friend and wonderful timpanist, Charles Dowd, for 31”, 28”, 25”, 24” and 20” pedals. We have just finished the prototype drum set of the new “Animal” series which was used in a recording by Jerome Jowais. The solid copper shells are decorated with an acid burn directly on the shell, and no two drums look alike. It will sell for a very competitive price, and use some of the know-how that we have gained from making the Gladstones. I recently heard that Michael Bookspan has died of a heart attack. We were both in our teens when we first met at Juilliard, both struggling to learn how to play, to find our musical identities and to learn how to make a career in what we loved to do- play the drums. We were both kid drums set players and played every gig that came our way, be it club dates or symphony. Mickey got the job in the Philadelphia Orchestra few years before I got in to NY Philharmonic, and he played some 49 seasons. Mickey had bought a snare drum from Billy Gladstone shortly after starting with the orchestra. That drum must be about number six in the custom series. You can hear his artistry and care on many recordings and TV with the orchestra. He also taught at the Curtis Institute. |