Stauffer Custom Drums & Percussion » 14″x5.5″

Black Label 30′s style Trap Kit

Dennis — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:16:50 +0000

With the recent Top Hat & Cane kit, we took it back to the 40′s with the finish and the 50′s with the hardware. Today we step back another decade to the late 20′s and mid 30′s with a true Trap Kit style build. Built with the goal of capturing the sound and style of the era with modern touches that make it tour-ready. The sizes include a 14″x5″ main snare, 14″x12″ field drum/snare, 16″x14″ floor tom/cocktail drum, 22″x10″ bass, and an 11″ traditional Chinese tom. The long list of custom touches includes pre-aged and inlaid wood hoops, an original 1920′s/1930′s Ludwig wood block, a clip-on tom mount, reproduction 3-point style strainers, low-boy hihat stand and much more. For a full run-down of all the features check out this kit-tour video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LolMfua4mGw Check it out:

Top Hat & Cane

Dennis — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:25:07 +0000

Today I’m keeping it old school with this special kit that has some awesome vintage details on it. This is the first kit to wear the new Steam Bent 1-Ply Shell round badge, and the first drums ever to feature the rare Ludwig Top Hat & Cane pattern accurately reproduced on Pre-Aged Marine Pearl. The results are nothing short of amazing, as we combined the best hardware and components the past has to offer with the best shells and craftsmanship available in the present. A few of the vintage highlights include the Ludwig Top Hat & Cane custom reproduced wrap, Rogers Swiv-o-Matic Tom & Cymbal Mounts, Slingerland Radio King style lugs, Stick Saver hoops, and a matching canister throne. A few of the modern highlights include steam bent 1-ply maple shells, Dunnett R4 strainers and Puresound wires on both snares, modern style Gull-Wing spurs, clam shell leg brackets and clam shell bass drum claws that match the classic Radio King profile. There are many more small details, but lets get to the photos as those are much more fun:

The sizes include a 13″x10″ rack tom, two 16″x16″ floor toms (Buddy Rich style), a 24″x16″ bass drum, a 14″x6.5″ snare with radio king lugs, and a 14″x5″ snare with tube lugs and solid-brass single flanged hoops, and a matching canister throne. Special thanks to www.Drummaker.com for supplying original scans and samples of the Top Hat & Cane pattern and using the unique Color Wrap process to get the pattern printed over the aged pearl, and the Grey Eagle for providing the perfect old-school listening room to take these photos.

Phattie in White Pearl, with a touch of Black

Dennis — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:14:00 +0000

This smooth Phattie setup features a 12″x8″ rack tom, 15″x13″ and 16″x14″ floor toms, a thumping 22″x20″ bass, and matching 14″x5.5″ snare. The finish is White Pearl with two thin Black Pearl stripes inlaid nice and flush, and right under the resonant-side lugs. Custom touches include the Dunnett R4 strainer, old school Ludwig mufflers in the toms and snare, black lacquer bass hoops with old school inlays, and the Phattie Racing-Stripe bass logo in black sparkle. Great looking blend of classic finish and modern touches, check it out:

Friday Flashback! G. Love on tour with 311…

Dennis — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:06:35 +0000

In the summer of 2003 G. Love and Special Sauce toured with 311 for a couple of months. Our friend and groove-master Jeffrey Houseman Clemens was rocking his first set of Phattie Drums in Green Sparkle. This kit featured a 12″x8″ rack tom, 16″x16″ floor, 24″x14″ bass, and two snares in 14″ and 10″ diameters. The 14″ was playing backup to the amazing ’50′s Ludwig you’ll see in the photo, and the 10″ was tucked to the left as a nice accent snare. After the photos is a DVD promo from about the same time/tour era, check it out for some cool clips of Houseman’s kit and a little look behind the scenes of life with G.

White on White built to rock…

Dennis — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:06:04 +0000

This kit was built for Patrick Haynes while he was touring with Straight Line Stitch. This Phattie kit features 10″x6.5″, 12″x7″, and 16″x14″ hanging toms, a 22″x20″ bass and a 14″x5.5″ snare. The custom powder coated hardware was matched to the high-gloss white finish, and the blue RKH logos add a nice splash of color. If you’re into heavy metal, you can check out the video below for some great footage of Patrick Haynes and this kit in action.

For those that enjoy some hard hitting music:

Gary Jackson of The Movement, talks about his Black Label kit…

Dennis — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:57:21 +0000

Gary has been rockin’ his Black Label drums on tour for about six months now. Here he lays down some nice beats at the Orange Peel for us. Recorded on a Zoom Q3 with no effects or post-processing, they sound great:

New Black Label snare for The Movement

Dennis — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:41:28 +0000

Gary Jackson of The Movement just picked up his 14″x5.5″ Black Label work-horse snare while they were stopped over in Asheville. This is the standard “work horse” model featuring a 100% maple shell, 8 Radio King style lugs, 2.3mm hoops, wrapped finish, and the Dunnett R-Class strainer. Tunes up very nice, check out our youtube link to the left for some clips of this snare in action, and check out TheMovementVibe.com to hear more beats from Gary and his Black Label drums.

A little blast from the past…

Dennis — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:26:49 +0000

Been feeling a little nostalgic this week, having crossed the 10-years-in-business threshold recently. So for today’s good times, here’s a shot of my first kit I bought myself back in the day. I believe they originated in the factory that eventually became Pearl. Japanese imports with Slingerland knock-off hardware, and a very faded Red Glass Glitter finish. 12″x8″, 16″x16″, 20″X14″, and a 14″x5.5″ snare. Found them in a classified ad from a pawn shop around 15 years ago, and to this day they still get a little stick time.

Black Label Jazz Kit in Burnt Sienna Satin Lacquer

Dennis — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:44:16 +0000

This kit was originally built for the Nashville Vintage & Custom drum show last summer. It was a real hit at the show, with the Satin Lacquer finish really showing off the grain of the wood against the vintage Radio King style hardware. The sizes are 12″x8″ rack tom, 14″x14″ floor tom, 18″x14″ bass, and 14″x5.5″ snare, all to standard Black Label specs (8-ply maple shells, 30-degree bearing edges, diecast hoops, Radio King lugs, etc.). The addition of a Gibraltar rail mount and the t-handled bass drum tuning rods really pulled together the vintage vibe on this one, check it out:

Welcome in the new year, with this Sounds Like Art gem

Dennis — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:56:08 +0000

As 2009 slips away and we jump into 2010, lets go out on one of my favorite snares from this past year. This is a Sounds Like Art snare, Series I. The shell started out as a 1″ thick maple stave shell, and was precision carved to what you see below. The lugs are a custom machined art deco design with solid brass tuning inserts, the hoops are Slingerland Stick-Saver reproductions, and the strainer is the Dunnett R-Class. My favorite feature of this drum was the paint job. Created using Dodge Viper Silver Metallic as a base over the wood working, it was then sealed and coated in Toyota Scion XB Black, which was antiqued to get a nice weathered effect, and then clear coated in a high-gloss. The final drum is an awesome work of art, the photos really don’t do it justice…but here’s a farewell to ’09, and a big Happy New Year to all: