Ive only seen one banded Valje, that was strapped by Tom Flores himself before leaving the shop.
The first one I saw was made of walnut, and had Valje like hand welded hardware.. I believe one of Toms first drums, which is owned by an older cat who lives in Oakland. He said he bought it on the street, from a guy named Tom in LA.. too funny.
I wish I could post pictures of that drum.. in fact I may have, I will look, but this is most likely a very early drum itself.. perhaps on of the first made of white Oak, a material he would run with for the rest of his life.
This drum is on up for sale on a popular auction site, good luck!
(upon further review.. perhaps these bands were retro fitted by matt smith.. here is apic of an old banded valje, and looks like he used thicker bands.. more info to come...)
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Greeting Tony. I hope that you are doing well. You know I was wondering if Matthew put the bands on on this beauty or are they originally from Tom. I know that he did put bands on some of his early drums but the person selling this one sayd that Matthew restored it, what do you think?
ReplyDeleteHello Juan,
ReplyDeletePerhaps Matt did put the bands on this drum.. does kind of look like his work, except the supporting screws are not lined up in a straight line, and there looks like there is a small gap between the shell and band.. usually Matt locks them tight and has the screws lineup, but Id like to know if you hear more details...
I do know it was from the old LA shop and looks like an early one at that, from the quarter sawn wood selection...