Ludwig VINTAGE 5" x 14" "Rat Rod" Snare Drum
From the Kline Drums Archive
This drum has found a new home, but it remains part of the Kline Drums story. This is a drum I previously built and sold — preserved here as part of the archive of instruments that have come out of my workshop.
We'll just call this one a happy accident, I guess...
This is a late-'70s (maybe early-'80s) Ludwig Supraphonic LM400—one of those classic chrome-over-aluminum snares. This era of Supraphonics was notorious for the chrome flaking off, and at some point a previous owner decided to bondo, prime, and spray-paint this one gold... with less-than-optimal results.
What's the story with this drum? When we acquired it, I originally planned to quickly sand the finish smooth and give it a coat of "hammer-paint" just to make the drum presentable. But after that initial sanding, I started thinking it looked pretty cool just as it was—kind of like a half-done street rod. So I left it that way and gave it a coat of clear satin finish to toughen things up a bit. The final addition was a set of new heads and Gibraltar 3.0mm flanged hoops, giving the drum a little more heft for cross-stick and rim shots. There is some pitting and a few dings on the lugs, along with some rusty screws, but honestly, it all adds to the look. The result is a great-looking version of that classic Supraphonic sound—and a good example of why I enjoy working on these older drums. Sometimes the best result is the one you didn't originally plan on building.
Every Workbench Series drum begins as just a collection of components. Each drum is carefully curated, by me, and built as a unique one-off instrument, every piece waiting to find the right partner, each with its own voice and character
— all combined into an instrument that is unexpected yet still familiar.
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