Noble Cooley Reissue

[pjdrums96]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

One thing that I have learned is to never say the word "never." Eric, there were thousands of drums made during the war and to really be able to comment on an item like gut is a little far-fetched. I do agree with you about the materials used to make the drum look like the original, as opposed to the paper trail they followed in terms of the wood. I was also there at Gettysburg and gave Jay Jones my two cents about the ears, rope, heads, and shellac they use to finish the drums. It is apparent that they did not really want to change anything.

Speaking of eagle drums, here are some pics of a set of drums I am making for Camp Chase. Copied from my original 1863 C&F Soistmann.

Patrick Jones

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

They're even better looking in person.

But Patrick, you gotta give credit to the company who made the shells and hoops and the artist too!

Speaking of eagle drums, here are some pics of a set of drums I am making for Camp Chase. Copied from my original 1863 C&F Soistmann.

Patrick Jones

[4VADRUMMER]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

Patrick, I was not saying "they never had them" I said I've never seen one. One thing I've learned in research of civil war items is there is really no general rule. With all the various contractors making tens of thousands of items for the government there is always inevitably lots of wiggle room.

Those eagles are gorgeous pard! Very nice indeed!! How many hours are you putting into one of those?

[pjdrums96]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

Eric,

We have not really kept track of the actual painting time. I think the time it takes to paint is less than the time it takes to let each coat dry. Michael Kraus has been an integral part of this project and without him, the artwork would not have turned out half as nice.

Will, I was not implying that I made these drums from scratch, it was more a side-note to Eric's comment about eagle drums. I did not want this to turn into a thread about our drums, that is why I left it as is.

But, it is interesting that you bring up the point of giving credit. Noble and Cooley seems to have been one of the few drum manufactures that actually made all the wooded components of their drums; hoops, shells, and reinforcing hoops. There are many original drums in circulation with a Horstmann Brothers label, but that company never "made" a single drum, they were merely a supplier. Even C&F Soistmann contracted out some of their shells. Not to mention all the other components it takes to make a complete drum, many hands were involved when they had a contract to deliver 1,000 drums.


Patrick Jones
Camp Chase Fifes and Drums

[Luckiduc13]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

They should have sourced their rope through Will and got that kick butt hemp rope that is dead on to the original. Again, I mentioned that to them in Gettysburg in 2008 and it went in one ear and out of the other apparently. Looks like they are using that cotton cooperman rope that cooperman likes to call linen, yeah ..... Right it's cotton sorry to burst their bubble.ed. It has a lot of grey runs in it.

The rope looks ok to me. Not sure where they are getting it.

[4VADRUMMER]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

Yeah, the close up looks like hemp rope for sure. Definatley not that cotton rope cooperman sells.

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

Yeah, the close up looks like hemp rope for sure. Definatley not that cotton rope cooperman sells.

N&C is using the same polished hemp rope I had shipped over from France. It was hard to tell because of the camera flash.

I am pretty sure the slightly off-white rope Cooperman sells is indeed linen, but it is bleached. Cotton would stretch too much to be used on a drum. I can see the confusion though; it's hard to distinguish between natural fibers sometimes. For example, R&W Rope Warehouse was selling what they called 5mm hemp cord, and as soon as somebody found out how nice it was, there was a rush from the drum collectors to buy all their remaining stock. I got the last 100 feet or so from the last spool. When they got another shipment I ordered more, expecting the same product. When I called to complain that they sent me something different I was told that the rope actually "had some flax in it" and that explained why it was so smooth compared to the hemp and that they wouldn't be getting anymore. In other words it was either unbleached linen or a unbleached linen/hemp blend. I even contacted the manufacturer in the Netherlands. They had no idea what I was talking about.

I still think most period drums originally were issued with hemp rope, although Howe talks about selling rope being made with "the finest linen shoe thread" or something like that. So some fancier drums probably had linen rope. I wouldn't blame the modern drum makers for using linen. You can blame the laws of the United States. But I think today just like 150 years ago, linen was mostly imported. I don't think much flax was grown domestically.

Here's a couple spools of polished hemp rope.

[Fred F. Griffin]

Re: Noble Cooley Reissue

Will, Thank you for sharing your expertise. I really enjoy reading and learning about Civil War drums. I appreciate it.

Fred F. Griffin