Drum History artwork

1920's Painted Bass Drum Heads with Jim Messina

Drum History

English - October 29, 2019 13:01 - 52 minutes - ★★★★★ - 218 ratings
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In the roaring 20's, drummers would have beautiful hand painted artwork on their bass drum heads that would be illuminated by a lightbulb on the inside of the drum. This lightbulb looked great but also served a very necessary function, as well..keeping the calfskin heads from going out of tune when the temperature changes!

Jim Messina is an icon in the vintage drum community and is the host and owner of Vintage Drums Talk. He is a long time collector and has expertise in many different areas, but in this case he shares his passion and knowledge about the painted bass drum heads with us.

Jim's Vintage Drums Talk website: www.vintagedrumstalk.com
Here is a link to Jim's video about these heads that we discuss in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYNSnyoXqRs
I highly recommend checking out his youtube page to see his coverage of the Chicago Vintage and Custom Drum Show, along with many other great videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq8_L90Sr8ER6nDDsCxoucQ

- Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily drumming videos! @drumhistory_podcast
- Please give us a rating and a review if you like the show. I love getting feedback from everyone and hearing how you like the show, get in touch and let me know what you want to learn about next!

In the roaring 20's, drummers would have beautiful hand painted artwork on their bass drum heads that would be illuminated by a lightbulb on the inside of the drum. This lightbulb looked great but also served a very necessary function, as well..keeping the calfskin heads from going out of tune when the temperature changes!


Jim Messina is an icon in the vintage drum community and is the host and owner of Vintage Drums Talk. He is a long time collector and has expertise in many different areas, but in this case he shares his passion and knowledge about the painted bass drum heads with us.


Jim's Vintage Drums Talk website: www.vintagedrumstalk.com

Here is a link to Jim's video about these heads that we discuss in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYNSnyoXqRs

I highly recommend checking out his youtube page to see his coverage of the Chicago Vintage and Custom Drum Show, along with many other great videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq8_L90Sr8ER6nDDsCxoucQ


- Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily drumming videos! @drumhistory_podcast

- Please give us a rating and a review if you like the show. I love getting feedback from everyone and hearing how you like the show, get in touch and let me know what you want to learn about next!