It’s only been 4+ years since my last post, and frankly, quite a bit has happened since July 2021. It’s mostly been one horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day after another, with the odd moment of peace, love, and sometimes even a bit of understanding popping up from time to time.

In the current moment, Canadian pride is at an all-time high, thanks to the actions of a certain unruly neighbour. So as an act of patriotism, I thought I’d share one of my favourite Canadian-made drums, which I picked up a few years ago from Dave’s Drum Shop (aka my local enabler). This month also happens to be this drum’s 20th birthday.

Pete Stanbridge has been hand-crafting exceptional drums using a variety of rare woods from his studio outside St. John’s, Newfoundland for 20+ years. If you’ve heard about Stanbridge Drums, it’s probably because of Pete’s collaboration with Todd Sucherman, which resulted in the Empyrean signature snare drum. Not So Modern Drummer did a long piece about what makes that particular drum so special, including step-by-step photos of the drum being made, and it really does represent the pinnacle of custom drum making.

Stanbridge drums don’t pop up for sale very often, so I was pretty excited when Dave posted this one on FB. It features a steam-bent single-ply cocobolo shell, with Pete’s famous segment wood hoops. It hit a lot of the things I was looking for at the time – a solid-shell drum, a type of wood shell that wasn’t in my collection already (and is rarely used in drum manufacturing), wood hoops, and made by a Canadian artisan. It was also the most I’ve ever paid for a single drum, although compared to some of Pete’s other creations, it was a bargain.

The drum itself is a work of art. The shell has a beautiful dark grain, and the wood hoops have held up really well over the past 20 years. The interior is just as beautiful as the exterior, and the edges are buttery smooth.

And here’s where the story gets a bit more personal and interesting. One of the things that drew me to the drum is the cocobolo shell – cocobolo is the same wood that the fifes we used in the Fort Henry Guard Drums were crafted from, and it felt like a little nod to my past. So I was pretty surprised when I discovered a few months later that Pete had also been a member of the Guard in the mid-80s.

I don’t know if Pete is still making drums in his little studio on the far eastern edge of Canada. His story seems deserving of a Heritage Minute that Canadians grew up watching – a master builder, plying his craft in a small town, and known globally for creating musical instruments at the highest level. I’m grateful that this one found its way to my basement, and hopefully I’ll cross paths with Pete sometime down the line to hear some stories about the Guard and working with some of the world’s great drummers.