PA LOVETONE DRUMS
They’re different, constructed for the connoisseurs of non-conformity.
PA Lovetone True Solid Snare Drums are one-piece log drums, seamless with no glue or adhesive to adulterate the sound. Make no mistake, our drums are not made from blocks (staves), ply veneers and are not steam bent.
Each drum is hollowed out of the very fibres of the tree itself and consequently take at least 3 years to make from freshly cut log to finished drum. Unlike many ply drums where the fibres can run around the drum, the fibres in our True Solid shells transfer the sound directly down the walls of the drum shell onto the resonant drum head. We have endeavoured to give the listener the purest tone possible.
They sound different also because the Western Australian timber has such a density and grain structure that makes it perfectly suited to producing some of the most distinguished snare sounds that can be heard. The suitable species of eucalyptus trees we use are very slow growing and most of them only grow in this part of Western Australia (WA).
River Red Gum Log*
Salmon Gum Blank Shell*
These drums are also works of art. The magic that can appear on the side walls of these shells in terms of grain structure and the variety of colours could not have been designed by human kind. It is nature at it’s finest. The owner will have the satisfaction of joining a very select and prestigious group of people who possess a snare handcrafted from one piece of Western Australian timber.
In addition each snare has its own story. Records have been made of where the original donor tree was growing and thanks to modern technology, the owner can actually use the GPS coordinates to see the drums origins online.
Knockin’ On Wood
They have a ring akin to a metal snare but with a prominent woody note and warm finish on the decay. They are extremely sensitive and articulate over a wide tuning range. There’s something unique about the attack, resonance and sustain that you can only get from a drum made out of these timbers in this way. The midrange in particular is exquistely rich and pronounced in comparison to alternative shell construction.
There’s love in the process as well as in the name.
Over 10 years of research and development has gone into ensuring that the final product is 100% stable and will stay that way. Extensive research has been undertaken to work out which species are suitable and which are not. Each snare has received at least 3 years of environmental controlled air drying. There are no shortcuts to this and it requires a high degree of patience. No chemicals or other methods of hastening the seasoning process have been used.
The Ultimate Recycling Project
Over the past few years we have developed a relationship with a network of highly sympathetic arborists that have been supplying logs mainly from dangerous trees cut down from private land in suburban areas or were being cleared for land development. Many would have been pushed to the side of a construction site, butchered into mulch or left to rot or be burned. The blanks are carefully chosen from trees that are arguably the ultimate recycling project.
100% Ethically Sourced Materials
We have been highly discriminating to pick only the very best logs from trees that have been cut from selected, healthy species that are stable and match strict growing criteria. Lately we have been supplied with logs from trees that have been collected for scientific studies. These Goldfield timbers are some of the most dense and hardest woods in existence. We have never and will never, fell a tree from a forest simply because we think it would make good snare drums. We use 100% ethically sourced material.
