Craviotto 6.5x14" Solid Maple 2017 Prototype Stipplegold Snare Drum

Steve’s notes: This is a drum straight from my “Owner’s Vault”. We dug this one out just recently (I had totally forgotten we did this drum!). This was an experiment that we did many years back. This is a 6.5x14 solid maple Craviotto snare, 45/45 edges. I believe this was back around 2017. The idea here was to see if we could replicate the original Ludwig Stipplegold finish. Ludwig’s “Stipplegold” finish was from the 1920s-30s and was a gold paint, mixed with something to give it this textured look and feel. This finish was typically found on metal shell drums, but was sometimes used on wood drums. With Ludwig, the issue with this finish was that it would often flake off and just separate away from the shell in pieces. One of the Craviotto team had wanted to try this finish, so we said “sure, why not?”. It was a LOT of work, but the end result was actually extremely good and very much like the original in terms of color and texture. And, this drum has been around since 2017 and the finish hasn’t exhibited any issues. In the end, we decided that it was too costly to continue to do this finish, so we never made any other examples. This is a unique, cool piece, with a great back-story. And of course, it’s a Craviotto!