Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Plugin Week 25
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Plugin Week A-Z
  • You Oughta Know
  • Fake AI band
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Wrecking Crew
Recommended reading
DrumCraft Urban Beats
Drum Kits “A good-looking kit which won’t break the bank”: DrumCraft Urban Beats review
Millenium Drums Legendary Drumbook
Drums “An extremely well-thought-out and all-encompassing piece of drum education”: Millenium Legendary Drumbook review
Millenium Drums book
Drums Millenium launches new book for drummers of all ages and abilities
Zultan Cymbals
Drum Gear "Crafted from Heritage. Tuned for Tomorrow": Zultan Cymbals celebrate their 25th birthday with a new high-end 25 series
Gretsch Limited Edition Paisley Penguin [left] and Honey Dipper Resonator: the Penguin dresses the famous singlecut in gold sparkle with a Paisley Pattern graphic, while the 99 per cent aluminium Honey Dipper makes a welcome return to the lineup.
Guitars Gretsch just unveiled one of the most decorative Penguins you'll see – and a super-cool resonator
DW SonicPly
Drum Gear Neil Peart called him 'the Wood Whisperer' and now he's blended metal and timber in DW's new SonicPly shells
Alesis Strata Club
Drum Gear With the same mesh-head playability and powerful new Strata module as its bigger brothers, Alesis Strata Club brings a new compact form to its best-selling range
  1. Drums
  2. Drum Gear

Vintage drum gear: George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

News
By Geoff Nicholls published 12 July 2012

A historical drumset dating from the early 1920s

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

Each month Rhythm Magazine tracks-down and checks-out vintage gear in order to marvel at a bit of drum-making history. Here we have a beautiful early-‘20s kit...

George Burt Stone was born in 1857 and became a well-known military-rudimental drummer in the Boston area of North America. At one time he led his own Stone’s Military band, but from around 1890 he devoted his time to building high quality drums and other musical instruments.

When he died in 1917 his son George Lawrence Stone carried on the company. Stone Jr went on to publish his classic Stick Control For The Snare Drummer book in 1935, still today an essential weapon in every drummer’s library. He taught many great drummers, notably Joe Morello, who extended Stick Control... into his own Master Studies.

Page 1 of 4
Page 1 of 4
George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

The kit was referred to in Stone’s catalogue as a ‘Combination’ outfit of a 26x12-inch bass drum and 14x5-inch snare.

Owner Dave Brown did however buy the snare and bass drum separately.

“I got the snare from Vintage Drum Centre in America back in 1996 and the bass drum on eBay about six years later,” he says.

The bass drum was used to lay it down for Happy Flint’s Black Panther Serenaders, no less. The snare is a Stone Master Model, ‘The Ace Of All Orchestra Drums’, with a shell made from solid rock maple with solid maple reinforcing rings and was ‘guaranteed not to split, warp or check’.

Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

Earlier Stone drums were finished in highly polished natural maple, but these are enamelled in black (white was offered as an alternative), and this ‘De Luxe’ finish was ‘recommended for stage, cabaret and hotel dance orchestras’.

Stone Jr moved the company from 47 to 67 Hanover Street, Boston, in 1922. Dave Brown points out, “Both my drums have the same paper tag inside the shells with the address of 47 Hanover Street, so they certainly can’t have been made later than 1922.”

The bass drum, which Dave says is ‘light as a feather’, has 10 full-length lugs, tensioned from the front end only, simultaneously pulling the batter side up. This was a familiar cost-cutting design early last century.

The calf heads were treated so as to withstand dampness. Inside the bass drum is a light bulb, also to combat cold and damp.

Page 3 of 4
Page 3 of 4
George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

George B Stone Deluxe Combination Stage Outfit

The snare has 24 nickel-plated alternating tension rods with direct pull, ‘free from side strain’.

Trouble is, as Dave explains, “It takes an hour to take a head off! You have to use a banjo key and can only do a quarter-turn at a time and then take the key off and do another quarter-turn. I’ve done it once and never again!

“The snare strainer glides on and off beautifully, though the original circular tensioning knob has gone missing. I can’t find any information about the Black Panther Serenaders. I’d love to know if any readers have heard of them.”

Vintage Gear continues each month in Rhythm Magazine.

Page 4 of 4
Page 4 of 4
Geoff Nicholls
Read more
DrumCraft Urban Beats
“A good-looking kit which won’t break the bank”: DrumCraft Urban Beats review
Millenium Drums Legendary Drumbook
“An extremely well-thought-out and all-encompassing piece of drum education”: Millenium Legendary Drumbook review
Millenium Drums book
Millenium launches new book for drummers of all ages and abilities
Zultan Cymbals
"Crafted from Heritage. Tuned for Tomorrow": Zultan Cymbals celebrate their 25th birthday with a new high-end 25 series
Gretsch Limited Edition Paisley Penguin [left] and Honey Dipper Resonator: the Penguin dresses the famous singlecut in gold sparkle with a Paisley Pattern graphic, while the 99 per cent aluminium Honey Dipper makes a welcome return to the lineup.
Gretsch just unveiled one of the most decorative Penguins you'll see – and a super-cool resonator
DW SonicPly
Neil Peart called him 'the Wood Whisperer' and now he's blended metal and timber in DW's new SonicPly shells
Latest in Drum Gear
Millenium Drums Legendary Drumbook
“An extremely well-thought-out and all-encompassing piece of drum education”: Millenium Legendary Drumbook review
Man jams with a guitar player and bass player on an electronic drum kit
These huge drum deals at Sweetwater are about to disappear – here’s your last chance to bag up to 60% off electronic drums, cymbals, sticks and more
Sleep Token drummer II Drumeo
“I’ve taken inspiration from the UK dance music scene": Mixwave put Sleep Token’s drummer in a plugin
DW SonicPly
Neil Peart called him 'the Wood Whisperer' and now he's blended metal and timber in DW's new SonicPly shells
Zultan Cymbals
"Crafted from Heritage. Tuned for Tomorrow": Zultan Cymbals celebrate their 25th birthday with a new high-end 25 series
Roland DrumLink
Roland's V-Drums go wireless for new simple and seamless WT-10 sensor and DH-10 hub DrumLink system
Latest in News
Jackson Pro Series Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT7 and HT7P
Misha Mansoor spills blood as a home shopping TV presenter to unveil new signature Jackson 7-strings
Ozzy Osbourne
“The greatest day in the history of metal”: Black Sabbath’s final mega-gig raised £140m for charity
David Guetta
David Guetta says he’s never played a pre-recorded DJ set, and can’t understand why anyone would think he has
Blackstar ID:X 50: The new combo from the British amp titan is described as "this is the most natural-sounding" modelling amp on the market.
Blackstar unveils ID-X combos – complete with 6 amp voices, over 35 effects, CabRig and OLED display
The Gibson Les Paul Music City Special – 50th Anniversary is a limited edition hybrid that combines the old Marauder and Music City Junior, and offers them in wine, tobacco sunburst and ebony finishes.
Gibson celebrates 50 years in Nashville with limited run twist on a cult electric played by KISS
PRS SE NF 53: the super-versatile bolt-on electric gets a long-awaited SE release, and here all three finish options – White Dog Hair, Black Dog Hair and Pearl White – are photographed in front of a pair of PRS half-stacks.
PRS remixes its NF 53 for the SE line – and it's a serious workhorse electric for under a grand

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...