Schenk Drum Works

Schenk Drum Works air vent 2.0. This is my newest take on the wood air vents I made for my first drum set back in 1995. Birds Eye maple with abalone inlays. So beautiful!

Just finished this beautiful snare. Special thanks to John Haddad at Cherry Hill Drums for the segmented curly Purple Heart shell. I finished it with a purple candy lacquer to accentuate the incredible color and figuring in the wood. W.odd Drums in Serbia supplied the killer lugs and inlay guidance. This 6.5” x 14” beauty sounds and looks amazing!

Now for something completely different! This is a 5.5” x 14” 6 ply maple/gym/maple wood shell. It has maple reinforcement rings, and is wrapped in a super killer wrap I had assembled by Precision Drums. 8, center mounted lugs. The throw off is a Dunnett Roto-style. The hoops are chrome plated brass. And the baseball bat muffler really rounds out the vintage features of this snare. The sound is crisp and warm with a nice open, bright overtone. Perfect for jazz. Yet can be used in any music style. I finished this on my birthday. So I’m calling it the “Birthday Jazz Snare”.

I can finally share my latest projects. This is a Maple/ gum shell with an outside veneer of birdseye maple. The shell has unique reinforcement hoops with round over internal edges. The interior is also sprayed in a light white paint to mimic the early Ludwig drums. It is finished in a deep red fall fade. Many thanks to Adrian Kirchler for supplying the hand built and engraved single fl**ge hoops. And W.Odd custom drums for the throw off. These parts really make the drum incredible, while also taking the vintage jazz sound to another level. The lugs are my own, hand machined hex lugs. This was built as a surprise birthday gift for a major lover of jazz drumming and vintage drums. I think the combination of materials and parts has brought together a nod to the past with modern techniques and parts that would make any jazz drummer happy. It was a total joy to build!

New hex lugs polished and ready to be installed!

Finally giving “The Ace” a test drive. It did not disappoint!

“The Ace” is nearing completion. If you know you know. 🙏

My newest drum set is coming along nicely! Freshly polished and ready for hardware mounting. I can’t wait to see and hear this beauty!

It’s always bittersweet to see one of my projects leave the shop. I put so much into these drums. This one includes the very first set of SDW hex tube lugs. It’s a design I’ve had in my mind and on paper for over 20 years. The sweet part of seeing a drum leave my shop is knowing that it’ll be loved and played for many years to come. It’s a very gratifying feeling! And it pushes me to keep building and chasing my dreams. No matter how long it takes.