Folks will be hitting the roads soon to head for Chicago, thought we should summarize where we are, thank some folks, and say well done to all.

First thanks have to go to Edog. He's provided us one hell of a playpen.

A big old thanks, and a lifetime Poopypants Seal of Approval has to go to Jim Feck. He gave us the idea, hearded the cats and made all this work so much more smoothly than anyone in their right mind would have guessed it could. Organized, driven, hard working and reliable, it's no damned wonder Jim's business is a success.

Thanks to Jeff Hankin for finding the Sweet Relief folks. Linking to an established and trusted not-for-profit allowed us to spread this effort well beyond Ghostnote, to the benefit of Dennis' family.

Thanks to the builders who have assembled by my count 34 snare drums, 2 full kits, a cocktail kit and a cajon. This has to stand as one of the most stunning collections of custom drums ever assembled. Every one of them is a beauty. Here are the builders:

Animal Custom Drums; Kurt Aslett; BA Drumworks; Bellwether Stave Snare Drums; Biohazard Drums; C and C Custom Drums; Carolina Drumworks; Caulkie Custom Drums; Chicago Custom Drums; Cold Mountain Drums; Crockett Tubs; Daville Drumworks; Detroit Custom Drum Company; Dynamicx Drums; Ghostnote Drumbuilders’ Cooperative; Heirloom Drum Company; IJ Drums; JM Smith Custom Drums; Laatz Custom Drums; Lady Luck Drums; Lewi Custom Cajons; Lexlord Drums; Tommy Maras; Mine Lot Drumworks; Oasis Drums; On The Edge Drum Services; Paradigm Drums; Jimmy Poplin and Mike Pflieger; S and S drums; Shand Drums; Treehouse Custom Drums; Tombstone Drum Company; Wood Drum

Hope I didn't miss anyone.
Keller Decorators? I don't think so. This collection is a mix of shell materials, construction methods and hardware, and represent damned near the entire spectrum of drum building today. The craftsmanship, design skills and attention to detail displayed here are all second to none.
We Buildz 'Em!

Parts and supplies, you gotta have them. Hardware isn't cheap. Lots of folks stood up to offer help. The builders listed above dipped into their own supplies, and these folks stepped in to supply their wares:
Chris Kennedy: Quick Action Drum Lugs
Eric Sooy: Drumfoundry, Dynamicx, Black Swamp
Bob Hand and Robert Guthrie: Allstar
Matt Wille: Drumfactory Direct
Jody Lutz: Stellar Drums and Hoops
Thanks to all these guys. Best way we can thank them is to buy their stuff, do so for your next build!

An effort like this needs something to identify the collection as a unit. The badges and tags did just that. Very professionally and tastefully done, these items really help tie things together and look GREAT on the donated drums. Those who helped out here were:
Josh Smith, JM Smith Custom Drums: Stauffer tribute and Ghostnote badges
Shannon Edens: Hang tag design
Frank Corl: Ghostnote badge design

The badges accurately, and proudly, identify this as a Ghostnote effort. They do so in a reserved way, with taste and authority. I can I think speak for all the builders that we're all quite proud to have these on drums we've worked on.

And thanks to all the Ghostnote folks who spread the word, helped raise the interest, and most importantly, contributed to the cause.

I'm sure we'll see a kick in contributions at the show, once these drums are all assembled as a group, in person. I sure can't wait to see them all! Keep the buzz going online and wherever y'all gather with drums.

Such a great effort is a real tribute to a guy who we all admired, looked up to and learned from.

Hope everyone's travels safely, see ya'll in Chicago.

This is the snare that Allstar donated. They provided the thin 5.5x14" aluminum shell and arch lugs w/polished stainless tubes, DFD donated the remaining hardware. Bob, of Allstar, bought and donated a Humes & Berg bag (not pictured). I painted the sides of the lugs gloss black and then polished the aluminum detail that runs vertically on the face, the shell is flat black.

I took some photos yesterday before putting it in a FedEx truck, this is the first one. I asked Vaughn if he would be willing to edit the images which he was happy to do. I just got this one back he is still working his photochopping wizardry on the rest. Either Vaughn or myself will be posting a few more as soon as he is done with them. Thanks Vaughn!

Enjoy! And congrats to the lucky winner of this and all of the other incredible donations. I am glad that I have been able to contribute to this build and the Stauffer family. I am proud to have a little of my work sitting among so many beautiful drums from so many talented builders. Thank you.

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Here it is coming down to the wire. 7x14 Aged White Pearl with Red Mahogany satin stain wood hoops with .5 Aged White Pearl inlay. The hardest part about doing this tribute snare was trying to figure out what to make. I spent some time looking at all his drums online, and came across a Black Label snare. I knew right there I wanted to make a drum similar to that for this tribute. His original black Label was 7x13 and had brown satin hoops instead.

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This is the first head that I've bought from Jim and he did a FANTASTIC job. It looks exactly the way I submitted it. He also got it to me before he closed up shop in lieu of the trip to Chi-Town. Class act.

Our guitarist's brother in-law drew the praying figure as their logo a few years ago and I took that and designed the head in Photoshop. I'll probably take another picture once it's on the kit. It's going to look awesome with the color of my set.

Thanks again Jim!

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