Charles Sandford's timber-crafting expertise helps ex-The Reels drummer Stephan Fidock produce some of the finest drums on the planet.
When Stephan came to us with his vision for creating the highest quality drums for studio and live performance, he didn't know that Charlie's other passion was music. But the fact that Charlie is as comfortable playing fiddle in a Cajun band as he is turning wood on a lathe brought an added to dimension to our understanding of the task at hand.
We started by producing two snare drums to Stephan's specifications, and then worked collaboratively to identify the best technique for creating wooden hoops for the drums. In the end, we established a process for steam-bending the hoops in two halves and then bringing them together with finely detailed finger joins (look closely at the snare pictured below and you can see one of them in the centre of the bottom hoop). This technique was adapted for other kinds of drums, eventually bringing together complete drum kits.
Working through options for drum fabrication with Stephan Fidock (centre).
Fidock Drums are now available in various combinations suited to different musician's requirements. They're also available with steel hoops, but a fundamental point of difference for the Fidock brand are our wooden hoops – made from the same tonal timber as the shells, they deliver exceptional strength and resonance.
Fidock Drums' 5-inch snare crafted from fiddleback blackwood.
Stephan Fidock's drums have received rave reviews all around the world and are used by leading drummers in a broad range of musical styles, both for recording and for the stage. They're still completely handmade, and we still love making them. (And if you want to know more, here's a video of Stephan talking to Brian Nankervis about the drums for SBS's RocKwiz Road Stories.)