The Fibes SFT 690 "Black Beauty" Snare Drum

In 1966, Bobby Grauso and John Morena founded the Fibes Drum Company. The shells were constructed of fiberglass which was revolutionary for the time. Clear shells were offered along with solid fiberglass shells covered with wraps. In addition, a sprayed on finish called Fivel was featured in the early Fibes catalogs.

The flagship snare drum of the Fibes Drum Company was the SFT 690. In fact, it was the only snare drum offered by the company. In a previous blog (See January 27th), I spoke at length about the 5 1/2 x 14 SFT. It was, and still is, a fine musical instrument. And it has enjoyed a great run. No less an authority than the great Buddy Rich played one even while he was endorsing Slingerland.

Bur Fibes didn't sit on its laurels, so to speak. The company started offering different wraps and different shells. Actually, the shells were still fiberglass, or Crystalite as they called it, but the company began to fiddle with the look. They came out with a " bumpy" or dimpled shell that looked frosted when held up to the light. Fibes also made a solid black acrylic shell, which brings me to the drum you see pictured above.

Perhaps the best way to describe this drum is to quote from a Fibes Ad in Downbeat Magazine, dated March 14th, 1974. The ad is titled, "Bobby and the Black Beauty." The copy reads as follows. "Our new Fibes drum is a beauty, but it's black. Black like you've never seen black. Made with our regular Cystalite shell, but with a difference, the color has been impregnated internally so that scratching of its high gloss blackness will never occur. We're proud of the Black Beauty and proud of Bobby Grauso, who thought of black being beautiful on a drum."

Now it's important to remember that this is Ad copy. When one thinks of a Black Beauty, one thinks of Ludwig, not Fibes. Nevertheless, up to this time, black wraps were used to cover drums. There were no solid black shells, although Fibes shells were made of black fiberglass.

Clearly, this was an attempt to sell more drums and drum companies, since the beginnning of time, have been trying to do that. More importantly, this is a very fine sounding snare drum in the rare 6 1/2 x 14 size. The drum is loud, but very sensitive and very similar to her smaller sister.

I haven't seen many of these and I suspect it was not a sales success. Still it's a important drum from the golden age of American Drum Companies.

Fibes SFT 690 Snare Drum

As I mentioned in my last blog, Drum companies over the years have tried different combinations of shell size, snare strainers, wires, and tensioning systems to build their drums. The one constant was the make up of the shell. It was either wood or metal.

In 1966, the Fibes Drum Corporation was born and fiberglass was used for shell construction. This was truly a first, and drummers took to Fiberglass and sales took off. I remember the first time I saw these drums. It was at Mr. Kelly's, a Jazz club in Chicago. There was Buddy Rich sitting behind a set of Fibes drums driving his band like nobodies business. I remember the snare drum, in particular, stood out. Buddy must have felt that way also. because he used the Fibes Snare Drum even when he was endorsing Slingerland. The cover of his Live in London LP on RCA clearly shows his Fibes Snare Drum.

Buddy wasn't the only player who endorsed Fibes. Jack Sperling and Alan Dawson played them, along with Billy Cobham of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Well, I thought, if these drums are good enough for Buddy and these other great drummers, then I had to own one.

The pictured SFT 690 Snare Drum is one of four that I own. The drums came in various wraps with the strangest being the Fivel finish. This Beauty has the Black fivel wrap. It's really more of a sprayed on finish than a wrap. The drum is very sensitive and is a great all around snare drum that can be used in any situation.

Unfortunately, the Fibes Drum Company is no longer with us. After going through various owners and even a few name changes, the company " gave up the ghost." Perhaps it will reappear someday, but its place in drum history is assured.