Craviotto drums


Craviotto Drums is a drum kit manufacturing company, based in Watsonville, California.

History

Craviotto Drums founder and CEO, John “Johnny C” Craviotto was born to Italian-American parents in San Francisco, CA. Johnny began playing drums at an early age and he started playing professionally as a teenager. In the 1970s, a young Johnny Craviotto started off his musical career as a professional drummer playing with artists such as Arlo Guthrie, Ry Cooder, Moby Grape, Neil Young, and Buffy St. Marie. At this time, he had also become a collector of vintage drums and developed an interest in the work of early drum builders.

Craviotto had the opportunity around 1979-80 to work in a boatyard with a master boat builder. As an apprentice and helper he began applying this technique to drum shells. So with the help of the master boat builder, Johnny began making one-ply drum shells. By 1984-85, Craviotto teamed up with Billy Gibson, drummer of Huey Lewis & The News. They launched a drum company, Select Drum Company Drum Company.
Craviotto developed a steam-bending technique which led to a partnership with Don Lombardi of DW Drums in 1993. For about a decade beginning in the 1990s, Craviotto’s snare drums were available as part of Drum Workshop's catalogs.
Around 1999, Craviotto started a new venture, which was to build drums from ancient, old growth wood recovered from sunken timber. He launched a limited-edition series of solid-ply drums made from 600-year-old wood rescued from the bottom of Lake Superior. These drums were adorned with hoops engraved by engraver, John Aldridge – the “Lake Superior Timeless Timber series.” Several years later, these were followed up with the Lake Superior Timeless Timber birch series of drums. followed by The Lake Superior snare drum. The logs were found by divers, who were searching for a treasure, and they were blocked by these logs.
John Angelo Craviotto died on July 15, 2016 of cardiac arrest.

Drumset Lineup

Drum Kits

These drums include a choice of either Craviotto's traditional machined brass, chrome-plated Diamond Tube Lug, or the Marquise cast lug. Finish options include natural oiled finishes, or lacquers available in a variety of solid or sparkle colors. Inlays are available in either maple, cherry or walnut. Custom Shop kits are outfitted with 2.3mm triple flange hoops standard, however wood hoops are available as well.
They are available in any configuration of sizes from 10” through 26”. Cocktail configurations are also available.
Starting in 2007, Craviotto Drum Company teamed up with Adrian Kirchler to introduce a series of limited edition, handmade metal snare drums. Models released were: