The Gainesville Sun – Business Profile
Marching to the beat of a different drum
Ed Mendel creates drums from timber recovered from local rivers
By Carl McKinney, Correspondent, Sunday, 12/21/14
Ed Mendel shows a selection of drums made from lumber pulled from local rivers. (Matt Stamey/Staff photographer)
Ed Mendel started building drum kits when his business building houses slowed down.
Mendel opened Ancient Rhythms Drum Shop…in September. [C]ustomers can find percussion instruments from the major manufacturers [and] Mendel’s custom kits.
He started his custom line, Ancient Tree Drums, about five years ago when the housing market crashed and slowed down [his] contracting business….
[C]ollecting high-end drum kits, Mendel began taking them apart.., studying the materials and…design.
The instruments are created with wood from timber recovered from local rivers….
Some…logs have been submerged…more than 100 years.
“It makes incredibly beautiful and excellent tone wood,” Mendel said. “When I found out I could get local material that nobody else has tried to build a drum with, that’s what got me really excited.”
“I don’t feel like I’m selling instruments,” he said. “I feel like I’m selling a happier lifestyle.”
Scott K Fish 
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