Vintage Leigh Howard Stevens SF8 Marimba Mallets - Pre-Malletech

Description: Here you have a unique pair of vintage Leigh Stevens SF8 marimba mallets. This pair is circa 1980-1981, prior to Stevens creating Malletech! They are approximately 16 1/2 inches long from the top of the mallet head to the end of the shaft. The mallet head is approximately 2 inches from top to bottom. If you are interested in these, you probably know who Leigh Howard Stevens is, his massive impact on the mallet percussion world, and to the Marimba specifically. He developed these mallets on his own after learning a bit from Vic Firth. This pair is so early that it doesn't follow any of the current Malletech Leigh Stevens model numbers! There is no SF8 in the Malletech catalog, that I can find? As you can see from the pictures, these mallets are used, and have some yarn loss and general wear. The shafts are still as straight as an arrow, strong, yet light - nothing feels like these mallets running up the keyboard! They are great for Marimba playing or for the lower register of a Xylophone. The model # SF8 and brand markings are still barely legible, but still there. See pictures for condition and detail. The story on this pair is they were purchased new in 1981 in NYC. They were very difficult to get back then, as they were only available in a few select music shops. I believe there were only 2-3 models at the time and these were the medium model, but I am not certain. This pair was used by a serious marimba student, mainly focusing on music theory and Bach. These were the perfect mallets for that use at the time. Quite special back then. Since then, they have been sitting in a zipped mallet case for about 40 years. They don't look as fresh as they did in the 1980's, but they still feel and sound great on the Rosewood or African Padauk, if you prefer! They are also a great early piece of history from a true percussion innovator.

Price: 45 USD

Location: Katonah, New York

End Time: 2024-09-06T20:02:59.000Z

Shipping Cost: 10 USD