History
The company has been in operation since 1854, when Silas Noble and James Cooley starting building marching snare drums for the Union Army. The company also made toy drum sets for children through most of the 1900s. In the early 1980s, company vice-president Jay Jones (Great-great-great grandson of James Cooley) decided to enter the professional drum arena. He worked closely with designer Bob Gatzen and pulled out of retirement a steam bending machine that was old enough to have survived a fire in 1889. Noble & Cooley first offered its SS Classic solid shell snare drums in 1983. Since then, the company has created many other professional wood and metal snare drums and complete drum sets.
In 1989, and again in 2003, Noble & Cooley teamed up with Zildjian to create snare drums made out of cymbal alloy. These drums were made in very limited quantities and are some of the most collectible drums on the market today.
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