Christian Hedwitschak has a few new projects up his sleeve for 2025, and BOD are really delighted to have been the first to share his new HED of the Month Drum: the one of a kind Golden Madrona Burl CoreLine Slim.

The concept of Christian’s HED of the Month is simple: he wants to showcase the possibilities for custom drums and his range of woodworking and design skills, but at a more approachable price point, and available through his retailers.

I will build a special drum every month.  A drum that has either never been available before or at a special price or with special features, a very special offer every month.

Christian sells through just four retailers globally, and each unique drum will be offered to one of the retailers. BOD is the first to participate in this project.

So, what’s special about the Golden Madrona Burl CoreLine Slim?

The Golden Madrona tree is native to the west coast of the North American continent.  To woodworkers, the real prize is the burls that grow on these trees.  Burl wood is cut from a knobby outgrowth from the root or trunk of a tree and is characterised by unusual and beautiful swirls, twists and knots in the grain. This wild grain makes it a real challenge for the craftsman to work without the wood splintering unpredictably. Christian has tamed this beautiful Golden Madrona Burl to make a striking bodhrán.

Normally a precious veneer like this would only be available on a custom order drum through Christian, not on the classic CoreLine body, and the pricing of such a drum would be about double that of a CoreLine.

So for only a few pounds more than the normal CoreLine Slim price, you can have a one of a kind drum with an absolutely beautiful premium finish. The veneer is a warm brown honey colour with fantastic patterning of darker swirls and speckles, really lovely to look at and to the touch.

But it still has all the features and the big sound characteristic of the CoreLine range: an Edlauer Select Premium goatskin with taped edges and a six point tuning system.

Quick, before it’s gone!  Golden Madrona Burl CoreLine Slim