I saw these but haven't been following - probably the last thing I would have thought of collecting but for the Way completeist, I guess it doesn't get more complete than this. But, again, the crazy Camco pricing coming in again.

BTW, a nice looking LA maple kit just came up on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/CAMCO-1977-Drum-Set-EXC-Cond_W0QQitemZ130144153636QQihZ003QQcategoryZ119015QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

- despite the LA badge these would be a great way for someone to get their feet with brand unless it all goes crazy. I'm guessing 1750 on this one, at least.

Cheers,

David

Very nice. The LAs are better players than the Oaklawns. I'm not familiar with Chanute. Dave, I think it would be an excellent value at that price.

G

Better players? How do you figure? By the time Beckman (L.A.) took over, the hoops were no longer COB, the shells were 6 instead of 4 ply, the placement of the strainer on the wood snares was whacked as it seems best suited for a lefty and the lacquer finishes were horrible as most have either turned to dust or are badly checked.

Oaklawn's are highly regarded by collectors for a reason, they were made better. The tone of an Oaklawn kit is unsurpassed except by a George Way kit.

Chanute era drums are like a bad stepchild. Most are dogs but I got lucky and got a keeper although it's my 3rd Chanute kit.

I know the Oaklawn's go for a higher price. There are less intact sets around and they are older and more nostalgic. The LAs are fine drums though. I have an Oaklawn and an LA set. My LA is wrapped so the checked thing doesn't effect me. Both kits sound great. The kick sounds better on the LA and the toms sound better on the Oaklawn. I think the tom mount on the LA is fantastic. It's the only pre 80s bass drum mounted tom aparatus that has allowed me to mount a tom on the bass drum and feel comfortable with the positioning. Rails, don't work for me except if they are mounted on top of the drum and I have an extension rod. Hence, on the Oaklawn, I have to use a rims mount and a stand that holds a cymbal and the tom. So more hardware to schlepp. .

Everyone knows I'm looking for an LA WMP Aristocrat snare so I can't comment on that. I know my Oaklawn snares sound terriffic. So as a better player I mean that I grab the LA kit before I grab the Oaklawn. So for me, it's a better player.

As far as COB vs. COS, who knows? I doubt there is an ear on the planet that could tell you the difference. Shell plys, again who really knows. We're not talking bass wood or luan vs. maple here.

But I'll tell you. I don't want to debate it. Sounds like Oaklawns are better made drums.

I'm curious on the sizes of your L.A. kit.

My L.A. kit is a 24/13/15/16. Bass drum lacks bottom end and volume which is quite surprising for a 24. I suspect possible bearing edge problem. Toms sound good. I'd sell the kit except that it was once owned by Stephen Price of Pablo Cruise.

My Chanute kit is a 24/14/18. Bass drum packs a wallop and the toms sound huge as their size would indicate.

My Oaklawn kit is a 20/12/16. Bass drum booms like a 22 or 24. Toms have that classic warm vintage tone. I suspect that the 4 ply shell has a lot to do with the pure volume that this little bass drum pushes. I once had a late 60's 6 ply Oaklawn 14x20 bass and it had very little resonance compared to it's 4 ply brother. The kit is very versatile and it's always my first choice for gigs. I actually love the rail on this kit!

I actually dislike Camco wood snare drums. If I wasn't such a Camco nut I would clean out my drum room from 4 to just 2. A COB Aristocrat Chanute and a BDP 5x14 Oaklawn Tuxedo. The Tuxedo snare is the first Camco wood snare I've ever fell in love with.

To my ear the COB places the tone somewhere between a Gretsch Die-cast and a COS.

Both the L.A. & Chanute kits are lacquer. The Oaklawn is a BDP wrap.

For one thing, your non Oaklawn kits are bigger drums. I find smaller drums tend to be more resonant. I think there's less air to move between the heads and that helps. Gadd started the popularity of the first rack tom being a 10. I think the extra projection of the higher pitch and the quality of tone had something to do with it.

Both my kits are 12, 14, 20 and pictured in the gallery. Both kits have perfect edges. Both snares are wood Oaklawn. One tuxedo, one aristocrat, both sound top shelf. I've only ever found two metal snares I like. A Gretsch RB COB and a brand new copper Dunnett. The Gretsch sounds like something off a James Brown record, tight and bright. The Dunnett is unbelievable, really warm and super sensitive. I've never played a metal Camco, so no basis for comparison.

When resonance is at issue, I do the glass test and try to slide paper under the edge. I've resurrected drums I wrote off for dead with an edge job. A lot of people put down Gretsch because of the edges. Most of my toms and kicks and a few snares have had edge work, if that hurts their future market value (which I find hard to believe), so be it. These things were meant to be played not glass cased.

I write all the time that unless a drum is broken or made of clearly inferior material and I'll add to that, ridiculously over engineered, it can be made to sound useful and musical. Over and above that, we all have an individual sound in our head that clicks for us and let's us say what we're trying to say and I hope we all find it.

Obviously I'm going to comment and I think it's a case of "horses for courses".

I've had most of them now (excluding early Oaklawns) in most sizes (except for small jazz sizes) and I like them all in each their way.

I had an 18" LA floor tom that had a bit of a "beach ball" quality but apart from that all my mid and large sized LAs sounded great and they got considerable studio and live work where engineers loved 'em.

I've perhaps been lucky but my 22, 13, 16 Chanute kit also sounds great but my huge late Oaklawn with the 18 x 24 bass drum and 14 and 18 toms might be the favourite (but also the newest acquisition so maybe I'm biased).

Interestingly I've started mixing and matching some of the eras, more out of expediency than anything else, and (admittedly using Emperor tops and Ambassador resos which might take off the edge) they all blend together surprisingly well (for example, a Chanute BD and rack with two LA floors or the Oaklawn with an additional Chanute floor). The LA's are - how do I put this - a little sharper or brighter but it really is marginal (at least to my ears, but after 30 plus years behind a kit who knows what the hell has happened to my top end).

So as a general comment, I'd say they're all very good, the differences aren't huge (though there are differences) and, as long as you're not depending on their later tom mounts or Aristocrat snare strainers (mine keeps turning "off" everytime I hit it too hard), you're not going to go far wrong with Camco (unless you get stuck with one of Dolfan's aforementioned Chanute "dogs").

And a brief one on the snares - I've got an 8 lug LA 6" x 14" wooden snare which is wildly undersized but tuned up high gives a great flat crack with nice bottom - certainly comparable to the other US manufacturers of the period. I've also now got two COB 5 x 14 snares (one early Oaklawn and one LA) and, honestly, I can't tell the difference - the shells look to be identically made and they're not dissimilar in sound to a Ludwig brass Supraphonic. However for the classic metal snare sound, a bog standard Luwdig Supra is still hard to beat (yes, I do own something other than Camco - just not much).

Enjoy them.

Cheers,

David

$1,525. The way things are going these days, not too bad.

Nice score Gary. Have an 18" that will match 'em.

D