So I have some Royce brand drums and I can't find a lot of information on them. So far they were from Pearl and made in Taiwan. Not sure of the year they were made, looking for any help/information! Orange wrap, floor tom, bass drum and high tom.
Thank you!
Help2
So I have some Royce brand drums and I can't find a lot of information on them. So far they were from Pearl and made in Taiwan. Not sure of the year they were made, looking for any help/information! Orange wrap, floor tom, bass drum and high tom. Thank you!Help2
Photo's please.Their are two types of Royce drums.The ones from the 60's/70's made by Pearl.The ones made in the 90's and still to today these are are M.I.T. and are not the same as the 60's...Mikey
Mid-70's set.By the tom mount and badge's..Shells are 9 ply made by Pearl.They are the same shells that Pearl used on name of Pearl on the drums...Mikey
Mid-70's set.By the tom mount and badge's..Shells are 9 ply made by Pearl.They are the same shells that Pearl used on name of Pearl on the drums...Mikey
Thanks Mikey!
I picked these up a few days ago and thought they had a "vintage" look to them. And I just read your post on Pearl History, very cool!
Royce from the '60s-'80s at least were made in Taiwan (NOT Japan or China) for Westheimer Corp of Northbrook, Ill in the US along with Cort and Harmony guitars. Pearl did not build those Taiwan kits directly but maybe supplied hardware. Later '90s and '00s were made in China of the less expensive poplar and basswood materials. I've got a 5pc '80s vintage kit with those 12x10 and 13x12 power tom sizes made of what looks like mahogany and birch plies with the birch on the inner ply. of course they sound great. They're still way lighter than my Ludwig chrome over maple '78 kit so I gig with the Royce kit. It's a white kit that has yellowed just enough to have character to go with the great sound. Remo Emperor batters and Ambassador clear resonant sides make any drum easy to tune with a wide range and pleasant tones. Many drummers remember the name from back in the day but this kit has 10 lugs on kick and the better woods. I'm digging this old kit! And I got it for free. Lead singer in my band found it in the trash. Hardly used, cleaned up so nice. So now I have the '78 Ludwigs I've had for 25 yrs, Majestic mij '60s 5pc in green swirl finish, '60s Kingston 4pc in Tiger Eye Swirl, the '80s
Royce 5pc in white and a '10 Sound Percussion 5pc in red sparkle. Two mij kick drums and floor tom are just waiting for some cheap, good mij toms to show up on ebay and that'll be another kit. I can't seem to stop myself! Ok, if I ever get a Trixon conical kit I will stop buying and restoring kits.
My buddy had a nice 7 piece Royce for the same era of the ones you pictured. They had a nice deep tone to em. Good jammin' set!
here's the Royce kit I was given. made in Taiwan early '80s i believe. I love the sound I'm getting outta these tubs! i found the snare (mij, no name) on ebay, just a shell with lugs and hoops, no heads or throw off or snare, only 4-5 tensioners of an antique size (thick) no longer made. had to use modern size inserts in the 8 lugs. but the hoops happened to be die-cast and the shell itself a well made mahogany with re-enforcement rings. it had nice edges and the mother of pearl wrap was almost 100%. it's early 60s no doubt. of course it sounds great with the Royce kit. those power toms tuned low sound awesome! I'm using Remo Coated Emperor on batter and Remo Ambassador clear on rez sides. you can't really notice but that's a 10 lug bass drum which used to mean professional level kit. I've got Remo Emperor on the kick batter side and the original Royce reso head I cut a port in. I may have been mistaken in thinking the shells were birch. the more I compare them to my '78 Ludwigs which I know are maple the more I'm convinced they're maple. or at least the inner ply. the grain direction and pattern matches. it's a finer grain than birch for sure. anyway, the point i wish to make is that these off brands sometimes were made just right and sound like a much more expensive kit, you just have to look around. i played the Royces this past Friday and Saturday. they are pictured on stage at South Texas Icehouse in Corpus Christi, Texas. even though I'm an older teenager (58) it just gave me so much pleasure at the sound and playability of this kit that i didn't get too tired after the double header. rock on my children
no name, made in japan restoration snare. sounds amazing! die cast hoops, re-rings, mahogany, very old but cleaned up so nice! $30 on ebay but I put heads, tension rods, snare wires, throw-off and butt place on it as well as polishing up the chrome can cleaning/polishing the near perfect marine pearl wrap. this snare just pops both sonically and visually for me.
