Picked up half of Camco C-450 single head/concert tom set

[gunnellett]

Hey Guys,

It took a bit of coordinating over a couple of days and the better part of the day traveling today but I was able to pick up an LA Camco bass drum and floor tom that look to be part of the C-450 set in the 1973 Camco catalog.

Unfortunately no concert toms. I really can not find much information about these Camco single head sets. They do appear to be few and far between.

I know concert tom kits are not necessarily desirable but I'm kind of excited about this set because of how unique it is and I will probably not see anyone else gigging with one.

They have definitely been "loved" as there are dings and scratches but they have a cool vibe to them.

Unfortunately someone removed the original floor tom leg holders with Ludwig so there is an extra hole at each mount location. The floor tom is also missing the muffler.

I would love to find the concert toms that went with the kit.

More to come as I clean them up a bit and I will have plenty of questions for you Camco and restoration experts.

Thanks,
Wes

[bbeyer]

Ahhh man why would they redrill the FT leg brackets when Slingerland mounts fit the same hole spacing!

[gunnellett]

Originally Posted by bbeyer

Ahhh man why would they redrill the FT leg brackets when Slingerland mounts fit the same hole spacing!

I hear ya. Not sure why they would have been replaced to begin with unless threads got stripped on the originals. At least the legs are original. Those would be expensive to get.

Wes

[gunnellett]

The set also came with 4 Gretsch Drop G concert toms with stands in 10, 12, 13, and 14. I believe the finish for both the Camcos and the Gretsch are walnut.

Kind of an interesting pairing but I guess you do what you have to do if you do not have original Camco toms. The colors are not that far apart, especially from a distance.

The bass and floor toms both have. 1166 written on the re-rings.

More to come.

Wes

[bbeyer]

It seems like there was a time when people didnt care about mixing shell materials and brand names so much.. I bought a kit once that was all natural maple. Gretsch 22" kick and 10",12" concert toms. Ludwig 13 and 14" concert toms, and a slingerland 16" concert floor tom (that slingerland sounded like crap)

[gunnellett]

Anyone have an idea as to how rare the Camco single head drums are? I know rare doesn't necessarily mean high dollar or highly collectible.

I would think there were not many single head bass drums made but could be wrong.

Wes

[J!m]

I’m no expert, but I’ve seen very few Camco kits and never single head drums before.

But I’ve only been playing since 1975.

[gunnellett]

Hi guys.

I'm going to start working on this Camco kit but I can find next to no information about the single sided Camco kits other than seeing a picture in the 1973 catalog and ran across another thread with someone in the know saying they have only heard of 7 sets so far.

I am attempting to contact the guy I bought the bass and floor tom to see if they have any kind of a lead on the concert toms. I'm assuming they were a 12" and 13".

Has anyone seen or played these before and have any information about the C-450 kits? What years produced?

Any potential leads on concert toms?

Does anyone know what the color is? I can attach more pictures to help.

I have more questions about the missing floor tom muffler and which tom mount would be correct as I have 2 but I'll tackle those in a bit.

Thanks for any information or help.

Wes