not sure about this but these are identical to Ajax and any Edgwares I've seen(although Edgware was supposed to be the student line). since Boosey&Hawkes were well placed in the orchestral/band music market for many types of instruments as well as publishing this was probably the brand that they pushed through their Besson dealers as an orchestra snare. i have a couple of Ajax and they are first rate drums. it is amazing how superior the British chroming is. i don't think i have ever seen peeling chrome on a British drum----doesn't matter who made it. i'm sure the environment paid for it , though.

Diamond, is there a serial number ink-stamped inside the shell? You should be able to view it by looking through the grommet hole if there is one. It will say "Made in England" beneath the serial. All the Ajax range (Ajax, Stratford, Edgware, and English Rogers) shared the same serial number sequence, but only about half the drums have a number. It could date it for you.

Would look like this ..................

[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb77/nutbox/Tiger%20Stripe/DSCN2670.jpg[/IMG]

Different shell to Ajax. Edgware and Stratford usually have (modern) 3 ply laminated shells with 3 ply laminated rings. Most Ajax have (ancient) steam bent 3 ply shell with scarf joint and solid rings, (but I do have one with laminated). I have one example of each of the Ajax shells going back to 1927.

It was marketing. Two companies with one brand each means 50% market each. Two companies, one with two brands means 67% market share. That is why there are so many detergent brands but only two big companies.

B&H are all EXCELLENT in sound, build and finish.

curious, Roger. what is the difference between a 3 ply laminate shell and a 3 ply steam bent shell. both would surely be steam bent(especially if it was birch), or are you saying that the steam bent shell was bent in three steps and glued afterwards? Tromsa , bent 3 ply poplar shells without steambending(presumably as partially green plywood) but i have never heard of it being done with Birch. The wooden Ajax snare in my possession appears to be 2 ply birch with very shallow but thick( 1 cm. x1 cm.) 3 ply rerings(very unlike the Stratford , pictured). it has a serial# 54890 and blue lettered oval badge.

Hello boss.

This is how I see the evolution of the shell lay-ups...

1920's 'Steam' bent single ply.

1930's 'Steam' bent 3 ply

By steam bent I mean that one sheet of multi-ply wood was bent in one go and inside there is an unmissable bump to the scarf joint where the ends overlap. Steam may have been the agent used to bend the wood, or may have been some other device, I only use the colloquial term to differentiate the two methods, but the important bit is that the wood was ply before it was circular. Ajax use the edge of this bump to butt the start of the solid ply re-ring.

1950's LAMINATED

I mean that laminated shells are made by putting one sheet of one ply at a time into a mould where the ends butt together and don't overlap. The next ply is offset so the ends butt together in a different place, resulting in a shell with no overlaps and no single joint from inside to outside. The plies are thin and bend on their own until the glue, heat and pressure is applied for the first and only time while the wood is circular. This is supposed to be stronger and was Fred gretsch's thing, followed by deans (Beverley) in UK, as you already know.

1970's MODERN HYBRID

Some modern e.g. pearl 6 ply shells have a combination of these two techniques where three lots of 2 ply plywood sheets are laminated together. Ajax began this with nusound, they are many ply but I don't know the lay-up method, have to ask Eddie.

Rose Morris used 2 sheets of 3 ply for late Broadway and Shaftesbury resulting in a rubbish, thick shell where the inner sheet is often found to be delaminating, especially either side of the butt joint.

This is because of cross lamination. But the horizontal plies in 2 ply material used in these modern shells such as pearl, dw and Keller still have vertical, non structural joins, even before moulding. That is why I like ajax and early autocrats. The vertical ply is seamless regardless of lamination method, like a roll of wall paper, instead of a roll of kitchen paper punctuated with seams.

2000's super solid and x lamination types, see DW

Sorry, i am not good at explanations, pictures are better.

Many thanks but now i have the snare back, there is no serial number inside,,so any ideas on the date..mid 60's??

Calfskin, your serial is end of 1960 beginning of 1961.

Sorry Diamond I can't help without a serial number, but your seems about right.

----- actually, your explanation was really good , Roger. i can see the difference due to the staggered overlap of plys. this is really good stuff on your behalf and thanks to you Nutbox for the date. i had always wondered. i bought the snare in 1966 i believe as part of a Trixon kit.

Respect.

It's really precise and correct description of technological methods wood ply's jointing.

Where is the site button to push up your rating, Roger? :)