Republic Of China drums? Interesting....I've never heard of them.

Yeah, Republic of China - R.O.C.! I remember seeing ads for them in Modern Drummer offering raw shells of all kinds of sizes for cheap. They had some seriously deep bass shells of different woods.I think they are still around and sell drums under different names and supply other companies.

I have a 13 piece ROC double bass kit,have had it for ever and got alot of use out of it,drums still sound great but some of the hardware needs replaced. Any pictures of your kit?

I went to their facility in the 80s near San Francisco. I deposited money for big double bass kit but I was later contacted and given a refund. The guy said he had not been well and was having difficulty filling the order. I think he had changed his focus to bicycles (probably a great Idea for that area). I had been attracted to the ads in MD and the inexpensive prices. They seemed a decent quality drum for the money but that was a long time ago.

You guys with the R.O.C.sets need to post pictures.I also spoke to someone from R.O.C.about their products and was sent a brochure.At the time I wondered if "Emerald" drums were made by R.O.C.and rebadged.Excellent prices for what you got.

I think Emerald were a D.I. Y. set. You picked everything and they sent it to you for completeion. And R.O.C. if I recall also offered that option. Kind of a "kit in a box" DIY "custom solution". Actually, it is a great idea for people to offer a complete set for those of us that want to roll our own, and want to kind oif do the MIJ distributor like options menu. You get a menu with shell/ply config and and drilling options, 5-6-8-10 lug designs, lug choice, t-rods for the bass, then hoops and heads of your choice. Not a bad idea, but then the the cost of a good quality mid-line set is already below what it would cost just for the parts.

I have already done a cost analysis of a 4 pc, 5 ply/rering and it has enough material "drops" for, get this, 3 complete snares, a (5.5" & 4")X 14, and a 4,5, 6" X12, (can't remember exactly, but you get the idea), and it comes to about 800-ish, buying everything from the least expensive sources online I can find. I was using the lugs of my own choice, avg of about 3.75 ea. and the hoops, all 2mm tf...But you get the point, and that is using basic all maple shells, no real choices for anything more. And this is using a stain and lacquer finish, not a wrap.

Glen Kwan ran ROC drums from a warehouse out of south San Francisco back in the 80's.

The drums and hardware came out of various OEM factories located in Taiwan.

A lot of "generic" parts went into the making and modeling of those drum sets.

Some of the holders and snare mechanisms were almost exactly the same as some of the vintage Yamaha stuff of the mid eighties,although the fit and feel weren't quite the same.

Glen modified some of the shells to his spec (bearing edges,veneers,coverings).

He quit the biz after he developed an allergy to sawdust.

Nice guy.

Time to go into acrylic drums!

That man's story would be very interesting.What a great addition to this website.....