very nice kit, great cymbal choice. lifelong paiste player here !

Can't tell from the picture but those look like the Hoshino badge Camco's. Early 80's right after the split. Any close up shots of the lugs? I had a bop- kit from that era that was really good.

Thanks!

Agopsalott - yes - I think that's what they call them. The rounded on one side - flat across the bottom. I have close up pics - Ill try to post later...

Id really like to once and for all figure out the "shell history". There is so much confusion. They sound pretty nice. Ive had other drummers say they liked them. They are the precursor to DW. So they sound similar. kinda musical, nice deep tone. I get a lot of compliments on the bass drum.

Also - would love to find a matching 16" floor tom. I'm really doubtful though.

Thanks!

Stu

Do yours have re-rings?

Nice finish on those drums. Sweet.

Agopsalott - I think so, a small band of multiply wood around the head? Is that what you mean? Yes - its there. Ill bring my camera and try to get some better shots.

Geckobeats - Thanks!

They were not a pre-cursor to DW, they were parallel. The shells are not old Camco stock but, depending on the time, could be a U.S. shell though possibly not. It was a Tama attempt to establish themselves in the US market. Doesn't denigrate the drums at all but don't really have Camco collector status. More likely to grab the attention of Tama completists. Check out this Elvin Jones kit and see if there's many similarities (those Camco style badges on his kit were extremely rare). http://www.maxwelldrums.com/elvins-camco-p-1674.html

Antipodes - Would really like to know this for a fact.

The shells are not old Camco stock but, depending on the time, could be a U.S. shell though possibly not.

So are we saying these are from one of the well know shell makers? If not - who else could it be? Is there a way to somehow figure this out? Id really like to solve this mystery.

It was a Tama attempt to establish themselves in the US market.

Is this because of the TAMA hardware? But then who made the Camco lugs? It came with Camco labeled heads. And if those are all Camco stock items (that TAMA purchased), why couldn't the shells come from the same supply or suppliers? They wouldn't be from Japan. Correct? too much shipping and extra cost.

Someone said there is a Tama history book that has some of this info - but appears to be out of print or no longer available.

My badge is similar to the one on Elvin's snare. Tombstone. Other than the sizes - that is my kit. Is there a way to see that catalogue?

Thanks for looking.

The problem is getting this era clear enough to be "fact". Company changeover so messy and not fabulously well documented.

The Camco name was sold to Hoshino (Tama) in the late 70s. DW got all the toolings. Hoshini made some drums under the Camco name apparently using Keller shells (according to a tertiary source quoting Tom Hoshino) around 1979 in Pennsylvania. Camco had ended it's time in Los Angeles using Jasper shells. Some of these Hoshino shells had re-rings, others did not.

Hoshino also made a so-called Renaissance model under the Camco name which had inlay/intarsia on the shell - shells that looks precisely like Tama's Artwood series except with the Camco knock off lugs. These were probably Japanese and birch - not to mention very beautiful. There's also mention of "rock maple" shells though this appears to have been a Tama catalogue error - it seems to have been only a maple veneer.

I've seen three different types of badges on these drums - a copy of the cloud badge you'll see in the Elvin Jones kit, the tombstone badge and I've even seen the Tama badge on drums with the Camco-like lug.

All this happened, as far as I'm can tell, within a 12 to 18 month period 1979 - 80. Because there's so little clarity and consistency I think a lot of people are a bit wary because, unless you really, really know this stuff (and there can't have been that many made during that period so not much to compare with) you're not entirely sure what you're getting.

Throw in the horrific entry level Camco by Tama stuff that came out about ten years later and the legend was well and truly besmirched.

If you do a search through the archives here for either Hoshini or Pennsylvania you'll find a few of the threads about this much debated - and still pretty unclear - period of vintage drum history. A few people have scanned stories from the time referring to Camco moving to Pennsylvania whereas, I would argue, it was really just a purchased brand name moving to the Tama operation there.