I have a 1950 Ajax snare drum 8" deep which is also a light wood. I would think that all English drums of that era were birch - Premier at that time always described their shells as made of birch so I suppose that was what people used then in the UK . Maple is to me more an American thing... like maple syrup. I also reckon Ajax are great drums - hugely underrated now - but used then by all the professionals.

I have a treasured 1963 Ajax 20/16/12 kit with swiv-o-matic telescopic tom holder, in italian blue pearl! I have owned this kit since 1968, when it was bought second hand from a local club drummer, complete with a Premier 14x4 Royal Ace snare (in dark blue pearl), Formula 602 15" Hi-Hats (branded Arbiter) and flush-base Premier hardware.. all for £40 in old money. The Premier snare (with a slightly bent parallel action snare assembly) never really sounded right with kit however. This year I bought a blue pearl Ajax 14x4 Pipper snare (from Lou Dias - Supreme Drums) and at last the kit is complete... The sound of this classic British kit is just awesome, really breathy jazz tones, but also perfect for those pistol shot Motown breaks! The original mottled calf front bass drum head with the iconic red AJAX decal makes it even more special. The addition of Everplay Extra coated batter heads in the early 1970s was quite a modernisation at the time, but these heads are now pretty well settled in and the tuning has not been touched for about 30 years..! No need, the best recording kit you can imagine. I even prefer the Ajax snare to any of my Ludwig 400s for that unique character tone.

Boosey and Hawkes are still in (the music publishing) business.. maybe they will take note of this Ajax legacy?

^^^pics!!!

Ajax snares are pretty sought after on ebay right now, I've got my eye open for one at the mement, as they'rebecoming more and more collectable. See veryfew full kits though. But yes, pics please!

Bump for pics of your set! Don't leave us hanging!

ISaac

Ajax drums are terribly underrated and unrecognizable here in NA. I just bought a 4 pc. set from my keyboard player. He had the drums for 20 years. I thought that I should have them and bought them at a bargain price. I am missing some of the hardware and will have to use some of my vintage Ludwig hi-hat, and BD pedal if I gig with them. They're all jazz sized; 14x5" snare, 8x12 tom, 14x14 FT and 20" BD. I'm putting in an order tomorrow for some Black Pearl wrap in order to restore the hoops to match the rest of the drums' finish. I'm quite impressed with the sound of these drums.

I'm trying to work out what era these drums are actually from right now. They've got the silver oval with blue script, Ajax, B & H London, British Made, badges on them. I sent Eddie Ryan a picture. He sent me back a reply saying that he had probably made them himself.

The Ajax kit on Seattle craigslist is still available. These drums look very good. See my post here titled "Ajax" for link.

Hi please go to Drumforum.com where you will see I have a similar kit one-sided toms bongos etc silver oval badges with blue script .. Cuban on the Drumforum site has info about them too. He tells me this badge was early 1950's but I think that is based on a Mike Dolmar Drums article on them.Burger Kin

This is my 14 x 5 Pipper not sure if it's meant to have a damper though