I have the chance to purchase a Meazzi Mod Jolly, 5 piece including snare and hardware as well as some cymbals. I presently own a Meazzi Hollywood President and I think it's a great drum. I did some research on the net for the Jolly series but, not much info out there.
Does anyone here know anything about them?
Are they worth anything or are they in the same league as the vintage MIJ?
Meazzi's Mod Jolly line of drumkits is not their top-of-the-line series, but more like an intermediate line of drums which sold well in Italy and Europe. As a onetime proud owner of a Meazzi Hollywood President outfit with which I gigged all over, I must state that while among the most beautiful drums ever designed (go Italy!), and with many of their hardware innovations state-of-the-art and to this day still unmatched anywhere in the world, the entire Meazzi line suffered from very serious quality control issues - most of them related to using substandard materials when constructing the drums. This is not true of each and every part and feature, as some of the set's elements were first-rate. I'll give an example or two to illustrate:
At my first gig with my fresh from the factory President outfit which was a live concert hall performance, the bass drum pedal snapped in two halfway down the footboard during the band's first set. This was their top line "Camco"- like bass pedal. The interior shell work of the wooden shells contained quarter-sized knot-holes which were plugged with white putty. Bearing edges were in essence non-existent. The top of the line chromed snare drum sounded as terrible as it looked beautiful! Never, ever, could it deliver proper snare seating or produce a tight "pop" without snare runs, hideous overtones, or worse. Sure looked pretty though! Die-cast hoops were as good as they come anywhere in the world, with chrome plating better than many other lines. But the Bass Drum claws and T's were stamped from cheap pot metal and tended to crack or break off. Absolutely atrocious double tom holder mounts which at best were difficult to adjust and would "lean" from the weight of the toms, and at worst would literally crack and pull away from the shells. Like most European drums of their time, the shells were technically metric in diameter, and I well remember a lot of grief when trying to switch over my tympani-floor tom and bass drum to U.S. standard Remo heads. On the positive side: Meazzi cymbals stands and snare stands remain among the best ever designed and manufactured, as do their nylon ball swivel tom holders which were knocked off by Slingerland. Like Zickos, Meazzi drums most often employed claw-hooks which fit either into slots or grooves on metal counter hoops. Same system used today on several top lines of drums. Meazzi was first to introduce electric drumsets with mounted pickups and preamps, and was first to re-introduce the "trolley" assembly concept once common in the 1920's and 1930's among working drummers. The Meazzi "Sintetic" plastic drumheads were roughly equivalent in character to the infamous British Everplay "fish wrappers" known for their hideous plastic sound and lack of tonality.
All of the preceding info is offered with the caveat that it is only my personal opinon of the Meazzi line. All in all, a stunningly beautiful and far into the future designed drum line which suffered from material and workmanship issues.
I'd definitely buy another kit in decent condition because they're about as cool as can be, but I would never again take them out to an important gig.
p.s. - Lest I forget, most of the earlier production were made with metric thread gauge tension rods requiring a unique drum key.
Hi Buckie,
Great info there on your experience with Meazzi drums, thanks!
The Hollywood President kit I own is from the early 60's, the bass drum claws and rods are all die-cast, not thin stamped metal. Maybe you had a later 70's version? As far as reliability is concerned, I never gigged with these drums yet. The interior of the shells are nice and smooth no filler, bearing edges are rounded sort of like the Gretsch drums. The tension rods are metric sizes but I'm told that the DW tension rods work fine on the drums (if ever I decide to replace the Meazzi rods).....I gotta check it out, it may be interesting since the Meazzi tension rod head requires a non standard drum key.
The Mod. Jolly- Meazzi series I'm looking to purchase are the ones that I'm having trouble getting any information on.
You need the fine thread DW rods........NOT their normal ones!
They were only $1 each at Columbus Percussion too!
