Hi,

Although I normally have absolutely no interest in any vintage kit that wasn't American made, I was provided the opportunity to pick up a vintage Apollo Bass Drum and Floor Tom from the 60s in the most magnificent looking "gun metal grey" sparkle finish that I had ever seen. Both drums (22 inch bass + 14 inch tom) were being offered at a total price of $10.00.

The t-rods on the bass reminded me quite a bit of what Slingerland used on their vintage Radio King kits. The lugs also had a definite Slingerland look to them. The leg mounts on the floor tom had the "open" brackets like Slingerland used in the late 50s - early 60s with the spring locks. The gun metal grey sparkle finish had a little gold tint in it, among other colors, depending on the angle the light hit it. Really unique!

When I popped the head on the floor tom I discovered two additional bits of information -- the interior of the shell actually had three wooden reinforcement rings, which I found a little odd, and what I thought was a gun metal grey finish might have been, originally, a blue sparkle finish. I say this because the finish under the rims and heads was actually a blue sparkle, not the gun metal grey I was looking at on the rest of the drum. I can only guess that the original sparkle "mellowed" to the gorgeous gun metal grey that I was looking at on the rest of the drum. I haven't yet popped the heads on the bass drum and I'm anxious to see if I'm going to see the same thing there.

One thing I also noticed about the bass drum is that it came with wooden hoops. Most of the vintage Japanese drums that I've seen have metal, in lieu of wooden, hoops.

Does anyone know if Apollo made different models of kits in the 60s? I'm wondering if these two drums might reflect their "high end" line in lieu of their budget drums.

I must say that I wish Ludwig or Slingerland made a sparkle finish in what I'm looking at on these Apollo drums. It's simply stunning.

THANKS to all in advance for your input regarding this issuel