The Fibes acrylic was probably the flagship drum kit of their lineup as it still holds its value when compared to other acrylics of that era.

The sound is louder and drier than the Rogers,the hardware between the two is a wash as they both kind of sucked in terms of utility.

If they include the Fibes snare and it is intact,Merry Christmas.

Unfortunately there is no snare, but he says the kit is in great condition.

Should be the same sound out of those as a Vistalite kit. Great for playing loud blues and rock stuff, but not so much if your into the jazz IMO. I'd say if you can trade outright, even swap, that would probably worth it as long as this Fibes kit has no major issues.

JR!

You know I'm a Fibes guy, and gig on them steady! Course I have two COF sets .. but .. my 1st set of Fibes which I bought NEW back in 1973!, were in fact the Fibes Crystalite shells, but clear, not smoke. Doesn't change the sound of course! I think Alan Dawson might take slight exception with Justin's comment about the Crystalite shells not being suitable for jazz though. I studied with Alan at Berklee in Boston for two semesters back in the mid 70's, and he was a Fibes endorser at the time .. and .. he was playing a four piece set of Fibes clear Crystalites! He also had a set of Fibes COF's too. I played on both! That said ... Justin is accurate to a degree though. They WILL function in the jazz idiom when at "jazz tuning", which means at a much higher pitch .. but .. based on what I have seen you play with regard to material/genre, I think you would dig 'em! Head choice will completely change their character/timbre too of course! I have both my Fibes sets set up with REMO Coated Emperors on the batter, and Coated Ambassadors on the resos. I can cover ANY STYLE of music with them, including the "Sinatra Show" as well as straight dance stuff. Also ...

... pgm554 is correct ... Fibes mounts were pretty bad, but ... that's a non issue for you as you most always mount up your rack toms in a snare stand, so no issue! I DID use the Fibes tom mount on my Crystalites back in the day, and it really never failed .. but .. there was NO memory system of any kind, so every gig I was dicking around with getting the tom where I wanted it. I got rid of the Fibes mount in the late 70's and went over to the new improved Slingerland tom mount which solved all those issues. I'll attach some pics of my THEN Fibes, and my current Fibes COF's.

Tommyp

Thanks Tommy, I'm still debating this trade, I'm sure I'd like the Fibes kit, but even though my Rogers has some wrap issues, it's turning out to be a great gigging kit. I'm leaving the wmp Ludwig in my rehearsal room for the time being. If the Fibes was clear or COF, I'd be all over it. The smoke is my least favorite. But, who knows, it's always fun to try something different.

Don't want to 'derail' or 'hijack' this thread- but I have a set of the Bonham reissue vistalites and LOVE them/ (gig with them a lot)- and would be interested in a comparison of Fibes (which I have NEVER played) and vistalites/ either vintage or new- should this be a new post? Would like to hear comments from knowledgeable members like Tommyp- thanks! jD

JR!

I hear you! Cool thing for me though? I own/play BOTH 60's era Cleveland Rogers and Fibes! Both feature BR models when he was with Rogers and then later, Fibes. Keep those Rogers JR!, and I know you're a Ludwig guy too. ALL good!

JDragon!

Very cool on the Ludwig "Bonham" Vistalites! I can't honestly give you a comparison between the Fibes Crystalite's and the Ludwig Vistalites as I have never owned a set of the Ludwigs. With that said though ... I do know guys that have owned both, and they say the early Fibes Crystalite's .. ( 1972 - 1978 ) .. feature a much better made and thicker acrylic shell than the Ludwig's of the time. As to the sound, none of them really ever had much to say between the two regarding any major differences. The Ludwig Vistalites were indeed a copy of the Fibes popularity though, and for that matter, Fibes copied Zickos!, which were the first. Fibes ran away with the market in the early 70's though, and the majority of THAT can be attributed to one of the baddest drummers on the planet during this time ... Billy Cobham. Can't lie here ... I saw The Mahavishnu Orchestra with Billy Cobham LIVE in 1973, and after that, well ... I had to have me some clear Fibes Crystalite's! That's what started me down the Fibes road, and 45 years later, I'm still on the road! For the popularity of the Ludwig Vistalites, and the John Bonham connection .. well .. you gotta figure they did something right with that line of drums too!

Tommyp

TommyP, thanks for that bit of history lesson you provided. I had no idea that Fibes weren't the first acrylic set! I also want to research and listen to Billy Cobham play on these. If you've ever listened to Mars Volta (progressive rock; they aren't for every listener sometimes), Jon Theodore plays them on their debut album in 2002-03. They sound nothing short of amazing on that record and Jon's playing is out of this world! He also toured with them during his time in the band.

JohnnyR- I know you buy, sell and trade pretty often on your kits. This might be a way for you to try something new, as you mentioned. But that's entirely up to you of course. Have you researched the Fibes kit online maybe? There may be decent audio/video recordings to get somewhat of an idea as to what they sound like. Best of luck on your decision.

Even Lenny White also played a set of acrylic Fibes with RTF.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtx34HGLUHI"]Return To Forever - After the Cosmic Rain - YouTube[/ame]