welcome Scotty. I'm a Trixon noob too. I'm in the process of rehabilitating an old Telstar kit. They are like no other kit I've worked on. If the shell sizes seem imperial then I'm guessing it's an early model. As far as I can tell the sizes are something Trixon made up. Mine are either slightly over sized or slightly under sized depending on which end of the drum I'm dealing with. I have found Aquarian heads the best for the over sized shells as they are of a slightly larger diameter than others.

Post some photos of what you have and I'm sure some Trixon experts will chime in as well.

Hey Guys ... me too.

I had been looking for years and all of a sudden I had 3 sets drop in my lap. I've got two Speedfire sets and a Telstar kit.

Here's what I learned the hard way. Be careful removing any of the hardware locking screws on the tom mounts and especially the legs. I had removed one form a leg and it stripped out the threads because the head had flattened a bit from pushing up against the leg. Also in the process of removing all of the lugs to clean and polish i snapped off a couple of the hex bolts that hold them to the shells. I suspect that they were stripped when the drums were first assembled in the factory and I snapped a few off in the threaded posts of the lugs. It's a ***** getting them out of the lugs. I would also caution that when you put the lugs back on put them on only finger tight. I think its easy to overtighten them as you are collapsing the plastic gasket. I think that's why you see so many cracked plastic gaskets on Trixon drums.

Most everything on the kit is standard 5M screws (tension rods) and 6M screws tom and leg hardware in case you need to replace any. Also DW tension rods will fit if you need to replace any tension rods.

Trixon hardware seems to be very hard to find in the USA. I did manage to find a cymbal stand in the UK so I have one complete set of hardware ... snare stand, HH, cymbal stand and bass pedal and of course the disappearing bass drum cymbal arms. It's so cool how the legs are spring loaded and the stands snap together without locking screws.

I love Speedfires. They remind me of what you might see if a black Vistalite were left out in the sun.

How do people find heads for them?

Remo still makes them by special order. Takes about 6-8 weeks. I just got a set yesterday from Bentley's Drum Shop in Fresno CA.

Thanx for all the replies!

dboomer, I definitely ran into the same situation with several of the lug boxes upon removal - two of the mounting bolts simply snapped right off. Fortunately, I was able to acquire an extra five boxes with gaskets and mounting bolts from a guy in Michigan last week. It made the situation much less stressful!

95% of the plastic lug box gaskets on this kit are cracked at each end; it would appear from what I've read that this is a Trixon trait and not unusual. In a perfect world, we would have a new supply of these made in both gray and black to replace the ones that are bad. The expense of tooling up and remanufacturing these would probably not be covered by the actual demand, though. Enough Trixon owners would have to pledge enough $$ to have them reproduced, most likely in China. It's the same situation I run into in the vintage VW hobby when it comes to replacement plastic parts that are NLA.

Been trying to get ahold of Ingo for a replacement tom arm, hopefully that pans out. Otherwise, beyond a few scuffs here and there, the shells are beautiful and the bearing edges are perfect. I cleaned the wraps with a soft cloth and a very mild detergent. Didn't want to risk damage to that finish! so far, so good.

-Scotty

Oh, btw - I live in Lee County, SW FL. Please don't hold that against me, as I'm well aware of Lee County Music and their treatment of vintage drums. I am not affiliated with them in any way and will have absolutely nothing to do with them. I'm ashamed that there's an operation like that practically in my backyard. :mad:

I have parts tooled in China for my day job. Trust me it would cost many thousands of $$ to get an injection tool. I've been thinking about sand casting and may give that a shot some day.

clean the croco finish with WD40.

WD40? Really? I would think it might bubble the surface of the wrap, being a petroleum distillate. Actually, the shells were just superficially dirty and cleaned up nicely with a soft cloth and some diluted Simple Green. The chrome hardware took a bit more elbow grease, but shines brilliantly now. Appreciate the tip, tho.

-Scotty

regular coated single ply work for me ('67 Luxus), with the exception of an Aquarian Focus kick batter