Hello All:

I have been lurking here at Vintage Drum for a while and finally decided it was time to get off my rear and actually sign up. Before I get to the question I'd like to add a caveat: I'm not sure if this thread is more appropriate here or in the repair/restoration forum, but I'm giving it a shot here as it is a rather general question.

Having repaired and customized several vintage kits (mostly late 60's and 70's kits), i have seen at least two distinct category of adhesive used (i've only had to determine the adhesive type for 3 repairs none were serious so I didn't get down to any nitty gritty work on the adhesive):

1) On a circa '66 Slingerland the plys were laminated with hide glue.

2) On two kits with unidentifiable and beat up shells (possibly built in the mid 80's) used what I think was urea resin to laminate the plys.

Given that hide glue was the primary adhesive in the instrument building industry I assume that drum manufacturers used it before switching to modern adhesives.

FINALLY, THE QUESTION:

At what point did the big shell manufacturers make the switch away from hide glue?

My best guess would place this sometime in the mid '60s for most of the majors based on industry trends on a whole (Gibson guitars (the discount models) and Fender amps both switched to other adhesives by '67 AFAIK).

Again, its great to be here and hope to get some good discussion going.