Apollo was one of the stencil names used by Star, the Japanese drum manufacturer/exporting company that would later become Tama.

Your snare drum is either 5-6 ply luan or possibly 3 ply. The lugs are the Sonor "teardrop" copies. I think your drum was probably produced around '67-70.

If you search for 'Apollo' a lot of info and examples of these drums should come up in the NON-USA forum.

cn679 - Yes, I'm finding lots of info.

Thanks for the reply.

I like red sparkle...and....you can always make any drum sound not too bad so I'm thinking this will be a fun little drum to add to my drum-dom.

There used to be a lot of Apollo drums around here in the early 70's.....

Even as a young teen,I didn't think they were too good...............

I already owned a RK set by then with a GK solid maple snare though,so you can see why!

This is an 8 lugger, so that said, the ply count is going to make all the difference in the world. If it is a 3 ply, you will have to be careful not to crank the heads as it eventually crush the shell. It will have a lower tone than you are used to, dark, smokey and very woodie. If it is 5 ply w/rings, you have got a great snare that with a little tuning and good heads will play like a dream.

I am running Aquarian Z-100 coated top and Evans med hazy bottom with the standard MIC/MIK snares. They are best for these MIJ drums as they are closest to the original wires. I know the temptation to go grab some Puresound snares to try and "upgrade" the sound, but trust me, it doesn't work like that. These are simple snares with simple tastes. For instance, the Z-100 head runs less than $10 in most music stores this side of the line. They have a coating that is fantastic for brush work and a single ply that seem to be made specifically for MIJ shells.

They are close to Ambassadors in weight but seem to more supple than the Remo heads, more pliable. To me the Remo heads a stiff until played in and re-tuned frequently.

Ya - no re-rings........see edited first post here.

I'll be gentile.

I have a 9x13 20's leedy/gretsch?? shell...bought it for the tacks (two tacked heads). It's a three ply - no re-rings as well.

I cut it down to 6.5 - it was split all around at the tack line on both heads.

I'm putting lugs on it and will see what my first attempt at this will be. The shell was damaged with some serious chuncks taken out here and there. I've sanded it - was going to wrap the drum but I kind of like the wood.

I'll be sure to post some pix and maybe a little sound clip too if it indeed sounds like a drum when I get through with it.

No need. This is a 6 ply shell. You should be able to get it were you want it. My WMP Apollo is the same shell and sounds fantastic.. When I got it (from Goodwill online), it was half way destroyed in that the shell was cracked more than half way through right around the strainer. It had been dropped and the strainer was broken, the shell split almost all the way across. I spent a good 4 hours of labor repairing it and made a video series of the repair. Of course, while I had it apart, I cleaned it as though it were any other restoration project.

After the repair, I put it all back together and hoped for the best. Well, I got the best this drum has possibly ever sounded. And if it is not the best it ever was, I can't imagine how good this drum must have been before it was mauled.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoKE-jfNitg[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsteHP0634s[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSsvAJtmz14[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axj7jZWD95s[/ame]

Jonnistix

I enjoyed your videos - thanks for posting. I also heard our National Anthem (O-Canada) playing in the background there on the last video haha.

I'm of the same mind as you when it comes to repairing drums - although I'm just a beginner. I get a lot of satisfaction repairing these old drums. If I end up with something that sounds like a drum and does not 'buzz' (bearing edge or cracked/split wood issue) then I'm happy.

Thanks for this.

Cheers,