Townsville in the mid 70's. We probably knew people in common. I knew a bunch of northern Queenslanders (some from Townsville) who moved to Sydney in the late 70s.

A drag you got rid of the cymbals though - ridiculously collectable today (mind you so is so much of that stuff we owned and then got rid of back then). My first "proper" kit was a pre-international Premier set in WMP (though urinated pearl would have been a closer description) and I also got another one (both dirt cheap). I can see they're all over the place in various vintage forums and going for quite some coin on ebay. Ended up selling them to Sherbert's keyboard player when I got a Ludwig classic.

Mind you - Drouyns.....could be an interesting area to start collecting. I'd love to hear from Goughy's dad how many kits they were turning out a month. Can't have been that many so right off there's rarity.

I'm living in Sweden now and just starting to get into a couple of their locally produced lines which dominated before the American then Japanese stuff took over. Again, pretty much like hen's teeth and therein the collectability (damn good drums some of them).

Anyway, as someone in here put it, so many drums, so little time.

Cheers,

David

The drouyn factory was pretty small I gather, so I don't think it would have been high turnover. One area they specialised in was military percussion (marching) and I believe when they got out of kits they were still doing that.

And look what I just stumbled over on Trading Post - a very nice red sparkle kit from the sixties. You'll note that they say hundreds of Australian drummers used these but can still only quote The Easybeats and Skyhooks as "name" acts using them. Any of you live in Victoria? Might be a bit pricey but looks to be in good nick.

http://www.tradingpost.com.au/iteminfo/adnumber_W954634017212_off_13_sect_Sport%2c+Leisure+%26+Recreation_sort_otRZSQ1BJDZfdRZSQSearchDisplayPriorityIndAVSCotRZSQ1BJDZfdRZSQFirstPublished_sqt_2_srch_Gretsch_state_9_stpg_1_subs_Musical+Instruments_

Yep, I?m in Victoria. I noticed this kit a few weeks ago, great looking kit. Probably is a bit pricey but then you don?t see these every day. The same guy has another Drouyn kit for sale in gold sparkle, a fair bit cheaper for some reason. I?d love to grab them just because there Australian made, I?ve never actually heard one, but there?s just too much other vintage gear on my list to get. I think the person selling this vintage stuff in Melbourne is the same guy I bought my 65 Ludwig silver sparkle kit from about 9 or 10 years ago. I actually just finished restoring it using all the help from this website, it?s came up great, now it almost looks too nice to drag along to pub gigs. I would love to post some pics to show it off, I?ll have to track down a camera first. But anyway those old Drouyn kits are very interesting, anyone know what wood the shells where made of?

Here's a link to a story on some drums Drouyn made for the Australian Navy (you'll have to scroll down to about page 15, or search for Drouyn)

http://www.navy.gov.au/ranband/documents/Newsletter1.pdf

The current value of these drums is estimated to be $A1.4million!!!!!

What a great story - thanks for sharing.

I just posted some pics of my drums, including 2 of the drouyn kits bass drum. i Like the wrap colour which I haven't seen before (not that that's saying much).

http://www.vintagesnaredrums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2775

Came across this thread while searching for Drouyn drums and thought I should register & pass some info on.. I worked there 70/71 and have a good deal of background info and also a rare collection of catalogs including an original D &D from the forties/ fifties.

Doug Drouyn died & left the running of the business to his son Dennis. Daughter Lois and widow Drouyn stuck their heads in occasionally. Dennis fired long time company manager Norm Bell and proceeded to screw the company up, including importing Asian kits towards the end. Norm Meecham ran the factory and did the metal work , Morrie Hinds assembled the kits and planed the bearing edge on each shell, and glued the cellulose finish on the drums in a roller press . There was another part time hand who was in the army band named Col Webb. The shells were made by glueing successive sheets of veneer together in a circular mold which was then inflated with a heavy rubber balloon. Morrie Hinds had taught drums , his star student being Barry " little goose " Harvey. Morrie also knew the art of rolling vellums onto hoops & made hide heads for local players.

Besides Snowy Fleet ( Easybeats ) and Freddie Strauks ( Skyhooks ) the most influential user was Johnny Dick who played a " Cannon kit " with Lobby Lloyds Wild Cherries. He's playing a Hayman kit in this vid, but for a long time played a Drouyn cannon kit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3gN3_DOn3w

It consisted of two 22' bass drum shells glued together in line. 10 inch deep custom snare drums were also a popular item during that early OZ heavy blues/ rock period . I left Aus in 72 and returned in 75 by that time Dennis had run the manufacturing side into the ground , and the factory guys were mainly kept busy repairing marching drums , and the factory also made fifes for school fife bands. I currently reside in Nashville TN where I produce records & play guitar .

Welcome to the forum! That's some great insider information!

You don't get more definitive than a namecheck of all staff members. Fantastic contribution and will now have to go back and check out old pix of The Wild Cherries.

Cheers,

David