Well that's too bad you have been burned on a few questionable drum kits. From what I have seen, and according to Steve Maxwell the drums and the market does not reflect your sentiments...If they were truly as bad as you state, we would see more of them up for sale, or repeatedly changing hands, which we don't. Chanute era Camco owners must be keeping them for a reason.

I've been a Camco collector since the late 80's. Oaklawn drums are the ones to get. The only reason a Chanute era drum would be worth a lot is if it were a rare color or in rare sizes. But as I mentioned before somewhere along the line people forget why and they go nuts for anything Camco. It took me a few years to figure out why the early Oaklawns are the ones to get. Once you own a kit, the 6 ply Chanute kits just pale in comparison.

You mentioned Steve Maxwell. The Chanute kits that I've seen on his site have alWAYs been 20/12/14 or 18/12/14 kit hence being worth more.

In my years I've also seen far more Chanute kits, snares & singles for sale than any other era. Pretty surprising since the era only lasted 3 years.

For the record I never said I was burned. The kits or drums that I've owned usually had drip marks on the clear interior, questionable bearing edges and horrible chroming on their COB snare drums.

You have to remember that Chanute era Camco was run by Kustom, not really an ideal company to be running a drum company, which was probably why they bailed after only 3 years. There are some gems in the Chanute era but it took me many dogs before finding mine!

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/Camco%20Oaklawn/Camco%20Chanute/SteveCamco.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x246/dolfan54/Camco%20Oaklawn/Camco%20Chanute/P1010374.jpg[/IMG]

An Internet friend of mine who is a drummer of some notoriety, assisted me in finding the Camco drums that I have (snares). Although not associated with this forum, he does know a lot about Camco and Geo. Way drums. When I was considering getting a kit, he stressed the importance of trying to find an early Oaklawn. By his reckoning, the pecking order was: early Oaklawn, later Oaklawn, LA and lastly Chanute. He treated this as general knowledge.

No offense to the OP. It sounds like you got one of the good ones.

Stephen

Everything in me tells me that is completely and totally Wrong! Especially since the 6ply Jasper shells were identical to the Oaklawn 6ply years, most of the factory employees went with the sale and some even to L.A. So you had the same components, and the same workers, only different ownership...Also every Chanute kit I have seen and heard were awesome...My gut feeling told me that double bass BDP was Chanute, like I stated at the very beginning...I'am sticking with my 1st impression of Chanute drums, because I have yet to see one example of shoddy workmanship. Not even one! Also I know for a fact from ownership, the 4ply drums from the early Oaklawns years don't resonate nearly as much as the 6ply shells. So that's a matter of taste. Not a matter of quality or value. If you like to tune your toms low and phat the 6ply shells are far better at that than the 4ply....

Are you sure you are referring to the shells and not the COB hoops? The COB hoops will pitch the drum up higher than the generic hoops. But if you listen to the bass drums with identical wood hoops you can hear more warmth in the 4 ply shells.

@ Relayer - I don't include LA in my collection because the shells are Keller and not Jasper like Oaklawn and Chanute. I just don't care for the tone of those drums as much.

Now if you were to place them in order of workmanship/ craftsmanship you would have to put LA at the front of the pack. Of all the Camco eras, they were built the best.

Steve, that could be, but the 6ply shells just seem deeper and a bit darker sounding. I wish you could see and hear/play the 24" Oaklawn bass drum without re-rings. They are flat out fantastic. Maybe when Ryan finishes the restoration you could head up the hill for the day?

Head up the hill for a day? Is Ryan local to me? I'm an hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Hey Steve, No Ryan is half way across the country in the midwest. The two of us are about 1.5 to 2hrs. apart. I am in the foothills up 80 above Sacto and just below Auburn. When Ryan completes the Oaklawns maybe we could meet at one of the Pro Drum Shops midWAY between us. I would be willing to call the manager and reserve/pay to rent one of the practice/teaching spaces if you would be willing to find a shop where we could set them up/take them apart etc..(large enough to open both bass drums laying them flat without being cramped in a small space.)

Oh I didn't know we were that close. I'd love to see that drum in person. I'm not familiar with any vintage shops in the Sac area. I'll check around and see what I can come up with.

I've got a 13/14/16/22 charcoal moire Chanute kit and it's terriffic. Couldn't find a matching snare, so a bought an Oaklawn in the same finish. It's got the white interior and I honestly can't tell the difference between it and my Oaklawns in terms of tone or workmanship.

I love the LA kits as well. I've got a 12/14/20 WMP and a 12/13/16/22 with snare in natural maple (a fairly common kit). I love playing them. Really tunable and big sub tones in the kicks.

I see a lot of sales on eBay and when you talk about completed auctions (not failed reserve or BIN), the Oaklawn's get the most money. The only exception as Steve mentioned was a rare finish like a well kept Alice Cooper Blue. An LA snare in that finish went for $1,300.

I won't even waste people's time opining about the sound, workmanship or shell configuration, just observations on the price at which the drums sell for. I think it's a testament to demand. The demand can be based on fact or belief.