OK Oddball I will do it to the 13"....thx

I don't claim to be an expert, just a learning enthusiast. I happen to have a Sonor Action set from the late 1970s, and this looks like it - at least, most of the hardware does (except the FT leg mounts, those look like Super Champion or Phonic). To me, the darker interior looks like painted or coated beechwood - there's something like a scratch on the inside of the tom, like peeled paint or varnish, and you can see the beech underneath. If you do sand the edges a bit, you'll see whether I'm right.

I haven't seen re-rings or any kind of reinforcement on Sonors from the 1970s and on, so those might have been added later - it looks like someone's worked on that kit. The washers are definitely not Action or Swinger, early 1970s models had smaller washers and mid 1970s didn't have them at all. The snare is a 1970s model with imperial lugs, although the ones I've seen are wooden and not metal. The stickers were used on Swingers mostly and on Ferro snares, while the wrap could be a Super Champion black (mid-1970s).

I think you have a Sonor combination of different things here :)

Alex

Alex good stuff thanks you may be right ... I should make clear there are no re-rings ...more like a an extra layered piece of shell that covered the seam joint ...its only on the 2 dark stained drums ...the 13 and 22 BD....cheers Steve PS Alex got any pics of the insides of your drums ? Also I don't see any of these snare drums with the Imperial lugs on ebay ...anybody know how common or uncommon this type is ? I had a thought that this might be a bastard / frankendstein kit that was maybe created after Sonor decided to drop a series or make some changes in methods and they just used the remaining shells up on this kit ?

Here are my thoughts about this set. Correct me if i'm wrong.

All hoops are Swinger. Tommounts are Swinger. Bassdrum/tommount is Swinger. The dark interior and exterior of the tom and bass is a homemade stain job. Maybe someone started (after unwrap the set) to stain the whole set, but wasn't satisfied after he was done with the first 2 drums and rewrapped the whole thing. Perhaps the dark stain is also on the whole outside of the drum . Black finish is a rewrap. (doesn't look Sonor to me)

I think the grommet was taken out on the tom, you can see a little damage around it on the left side.

Stickers are all damaged on the corners, could be normal wear or peeled off for rewrapping??

Plastic Swinger lugs were are also made without the "klöppellogo". (same as Champion or Action lugs.)

Wood, inside and out, is beech on all drums.

Henk

Henk thank you! I think your comments are very astute. A few questions remain unanswered. First and foremost is why the two drums with the stained shells also have the wood reinforcements along the inside joints. I think that if the drums were rewrapped it was done 40 years ago because the stickers all have about the same amount of curling as the snare drum sticker and that flat black wrap is no longer available. my guess is that the bass drum and the middle tom are perhaps an earlier different (action ?) series and the rest of the kit is Swinger. But there are no extra holes on any drum so the tom mounts must have been the same for both series ? ....Steve

It was Swinger that lasted until the 80`s. Earlier Swinger were beginner drums. Later through the years, Swinger was sold as a mid line drum kit because they changed the quality of them. Through the years I have identified three different series of Swinger kits.

You may have earlier and later Swinger series mixed, The other budget drum lines only lasted until 75 and none carried those mounts. Swinger is the only line that had everything you have on your drums ....on your drums. The last Swinger series had boat mounts, Champion lugs, and Champion FT mounts and legs.

You prolly have the middle of the changes period mixed with earliest series but the stain and wrap are not factory.

NOW that is exactly what I believe too.. I still wonder if all drums came originally from the same kit ... ALSO I still have not seen another snare like this one. with the imperial lugs ..all the others have bowtie lugs ...wonder if they got the cease and desist order from the Ludwig lawyers ?.. has ANYBODY out there got one or seen one like this?

It is possible that drum kits bought in the mid 70`s would have shells arranged to move out the door but NEVER with their main lines. The link era drums went through strict inspections and quality control.

It`s not possible that Ludwig lawyers said anything to SONOR about the imperial lug that SONOR allowed Ludwig to paten.

Oh, Your snare is one of the D-400 series. I forget which one, I`d have to look.

It`s common to find in Europe.

Since my last comment, I was able to get one of those snares, here it is:

[ame]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sonor-Vintage-Snare-von-1971-sehr-selten-/141201280844?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=m38MMsYt8jgLaaOlHDA%252BEbIr0uo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc[/ame]

Sonormuseum says that imperial-like lugs were used on snares in the 1970s, either metal (like mine) or wood. The shell is fairly light, pretty much like the Swinger snares, and it has the same throw-off but metal lugs.

Once again, I think the reinforcement on the seam of your drums was added by the guy(s) who worked on it. The same goes for the metal plate behind the tom rosette, my drums don't have it. There is black wrap in the 1970s Sonor catalogs, I just don't know whether yours is original. I'll try to post pics of my drums later, so you can see.

Alex