If Camco produced the least amount, then it has to be because they were not as popular. They didn't sell as many, so less kits today. So, why are they so popular now? Do they really bring big bucks because they were better drums or just the fact that they are unique with the round lugs and harder to find. It seems their dw connection has more to do with their popularity today than anything else.

Why didn't Camco sell as many drums/kits as the other major players? Simple answer...MARKETING! You can have the BEST of anything, but if you aren't able to market the product, you won't sell as many. We live in a free enterprise society, where profits have to be made. Camco made GREAT drums, but let's face it. Most of us of a certain age probably only remember Gretsch, Ludwig, Rogers and Slingerland. I never remember seeing any Camco kits at any of the local dealers when I was growing up and got interested in drums. For myself, I'll take a beautiful Camco kit over a RB Gretsch kit any day!

-Mark

So, we are to blame it on the poor marketing skills of those in charge of marketing Camco drums. So, the so called best drum company couldn't figure out a way of marketing their superior drums to the general public. I don't buy it, Camco drums are more popular today because dw is the top dog, period.

Noble & Cooley makes some of the best drum kits available today in terms of quality and tone. How many kids browsing at the local guitar center have one on their dream kit list?

Have you ever priced a Noble & Cooley kit? I'm sure in Camcos heyday, they weren't any more expensive than any other drums.

A 4-piece N&C CD Maples kit can be had for just under $3k, just like the top lines from Gretsch, Ludwig, etc.

Not talking about how popular they are today, which is a given. Simply suggesting that Camco was not the big seller that the other makers were. I'd like to hear from those that remember going to music stores in the late 60's and early 70's who can say that Camco drums were displayed alongside the other makers. I can say that I never saw any Camco drums and was never aware of them. I was somewhat aware of Gretsch, but more so of Ludwig, Rogers and Slingerland.

Mark

This is turning into a real drum battle!Keep on PlD' Drummer

I'm with Mark (idrum4fun) on this but with a bit of a differing twist. I knew of all these drum companies, including Camco, and it was because I was aware that Dennis Wilson was using Camcos in the mid-60's. So I got a catalog for Camco, just as I got one for all the others.

From the catalog alone you could tell Camco did not have either the understanding or cash to market (and thus sell) at the level of the other companies.

Marketing effort, or lack of it as the case may be, makes a huge difference. And, as Mark pointed out, Camco didn't have the footprint in the drum shops like the others did. In those days, no shop carrying your drums meant no sales. Simple as that. Hardly anybody would try to order direct from a drum company and probably would have failed if they had tried to do so because of other marketing agreements about sales territory and so forth.

So Johnny Ringo - less Camcos due to their marketing strategy or their funding for production and development (kind of tied together) equals even less now. However, they did have a really good product with unique lug design, thin/ resonant shells with sharp bearing edges nicely undersized to vibrate very well, and great COB hoops that were also of a unique design. Put those aspects together and you have drums that are highly sought after and with the resultant high prices you see now.

So get out there and get you some!

Those are all valid points, but, were Camco drums really so much better than Ludwig or Rogers to be so sought after now? Look, I'm just trying to make sense out of something that doesn't make sense. I don't believe something just because someone says it or because a certain drum sells for more than another. I'm just going by what I've learned from owning and playing kits from most of the big companies. Besides hardware, I see no big difference between any of them. And when I say difference, I don't mean to imply that they all sound the same, I mean, they all sound great, none better than the other. That's what I've learned after many years of playing vintage drums.