Vistalite Rarities - The "Selcol" Snare Drum

Whilst the history of Ludwig Vistalite drums began in the early 1970s, the Selmer company (owners of Ludwig since 5 November 1981) were producing plastic drums in the early 1960s.

The Selmer company was formed in 1964 by a French musician named Henri Selmer. Just as the Ludwig comapny was started by a musician unhappy with the quality of his musical instruments (well, bass drum pedals), Henri Selmer was a clarinetist who developed an instrument vastly superior to any on the market at the time. The Henri Selmer factory was set up near Paris and many clarinets were produced and sold around the world.

In 1928 an Englishman named Ben Davis met Henri Selmer and established the Selmer company in London. By the outbreak of the second world war, the Selmer comapny was the biggest musical instrument company in the UK. After the war the company diversified into plastic toys and garden furniture under the name "Selcol".

Selcol produced this acrylic toy drum in the early 1960s. The shell is red acrylic with a golden glitter and the lugs and rims are also made of plastic....as are the heads and much of the snare strainer mechanism. This particular drum carries the signature of Eric Delaney, top British show drummer (and still going strong...).

The shell is made up of two halves with the seam running around the drum. The lugs are held in the recesses on the seam and the tension of the heads literally holds the drum together. Elegantly simple, though obviously produced to a price.

The completed drum - whilst obviously a toy, looks the part with thick "die-cast" rims and lugs reminiscent of an old Slingerland drum.

These drums are becoming very collectable now; a Selcol "Ringo" drum recently fetched US$1200