Cool drums!! I've never heard of these before...

Cheers

Welcome to the forum.

Nice looking kit,I think Rogers was the first to offer that finish in the late 70's early 80's.

Very unusual for a finish like that to be offered on an entry level or mid level kit at that time.10 lugs per side on the kick indicates a higher quality kit also.Does the wood grain on the inside run vertical or horizontal? Interesting that the kick has metal hoops ,Sonor did put metal hoops on their professional level Phonic series though.The Lugs look a lot like the lugs on the early Tama Superstar series and the Imperial Star kit I have from the 80's.

From the sizes,I would think your kit is from the late 80's early nineties,that is when 18x22 kicks started being offered,the tom depths also are right for that time period.

My guess would be that they could have been a Franchise Music store brand,or one of the early boutique smaller makers that became so prevalent in the early 90's or a smaller maker like the ones that used to do display advertising in Modern Drummer,there were quite a few that offered kits that had nicer appointments than the entry level kits from the major makers that cost more than entry level but still a lot less than their

pro lines.These kits were kind of the precursor to the really nice intermediate pro kits being offered now like the Reknowns,Luddy Keystones,Tame B and B's etc.

I will have a look at some of my M D pdf's to see if I can find an add on them.

Thanks for the information. It confirms some of what I believed. I am possibly thinking about selling them, but I'm not sure of the real value. I bought these in1986. I'm the actual 2nd owner. All scuffs are from the previous owner. I have taken each Drum apart and detailed all the hardware. Added cotton to the Lugs and Nylon washers on all Lug bolts. Hand Polished, tweaked, and Tuned . . . . . . Remo Pin Strips on Top and Evans G1 on the Bottoms. They sound pretty Nice !

Thanks for responding

From another post here on the forum....

"Viking was a house brand for a local music store here in the DC area. The store was Veneman Music"

So if they look a lot like Tama's, maybe they are???

No, I don't think they were from Tama. I have herd this before. Also, that it was the house brand at Veneman's Music.

I believe that Viking was a boutique company that couldn't maintain itself in the market. I think that my kit was an attempt to build a higher quality kit at an affordable price. This is why I have never seen any other kit. I don't think they made very many at all.

Thanks for the response

James

More evidence? (From another forum)

I started in MI retail in the DC area when I was a teenager, working for a mom and pop shop in Gaithersburg, MD (Victor Litz Music Center - still there and still owned by the Litz family). One of the main competitors in that area was Veneman's Music, located on Twinbrook Parkway in Rockville. Between them and Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center in Wheaton, it was pretty tough. Veneman's had a store brand of percussion equipment called Viking that was basically low-to-midrange drums and hardware. I remember many times used Viking snares, sets, or heavy double-braced boom stands with counterweights (!) made their way into Victor Litz - the owner didn't like to pay much for them, not only because they were lower-end but because he didn't want to sell the competition's house brand.

Somewhere around '99-'00 I believe, Veneman's was purchased by Guitar Center and turned into one of their "A" level stores. I was still working at Litz at the time.

/hijack

Yea they were a featured line of hardware, much like Gibralter today, I got some of their stands from a Place called Music Emporium in MD, ( my first intro to the big box stores) in the early 80's, reasonably well built, and cost effective. If its the same company.

WOW, Thanks for the Info. I remember all of those places. I'm originally from Alexandria, VA. Live in Baltimore now.

Thanks again. What do you think of this kit ? Do you know or want to guess on what kind of Wood it is ?

James

All I know is they look great. I'm good at finding info online but I'm no guru on vintage drums - I come here for answers myself. The fact that they're so rare means they're probably worth a lot to someone, if only you can connect with that person.

Did some research on the Viking brand when this was first posted. Like others have said, it does appear to be a house brand. The pictures of the few Viking kits I was able to come up with looked inferior to the kit listed here. My gut still has me thinking these are some house brand, but built to a higher standard than the "typical" Viking kit. The kit does look nice and probably sounds good, too!

-Mark