Great idea! Bear in mind that Trixie enthusiasts are a niche' market. Any orders will come from people who already know and love Trixon drums and who haven't been able to afford, or buy the real thing up to this point in time. Many Trixie lovers will think... 'I can sink two grand into a vintage kit, or buy a new one.' Considering the size of your target market for the drums in addition to the fact that the venture requires you to make a major investment up front, it's 'risky business' at best.

Excellent idea... very limited market and promise of return on investment. It 'could' take-off and turn you into a millionaire... but chances are slim. Niche' market for the item. How many younger drummers even know what a Trixon drum is.

John

I definitely see it as a niche' market and don't plan on getting rich off this but I specialize in doing those things that nobody else is doing and there is a market for, no matter how small. I know that there are people that like them but can't afford the price tags that go with them when they do pop up so it seemed like a good idea.

I doubt there is very little in the drum manufacturing world that would make anyone a millionaire, however, nothing wrong with becoming a hundredaire or a thousandaire doing something you love. The Speedfire kicks and kits have always been interesting to me. I could see you selling a few. If your startup costs were not that high then it might be a fun project. You certainly do quality work.

> it seemed like a good idea.

It -IS- a good idea! I owned and operated a small mom & pop style music store in NY for several years, I'm thinking about it in purely business terms of dollars and cents, investment vs. potential return. It just seems like the expenses are all loaded on the front end (lots of money going out,) without much guarantee of a (timely) return on that investment. It's easy to tell somebody else, go for it, spend your money, but if you make believe it's your own money that will be spent, all of a sudden you think about it differently.

It's a wonderful idea... but financially 'risky.' The marketing alone (letting people know the drums exist,) is going to be a serious nut all by itself. Think it through. Just how many prototypes are we talking about?

John

I would only be looking to build one prototype and then take orders from that. Getting the word out is actually the easiest part of the whole thing. I could easily put the kit in my advertising and bring it with me to all of the drum shows next year since I already do all of them. Because we would be building to order, the only money being put out is in materials for the initial prototype build. As with all of my custom orders, I get a 50% non refundable deposit to start the build so I am not in danger of taking much of a loss.

Since I will be looking to offer such small configurations to start I will most likely just build one prototype with one of each size drum.

Godspeed! Can't wait to see kit! Do you have a particular wrap selected/in mind?

John

I'm thinking about going with some nice stains instead of wraps. Calfskin all around.

Interesting. I will offer my 2 cents on the finish.

First of all I love a stained finish and yours always look good. That said, the Speedfire kits were steeped in the Googie (yep, that is a real word) design aesthetic. The Googie architectural movement was prevalent in late 50's through the 60's and our preoccupation with the space race. Think anything George Jetson or almost the entire city of Anaheim, CA. The restaurant tower at LAX is a primo example. As such, those kits seem to scream for a wrap. I wonder if that crocodile wrap is still manufactured by anyone? Most anything we have used to wrap a kit was not necessarily designed specifically for that purpose. Therefore, some of those finishes may still be out there. A kit in one of the cool Rolux moire patterns would certainly be appropriate. Of course, Trixon did a lot of sparkles. I know that increases the cost but might be more appropriate and fitting.

I would be interested, in at least seeing a prototype. 50% down with option of creative short payment plan would make it affordable for anyone. Excuse me if I don't know this, but I assume you own the "Trixon" name?