Sonor Mahem

Here is a gratuitous post about the Sonor drum kit I bought a while ago, which I have set up at home [it's too precious to have it at the studio where it will be hit repeatedly with wooden sticks by unruly visitors]

First up are some scans from a Sonor catalog that I used to have [in 1979 when I was 11]. I used to stare at every page endlessly re-reading every word and drawing pictures of the pictures and generally dreaming of owning one of these amazing instruments. Thanks to the great sonormuseum website where you will find the rest of this catalog and tons more Sonor stuff

Now what is interesting about these pictures [apart from the fact there is one of the Acryl kits exactly like the one here] is that the smallest kit featured was the one I longed for the most, namely the rosewood in picture 2, because that was my favorite finish

Well, two years ago my dream came true and I stumbled across the ultimate drum kit, bearing in mind what I've just said and also how obsessed I am with anything from the late 70s. Below is the post I put on the sonormuseum forum in August 2008 explaining what happened

Hi everyone
I have lucked-out massively this week. I wanted to fulfill a life long dream and get a vintage Sonor Phonic rosewood kit [ever since I got hold of a copy of the sonor catalog when I was 11 in 1979 - which I still drool over]

So I started looking on the bay, and put in a few enquiries on this board. I realised it wasn't going to be an easy task. Then I called a Sonor dealer here in the UK who put me in touch with a music shop in manchester who he thought had a Sonor kit knocking about. They sent me a picture of it and the next minute I was driving the 300 mile journey in a van trembling with excitement

The guy in the shop had told me it was in good condition. But in fact it was like walking into a drum shop in 1980 and buying a BRAND NEW SONOR DRUM KIT [except that it was cheaper, even in 1980 pounds]. It still had the red cardboard tags hanging on it and the original grease on the stands!!!!! The most it had been played was while it had been in the shop over the last few weeks. There is not a single scratch or mark on it anywhere. The chrome is perfect. It also had its original [Sonor?] cases. So I bought it and here it is set up in my front room. I would be interested to know its exact date. I guess the silver badges date it after 1980, and the hardware before 1983? The snare is a bit odd - its a 505 with a parallel snare - is that normal? Is there a way of dating them form the serial numbers on the badges? It sounds beautiful, amazing, like going back in time......

You can check out the thread here 

and also here

Below are lowres pics I took at the time, and below them is a video featuring the great Bernard Purdie, on his Sonorlite kit [a contemporary of the Sonorphonics that I have]