Vistalite Drums
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Vistalite drums were a line of acrylic PET or Polyethylene terephthalate [1]drums produced by the Ludwig Drum company, introduced in 1972. The name Vistalite refers to the translucent plastic that the shells were made out of. Vistalite and acrylic offered a synthetic alternative to wood shells and were popularized by rock drummer John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.
The original Vistalites are a collectors item, and usually command a decent price on eBay.
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[edit] Original varieties
The kits were initially available in clear, blue, green, red, amber, and yellow, with clear and blue being the most common. The company later introduced Rainbow Vistalites with multicolored shells - Tequila Sunrise (red, orange and yellow striped) was probably the most famous combination. Several other variations included bass drums without tom mounts (often referred to as "virgin" bass drums) and concert toms (toms without lug holes or a rim on the bottom of the shell). Green and red were eventually dropped due to poor sales. Translucent Smoke (a dark grey color), solid black, and solid white were added late during the Vistalite production run. Rainbow Vistalites were co-invented by Elvis Presley's drummer Ronn Tutt. Tutt tried his invention, and was nonplussed with the single head rainbow Vistalites enough to go immediately back to playing maple drums. Singer/drummer Karen Carpenter was fond of vistalites and can be seen playing them on her 70's TV shows. Keith Moon of the Who,Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Ron Bushy of Iron Butterfly and Billy Cobham played acrylic kits in the 70's.
Source 1: "The Ludwig Book" By Rob Cook Source 2: "Ludwig: the making of a drum company" Backbeats press Source 3 http://www.ludwig-drums.com/products/drumkits/vistalite.php?show=2[]:
[edit] Tivoli Vistalite
In 1978, Ludwig created the Tivoli Vistalite by inserting small light bulbs into the shells. The kits were plagued by electrical problems - Bill Ludwig II is reported to have said that everything they made on Vistalite was lost on Tivoli. There were also problems with the shells cracking under the pressure of over-tightened lugs and exposure to freezing temperatures. The original Vistalite line was phased out due to declining sales, the rising cost of oil-based plastics.
Source: "The Ludwig book" Rob Cook/Backbeats press
[edit] Improved Vistalite
Ludwig reintroduced improved Vistalite drums in 2001, with the company enjoying decent sales of its John Bonham replica amber Vistalite kit. The shells are thicker, stronger, warmer sounding and more resonant than the originals.
In 2006, a multitude of drum companies like SONOR (X-Ray), Tama (Starclassic Mirage), RCI International (Starlite), Fibes (Crystalite), ddrum (Diode and Diaton), Zickos and Peace (Echoplasm) Kirchhoff Schlagwerk (Arctic series) now make acrylic drums thanks to a big increase in popularity since 2001. Custom drum companies have also seen a surge in demand.
Kirchoff Slagwerk of Germany, Sonor and Peace are the only current producers of seamless/extruded acrylic shells. These are the first since Pearl drums produced them in the 70's. Sonor updated their lineup in 2006 to include the SQ2 (formerly designer) series. The promotional video refers to acrylic in terms of what a maple shell would sound like. Acrylic was described as "intensified upper and lower frequencies with reduced midrange frequencies." SOURCES: www.sonor.de www.sonormuseum.com As of 2008, Kirchoff began supplying DDRUM with seamless acrylic shells for their newly dubbed "Diaton" line of drums.
Gold n Times acrylic shells are thicker and stronger than 70's vistalites, but are glued and tabbed in the same manner. They are supplied to Ludwig, Tama, and custom drum makers. They are approximately 1/4" (6mm) thick. Acrylic shells can be glued with adhesives like cyanocrylates. modern adhesives are superior to those available in the 1970's.
RCI Starlight acrylic shells are polymer "welded" at the seam, not tabbed. They are sold to drum parts and custom resellers under the title "Aqua bomb acrylic shells." ("Atomic bomb" outside of North America.) According to RCI-Starlight international, claims vibration charactaristics of their shells were tested and are superior to glued and tabbed shells.
Acrylic shells are welded by applying solvents like di/trichloretheleye to the ends of the acrylic sheet. The sheet is partially dissolved, and when the ends are placed togeather, the resultant bond is as strong, or stronger than the shell itself. Additionally, the seam is very thin.
Gas custom drums of Australia (www.gascustomdrums.com)uses sheets of Mitsubishi shinkolite, a high-quality acrylic used in the automotive industry and optics.
The 2008 surge in oil prices will again raise the price of acrylic shells, and may again, endanger the acrylic market.
[edit] Popularity
Rockers and jazzmen alike enjoy the wide tuning range of acrylic drums, and the dry, but punchy and projecting sound. A criticism of Vistalite and acrylic shells in general is that some feel they sound brittle,artificial, and lack the complexity of their wood counterparts. Vistalite are approximately 30% louder with fewer overtones than wood or metal. With modern amplification and recording techniques, acrylic can sound very close to wood. In a 2007 issue of Modern Drummer magazine (www.moderndrummer.com), they stated of the Tama mirage acrylic drum kit: "When I close my eyes, I find it hard to believe it's not a wood kit." This represents a very big change in not just the attitude of the media, but the improvement in sound represented by modern acrylics and drumheads.
Many professional drummers used vistalites or similar acrylic drums in the '70s and '80s. Jazzmen like Billy Cobham and Lionel Hampton and Bill Zickos were well known acrylic kit players in the 1970's.
Recently, drummer Mike Portnoy of the progressive metal group Dream Theater used a Tama drum company built acrylic kit for a John Bonham tribute, and for parts of Dream Theater's 2005 Octavarium cd and dvd. As of Summer, 2007 Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater now plays a Tama mirage dubbed "the acrylic monster" to support his 2007 tour. This underscores the rising popularity of these shells, and brings them into the public eye. Drum tech Jeff Ocheltree included a segment on tuning the new Vistalite drums in his dvd "Trust your ears." He describes them as having a very "live" sound. Originally, drummers favored single-ply drum heads with a center dot for these drums. But as Jeff Ocheltree describes, the sound improves with the use of two ply drum heads.
Austrian drummer/clinician Thomas Lang has toured with Sonor's new designer x-ray acrylics to rave reviews for his playing, and for the sound of these drums.
Changing the overall attitude of drummers concerning the sound of acrylic drums has been a focus of the review media. In 2007 articles and reviews, the magazines gave unabashed praise for the look and sound of modern acrylic drums. Superlatives like "fat" and "warm" were liberally applied. These terms are normally given to wood-shelled drums to indicate that they have abundant low and midrange frequencies. With the right combination of drumheads and tuning, acrylics don't have to sound brittle or artificial. Euopean e-zine www.drummersdigest.com posted a very positive review of a Kirchoff Arctic series solid-cast acrylic kit, to include audio recordings that prove acrylics can sound as musical as other drum shell materials.
