Corder drums

gaspesien

Senior Member
Hi there, i'm in the process of finding a new/used drum for my present gig. I went looking for a powerful and cutting drumkit, at the shop they showed me a Corder 5 piece maple kit, never seen one before, but it sounded so good!

Honestly it looks awful, it's covered with a kind of blue arborite, but the shells are in great shape. As anybody heard of Corder before, i know it's made with Fibes tooling, but any info would be great, thanks Mat
 
Fibes became Coder, Coder became Darwin, Darwin bought out and Fibes reappeared. Jasper shells....great kit. Congrats.
 
Yep, Corder were generally nice drums, I was an endorser for a short time in 1984/5. This was my 'big' kit - 26/14/16/18.

5.jpg
_drum_Exley2.jpg
 
Yep, Corder were generally nice drums, I was an endorser for a short time in 1984/5. This was my 'big' kit - 26/14/16/18.

5.jpg

Still have that kit? Everything old is new agin.....so they say. Do you keep old kits or blow them out when you get new ones? Do you get sad when you replace an old kit or too excited that you have a new deal and new kit?
 
Still have that kit? Everything old is new agin.....so they say. Do you keep old kits or blow them out when you get new ones? Do you get sad when you replace an old kit or too excited that you have a new deal and new kit?


I was planning to sell my current kit and get a top range one - but this kit is sooooo nice and sentimental (first kit i bought myself and quite unique) ill keep every drum kit i ever buy
 
Still have that kit? Everything old is new agin.....so they say. Do you keep old kits or blow them out when you get new ones? Do you get sad when you replace an old kit or too excited that you have a new deal and new kit?

I got rid of it just a few years ago, I was out of storage space and hadn't used it in maybe 18 or 19 years. I've let other kits go as well, mostly for storage reasons and in a few instances, because I didn't know they were worth keeping. No real regrets about any of them though. I've been through probably 30 kits, still have 13 or 14.

Bermuda
 
Bermuda : Your old kit seems to have the fibes lugs, the one i found uses tube lugs, Do you have any more details in memory about hose, number of plies, shell material, etc.. i heard the are maple/gumwood mix. Anyway, the one i heard is unbelievable! for a used kit!
 
I got rid of it just a few years ago, I was out of storage space and hadn't used it in maybe 18 or 19 years. I've let other kits go as well, mostly for storage reasons and in a few instances, because I didn't know they were worth keeping. No real regrets about any of them though. I've been through probably 30 kits, still have 13 or 14.

Bermuda

Dang...30 kits...That's a lot! What did you do with them all? sell? trade? donate?
PS: cool avatar.
 
Bermuda : Your old kit seems to have the fibes lugs, the one i found uses tube lugs, Do you have any more details in memory about hose, number of plies, shell material, etc.. i heard the are maple/gumwood mix. Anyway, the one i heard is unbelievable! for a used kit!

Jim Corder and family took over Fibes, so yes, the hardware - lugs, legs, throw-off, etc - was all Fibes. Anything else would not have been standard issue.

The shells were from Jasper, I assumed all maple plies but I don't know for sure. I don't recall how many plies either. Don't forget, the widespread knowledge/pre-occupation about drum construction is fairly new. 23 years ago (when I signed with Corder) all anyone cared about was how a drum sounded, not how it was engineered.

That's still true for me. I am thoroughly uninterested in all the specs - the ultimate specification is how the drum sounds to my ear.

Bermuda
 
Dang...30 kits...That's a lot! What did you do with them all? sell? trade? donate?
PS: cool avatar.

I traded a few, most were sold, and some were disassembled for parts. I do have 4 'current' kits on loan to friends and family, so that gives me a little relief on the storage situation.

Thanks on the avatar, it's part of a larger illustration done by an Al fan:
fullavatar_caric.jpg


Bermuda
 
as a teenager i found an add in modern drummer and i ordered my first corders kit to switzerland. the possibilities of different lacquers and colors, different sizes in diameter and depth were just amazing at that time. and the price was just incredible for the quality of these fine drums. it was the only way at the time to get a customized drum set. after 20 years i still play most of the time my corders set which consists of 8x8, 8x10, 8x12, 12x13 and 13x14 toms and 18x20 bassdrum. the shells are really great sounding only the fibes material on the shells is a bit weak... after all this years and all the other nice sets i played or tested i am still with my old love.
 
Corder drums are excellent instruments! I should have kept mine. I think they are six-ply maple. Those were my first new pro level drums. I ended up trading them in for some Mapex Saturns, which are the drums at church now. Peace and goodwill.
 
I have a CORDERS fiber-based catalog/size (and I believe price) list from the late 80's if anyone might need to reference that information.
 
I bought a used set of Corder drums about 12 years ago that I will NEVER get rid of. I use them all the time when I'm in the U.S. They're Jasper shells, 5-piece, 12', 13', 14' toms, 18' bass drum and a matching snare. I hate the 13' tom, which I never use, and it's got some after market hardware on it, but I absolutely love it. I've been looking for another kit to have in the UK, but haven't had any luck.
 
Just picked up a Corder snare and am restoring it.

I endorsed Corder for a bit while playing with a few bands out here in San Francisco.

The secret of the Jasper shell was it had a few plies of gumwood in addition to maple.

Was never a big fan of the tone controls Jim was fond of,but that's a personnel preference thing.

He was a great guy to work with and was sad to hear when he passed and his sons didn't want to take over the biz.
 
The Corders are family friends. My dad grew up with Don and Ken Corder. Don is kinda like my uncle. He still machines parts for different instruments and is one heck of a great guy. I'd love to get a complete corders kit just to hang on to. My friend has been rocking a corders snare for over 30 years and wouldn't part with it for anything. They are great kits and well made. They seems to last from the ones I've seen they are all in great condition.
 
I remember ions ago having a super drummer friend tell me he thought Corder drums would be my ideal set. Corded was no joke..they were hugely underrated.
 
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