Anyone remember Monolith Drums?

[drumaniac]

Gerry Mercer who was president of Monolith drums and the drummer for April Wine retired from April Wine in January 2009 planning to take a year off for travel. I think Monolith had wound down prior to that. http://www.aprilwine.ca/news.php

He stepped down from April Wine at the age of 70. I had no idea till now that Jerry Mercer had retired. He seemed ageless to me, looking about the same in 2006 as he did with Mashmakan circa 1970. Fine drummer, fine career.

Patrick

April Wine is still touring with a new drummer luckily I caught one of his last shows a couple of years ago at THE EX. He did a wicked solo for a drummer of 69 years young. Ah Mashmakhan how appropriate - As the Years Go By

 

[Drumcrazd]

I own a set of Monolith drums so I can fill in the blanks a little on them.

Monolith drums were started by a Canadian fellow named Bill Hibbs who was friends with Jerry Mercer the original drummer for April Wine. Bill Hibbs was also into car racing and had fabricated race car parts out of carbon fiber. Bill's access to raw carbon fiber and molds allowed him to start building drums out of carbon fiber. Jerry's visibility with AW allowed the drums to be road and studio tested extensively and gave Monolith drums exposure to a market beyond Canada.
I aquired my set of Monolith drums by winning a Modern Drummer magazine giveaway!
It was a very cool deal because not only did I get a REALLY nice set complete with Shure mics, Sabian cymbals, Axis pedals and Protechtor cases and also a trip to PASIC in Nashville. I roomed with Jerry at PASIC and we have been friends ever since. In the "small world" category, Jerry's other band "The Buzz Band" had opened a show for my band at a music festival in Montreal back in 1984. Because of this I became an endorser for Monolith drums. It's funny how paths cross through music and connections are made.
As for the drums; they are incredible sounding and unlike any other drums I've played or owned. Maybe a cross between maple and acrylic shells with the loud properties of my Vistalites and the warmth of maple and phenomonal sustain. The name "Monolith" comes from the fact that these drums are solid shell drums not plied. One other attribute is they are insanely light weight. I can hold my 22 bass drum straight out at arm's length. So that's a plus when carrying the drums to gigs.
I'll pull the Monoliths out one of these nights and post some pictures.

Wow what an awesome story Tim!.....good for you......I have a question....do you know how Monolith drums compare to Milestones?

 

[KingLudwig]

Nope - those were, in fact, Kill On Command drums. Those were made by Resurrection Drums in Hollywood, FL (the shop is still going strong) and were famous for those HUGE long kick drums (15-20 years before OCDP 'came up' with the idea).

AVH came up with the ideal with his Ludwigs way before Res Drums did!

 

[Houndog]

AVH came up with the ideal with his Ludwigs way before Res Drums did!

And I’ll venture to guess someone beat Alex to the punch as well .

 

[lossforgain]

Now THIS is a ZOMBIE THREAD!

 

[Vistalite Black]

Found great pictures of Monolith drums ... Bing.com!

Monolith Drums I Custom drums by William Hibbs | Jonathan Grime Photography (wordpress.com)

 

[KingLudwig]

And I’ll venture to guess someone beat Alex to the punch as well .

Per Alex he got the ideal from Billy Cobham!

 

[Titletown Tim]

Wow what an awesome story Tim!.....good for you......I have a question....do you know how Monolith drums compare to Milestones?

Drumcrazd, Welcome to Drum Forum.

I have never played a Milestone drum so I cannot offer an opinion.