Many thanks to Martin to translate the german text into english!!!!!

Translation of the TRIXON Article in STICKS Drummer Magazine

(by Martin Grimsel, Osnabrück, Germany)

Dear TRIXON fans,

in order to enable all of you worldwide to inform about important steps in TRIXON drum history I translated the above mentioned article, published in a German drummer magazine in the late 80s of the last century. Please note that I do not do such things professionally - therefore have mercy concerning mistakes in language and punctuation. Best regards,             Martin

On behalf of drum history we again stay on German territory this time. After our last trip to the drum manufacturer SONOR (Sticks 4/89) now our turn leads us to northern Germany, more precisely to Hamburg. There we had the opportunity to meet `Mr. TRIXON` in person. In Wentorf, a southern part of Hamburg, lives the 72 years old founder and former head of the company, Karl-Heinz Weimer. It was a highly interesting event to experience drum history firsthand. You could fill up a whole issue with all the stories and anecdotes from the life of a really great drum manufacturer. Some of them you can read in this article.

Company history

Karl-Heinz Weimer, coming from a musical family has very early had contact to percussion instruments. He studied tympany in Stuttgart. With his brothers and sisters he played in café-houses and filled the audience with enthusiasm by giving interludes on the xylophone. Later on at his military service, he went on being a tympanist by `drumming for Germany` - that`s the way he described it himself - at the 13^th Ulans of Lüneburg on horseback. However his dream was building drums and drumsets himself.

After the war had ended, Weimer built a small plant for drum manufacturing, only equipped with a hammer, a pair of tongues and a lot of optimism. He was able to acquire wood and metal parts but there were no drum heads. With the help of a stranger he found what he had searched for in a wast pit - the goods came out of a depot. Now the production could start ! With a start-up-capital of DM 40,00 (less than $ 20.00) he founded the TRIXON Company on September 18 1947, being run as a one-man-company in these first days. Within a few years the TRIXON musical instruments earned worldwide reputation. TRIXON vibraphones, -xylophones, -stage desks, -drumsets and -accessories were unique proof of special ideas and considered great attention in Germany and in all countries where they appeared for the first time.

  The patents

The area of ideas and new developments was enourmous. Not only the eye-catching world-novelties as Speedfire bass drum or conical drums set new standards but also a lot of detail-improvements and general developments. Karl-Heinz Weimer showed us a thick folder full of his own patents. They reach from the above mentioned drums over the invention of a nylon jazz-brush and illuminated maracas (!) up to a patent on `the hole in the resonant head of the bass drum`. The funds were not sufficient for registration of all the trademark rights, though. That’s why a lot of good TRIXON ideas are used as common knowledge in manufacturing of musical instruments.

The musical instruments plant

  Due to high international demands for TRIXON musical instruments the plant was enlarged the first time in 1957 and equipped with new and modern machines. New dimensions were also opened by winning a highly skilled staff as well as a team of specialists. In the course of increasing turnover- and sales rates, especially in the field of export another enlargement of the plant became neccessary. In spring 1966 TRIXON was able to take a new plant with four new factory buildings of 1000 square meters ground each into operation, thus the capacity was doubled. The number of employees increased from 80 to 140. `The TRIXON customers come from 40 countries all over the world. And the main customer is the country where in former times more jazz drums have been built than anywhere else: the USA.‘ This was read in a newspaper in Hamburg in December 1965 as an example for the popularity of TRIXON musical instruments. In the USA an organ manufacturer was found who made the entrance in the American market possible. In the marketing organization the TRIXON drums were first offered under the VOX brand - well known for guitars and amplifiers (`AC 30`). The special design of the VOX speaker covers was continued in the VOX, or rather TRIXON drums. The expansion of the plant had become neccessary not least by this development on the American market as well as the enormous increasing of production capacities. Promotion gained importance more and more. Commercials on air and TV, in the press and in window displays should help establishing TRIXON.

The TRIXON drummer

It was a big day in Hamburg-Reinbek when it was read: „Buddy Rich joins the TRIXON team !“ The drummer genius became a TRIXON endorser. A lot of improvements and modifications came into being in coorperation with Rich. The new Buddy Rich Luxus outfit was presented. A new Hi-Hat stand, cymbal- and snare stand, all designed according to Buddy’s ideas. Modifications were made on the shells, cymbal holders and tension casings.

Each Luxus outfit had a signed Buddy Rich metal snare drum. Buddy Rich and Karl-Heinz Weimer had spent a lot of time on the development of this drum for matching sound, durability and easy operation exactly: „Try it and you will find it a joy to play !“

Besides Buddy Rich, among the TRIXON drummer there were such stars as Lionel Hampton, Sam Woodyard, Phil Seamon, Bill Haley’s drummer, the vibraphone player Victor Feldman and many more.

Zildjian, Remo, Slingerland

After the conquest of the foreign markets, business was intensified by import. In the own distribution-net such companies as Avedis Zildjian, the Swedish accordeon- and guitar manufacturer Hagström, Binson sound- and echo devices (Italy) as well as the Slingerland distribution for Germany were represented exclusively.

There was a close friendship between Karl-Heinz Weimer and Zildjian. As luck would have it Bob Zildjian, todays boss of Sabian, recognized Karl-Heinz Weimer during a visit at TRIXON in 1954 as the soldier, he - being a security officer of the American front-line-forces - picked up from the German camp in the last days of war from time to time for „making music“. At these meetings, being a bit anxious for both sides, no-one could foresee the later business friendship, of course.

An interesting and also convincing photo-ad was shown on the occasion of the introduction of the Remo-Nylon-Plastic drum head. The advantages of these durable and weather-resistant drum heads in contrast to common calf skin heads were demonstrated impressively: „The drum head is not cracking ..., although the jet of water from a fire-brigade’s tube is causing a considerable pressure.“ With this trial of strength TRIXON demonstrated the quality of the new Remo heads their sets were equipped with exclusively.

The unique shape concepts

Apart from the big spectrum of excellent musical instruments out of the TRIXON plant - vibraphones, latin instruments, traditional drum sets and accessories - nowadays the TRIXON brand stands for extraordinary concepts and especially for unique shape developments. So the inventiveness of Karl-Heinz Weimer was mirrored in the development of the Speedfire bass drum. On this elliptically shaped bass drum two different sounds could be produced. The Speedfire had the same volume (capacity) as a usual round bass drum. The straight ground section of the drum allowed two pedals to be fixed. The inside of the shell was divided into two sound chambers of different sizes by a separation device. The effect were two different sounds on one bass drum. With the help of a polyester-mould the single plies of wood could be glued exactly onto each other and pressed together in true shape.

Another „bass drum-miracle“ was presented on Frankfurt music-fair in 1968: the jet bass drum. The features of this drum are defined as follows: „The drum is made from fibreglass and equipped with only one head. A tone-compression is obtained by a sound-cone (parabolic sound-flare) resulting in a sound radiation through concentric openings. The attack is dry, smashing and powerful without any after-sound-echo (ooops, no warranty for authenticity of this description, folks. Please watch the pic on the website - M.G.)

There were several drumrack constructions in the TRIXON repertoire, e.g. a special rack on the Speedfire bass drum where up to five concert toms could be attached. A forerunner-construction of this could be found in one of the first complete-edition-catalogue. The Radio Combi (on wheels) was described as follows: „In the radio-studio and theatre, for revues and on tour it is frequently useful to have your drum set quickly moveable. If the bass drum is superfluous the musical instruments remain arranged functionally on the special stand, though.“ In the same catalogue a double Hi-Hat is shown: two separate pairs of cymbals, displaced in height, operated with one pedal at the same time.

Another highlight of the TRIXON design was of course, the Telstar drum set with conical shells, developed from the principle of a funnel. The sound of the drum set is explosive and penetrating, as due to the conical shape, a tremendous sound compressing is obtained. Furthermore the 6-ply shells are covered with an accoustic supporting laquer inside, giving the tone additional resonace. Also to be mentioned are lots of little features concerning details of the hardware, e.g. a patented cymbal holder with ball-joint built in in the bass drum shell, the „klick-klack“ - principle for fast and convenient assembly and disassembly of all TRIXON stands, drum pedals, Hi-Hat stand, a special drummer`s throne and much more.

  TRIXON Ltd./Ireland

  „Two world-famous musical instrument plants have combined their forces within the bounds of the most favourable music-business conditions“, so it was read in press notices in the end of 1967. The big engagement of Irish Government for settlement of among others German companies in Ireland as well as the financial and economical incentives linked with that, lead to an association with the piano factory Rippen Ltd. and TRIXON. (The remark that TRIXON belonged to the English manufacturers as claimed in the STICKS issue 2/89 therefore was not totally correct.) In 1967 the production was rather shifted to Shannon Airport/Ireland under the name TRIXON Ltd. With machines and qualified personnel of his plant from Hamburg Weimer built his drums in Ireland.

The apparently positive conditions in Ireland brought increasing problems, though. Unexpected customs and freight charges, difficulties with the staff and finally the bankruptcy of the Rippen company lead to the end of TRIXON in the beginning of the 70s. For Weimer a new start in Hamburg never was a subject of discussion.

However: TRIXON is living on. During our visit in Hamburg Karl-Heinz Weimer showed us an incredible depot of production parts. In an old school there is a mostly complete drum production in stock, from the tension bolt over raw drum shells, coloured Perloid covers up to the vibraphone, and is waiting...

The second generation, the son Jens „TRIXON“ Weimer, has taken over the business of his father - he is running a big music store in Hamburg (Music City). Maybe there will be a comeback for TRIXON drums ?

(Comment of the translator: as you will surely know the last part of the article is history in the meantime. All parts have been sold and are no longer available. So if you are in search of anything, Hamburg will not be able to help !!!)