Here is another unique kit from my collection; a Wooding Cristalline kit from the 1970’s. Wooding drums were produced by Hollywood Meazzi in Italy. Meazzi made several lines of high-quality drums during the 1960’s and 1970’s. At one point, their endorsee roster included Max Roach, who had his own signature kit. Jack DeJohnette and Billy Cobham also had Meazzi kits.
Meazzi produced the Wooding line in the 1970’s and offered three models. The Stratos model had wood shells, the Vitrex model had semi-transparent Perspex (plexiglass) shells and the Cristalline model had clear Perspex shells with a textured “shower door” outer surface. According to a period brochure, this surface created stunning “light effects” on stage. Fibes produced a very similar type shell in very limited numbers, but the texturing on the Wooding shells seems more pronounced than those on the Fibes kits.
The Cristalline model was only offered in one configuration: 14x22 bass, 8x12 and 9x13 mounted toms, 16x16 floor toms, and a 5.5x14 snare. The hardware is beautiful and unique “art deco” style similar to other Meazzi drums. The toms mount on the bass drum with two individual arms that are almost identical to Slingerland’s Set-O-Matic arms from the same era.
My kit is in excellent condition but does not include the snare. I purchased this kit from a seller in France and have never seen another one for sale; I do not believe many Wooding kits made their way to the states. The shells have clean seams and very nice bearing edges. The overall quality of the kit is excellent and they sound fantastic. In my opinion, this kit sounds better than other acrylic kits from the same era. The unique textured finish on this kit makes it a real show stopper and always draws questions and comments. The great sound also makes this kit super satisfying to play.