Trixon
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| Industry | Drum and percussion manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Fate | Assets reclaimed by founder. What remained was destroyed by fire in 1998. |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Defunct | 1973 |
| Headquarters | Hamburg, Germany |
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Key people
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Karl-Heinz Weimer, founder; Arthur Oeschger, successor; Ingo Winterberg, collector, author |
| Products | Drums, vibraphones, percussion, melodicas |
| Subsidiaries | Ireland |
Trixon was a drum and percussion instrument manufacturer, founded on September 18, 1947 by Karl-Heinz Weimer in Hamburg, Germany. Trixon drums are remarkable for their innovations in drum construction, including conical and ellipsoidal shaped shells, and unique designs in mounting hardware. Their product line eventually included vibraphones, xylophones, conga drums and many unique stands and fittings.
Originally hand built by Weimer in his Hamburg, Germany workshop, Trixon drums proved popular enough with jazz drummers in Europe that the company opened a factory in Hamburg/Bramfeld, which produced Trixon drums from 1956 until 1965. Trixon quickly gained popularity with American jazz drummers of the 1950s and had several major artist endorsements, including Buddy Rich, and Lionel Hampton. There are photos of Ringo Starr of The Beatles playing Trixon drums during the band's early days in Hamburg, before his endorsement of Ludwig drums in 1963.
Trixon began exporting drums to the United States in 1965, which required a new and larger factory, opened in 1966 in Hamburg/Reinbek. In 1967, Trixon began producing drum sets in collaboration with the Vox Musical Instrument Co. bearing the Vox logo. To meet demand, Trixon opened a new facility in Dublin, Ireland, near Shannon Airport, under the name Trixon, Ltd. in cooperation with the Irish piano company, Rippen Ltd. When Rippen collapsed in the early 70's Trixon was also closed down, due to intense competition from Japanese drum manufacturers.
After the company was dissolved, Karl Weimer continued to provide repair service and spare parts through his music store, Music City in Hamburg, one of the largest dealers of music instruments in Europe. Karl Heinz Weimer died in 1997, after handing over the remaining Trixon business, including the warehouse containing the remainder of unsold stock to a partner, Arthur Oeschger. Oeschger tried to rebuild the Trixon brand and produce custom instruments with the remaining stock and molds, but a fire in 1998 destroyed the entire inventory, ending all production of Trixon instruments. Arthur Oeschger died in 2000.
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Wikipedia