In 1975 North American session drummer Joe Pollard got together with technician Mark Barton to design the prototype for an electronic drum system. Barton came up with a primitive circuit design that could replicate standard triangular or square waveform sounds and have adjustable pitch and decay. The name ‘Syndrums’ was born - taken from the words ‘synthesiser’ and ‘drums’ and after securing financial backing Joe Pollard formed Pollard Industries Inc. in the state of California in early March 1977, based in Culver City, The Model 477 became the first production model (‘4’ referring to the number of drum channels, and ‘77’ referring to the year of release), and it consisted of four circular trigger pads that could be connected up to the Syndrum drum synth control console. The kits were used by notable session drummers on several studio recordings that would become chart hits, and the Syndrum sets sold in reasonable numbers for the first year. In 1978 Joe Pollard’s company became a division of new owners RDSI (Research Development Systems Inc.) and the circuitry was reworked to become the Model 478 Quad, which was followed soon after by the 278 Twin and 178 (single pad) models that all essentially utilised the same drum synth circuit boards. Facing strong competition in the electronic drums market from companies such as Star Instruments and Simmons Electronics, RDSI later diversified into drum stick and drum head manufacture as sales of the Syndrums declined, although the Syndrum C.M. all-in-one single pad drum synth model released in 1979 continued to be advertised for sale up to 1986. The Syndrums Owner's Manual (black and white print edition) includes user instructions on the Syndrums products manufactured between 1976-1982; these include the 477, 478 Quad, Model 178, Model 278 Twin and Model 179 CM, along with restored schematics and original company service documentation. An introductory chapter also provides a history on the manufacturer of these vintage electronic drums.