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Old 01-17-2018, 09:22 PM
#25
Marc Patch Marc Patch is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Council Bluffs, IA
Posts: 30
Default Re: Vintage Stencil Drum Book
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCDrumDad View Post
I also purchased this book. I appreciate it for what it is - a start that includes some information that I have not seen elsewhere. I foresee making notes in my book as I pick up additional information. Although I do not own very many MIJ stencil drums, I am interested in having a ready resource when the need arises.

I will be happy to assist Marc should he decide to expand the work with a second edition. I would encourage others to do the same. As someone who has written a few small books on vintage drums, I can say that the time it takes to compile information, take pictures and write text far exceeds the monetary gain from sales. This is a labor of love.

Although I would love to see a comprehensive book on Japanese stencil drums, I do not see that the financial reward is there for one author, especially if it is expected to include high quality color pictures (which are not subject to someone else's copyright) and information gained through trips to Japan to talk to the people who were involved. How many people would purchase such a book? A couple of hundred maybe? After color printing costs, photography, shipping, etc... The author can expect to make a couple of hundred dollars for the hundreds of hours it would take to put it together. As DrumBob knows, it takes a lot of effort to put together a book which is accurate, comprehensive and visually appealing.

Marc - thanks for your efforts. If you decide to take the time to expand this into a more comprehensive work, contact me or seek information from those who frequent the vintage non-USA page of this forum.

If anyone else wants to build on what Marc has done and write a more comprehensive study, please do. Feel free to contact me for advice and lessons learned from my efforts. Perhaps Rob Cook and Rebeats would be interested in publishing it. Contact him directly or I would be happy to contact him for you. He was very open to my research on Gretsch's use of serial numbers and has published both of my guides.
Thank yo so much for buying the book and for the advice. 35 years ago I was that lower-middle-class kid who had a no-name drum set and wanted to know what to call it. It took this long and the internet to solve it, because there were no books on the subject. My initial goal was to publish a master list of the stencil brands and to show how to tell the makers of these brands apart with my personal research, which I think I somewhat accomplished. I also tried to make it as inexpensive as possible. I do plan to make a little more complete book in the future, with larger full color pictures and more information, but I haven't seen enough documented information to make a book 1/4 of a Rob Cook style book. I won't just quit just because my book doesn't compare to others, and I'm not going to create a book of filler information to make it longer, but I do want what is in the book to be accurate and as complete as I can. If I have inspired someone to write their own stencil book, that is almost a greater reward.
These stencil guys are some of the most helpful and supportive in the drum world and make it worth the effort. Thank you for your time and support! Marc Patch