Here are some extra photos to help. I'll get some photos of the whole kit once I get it together.

the one picture shows a Pearl drum attachment. I am not a Pearl expert in any way. but likely it is a Pearl kit.

humbly,.

mb

Hi Jonathan, Welcome to VDF. I would like to ask if all the shells have reenforcement rings? The bass should have three. What you have is indeed a Pearl "stencil" kit. They were entry level kits made by Pearl and Star (later to become TAMA) and sold to US distributors and sold under a myriad of "name brands". There were a few players in the game, however 2 big distributors dominated the market on these old tubbies. Brooklyn Music was Pearls' main squeeze in the 60s and very early 70s (more on this in moment). St. Louis Music Supply was Stars biggest distributor. Pearl owned badge names like Zim Gar, Crown and quite a few other.

St Louis Music (Star built drums) owned Apollo, Majestic, Stewart, and about another 50 or so. In the 60s, up until about '67, almost all of the shells looked very much like they were made in the same shop, all very thin luaun 3 ply with re-rings. Of course we do not believe that to be the case, but some of the chrome parts in the early days do look as though there might have an independent foundry serving all the drum builders, but we have yet to really confirm this theory. You will notice as you get into this madness that Star drums are dead ringers for Slingerland. Many unscrupulous ebay sellers will strip an old Star made kit and sell the lugs and even some of the StickSaver hoop knockoffs as Slingerland. And unless you have been doing this vintage drum thing for a while, you would not know the difference until you actually set them sidexside, even then it is difficult for the novice to tell.

OK, back to the contracts with Pearl, Star and the distributors. In '73, Star began a mass exodus of the stencil market as they were bringing TAMA to market in '74 and did not want to keep the stencils as they theorized that as long as they were still making them, it would cut into the TAMA market. So Pearl gained almost all of the business Star had in the stencil market. This is the time when Pearl also had no choice but to open another factory, in Taiwan, to build as many drums as possible because they tripled their business literally over night. We also see the Taiwanese drums as inferior to the Japanese built stuff. In other words, quality was no longer "Job #1".

Quality took a big hit as the factory struggled to keep pace with an ever growing American hunger for drums, particularly entry level as none of the American makers could fulfill, nor did they have any desire to get into the entry level market. This was a major error on the Americans' part. As American quality began to suffer as they struggled to keep pace, they began losing market share to the higher end, Pro-line stuff coming from TAMA and Pearl Japan, not Taiwan.

I could go on giving you a novel on the history, but I am tired and you have your first answer and mini lesson. I am trying to put it all together for the "History Channel" section of our forum, but some of the other members and are still hashing out what we know, what we think we know and each of our teories. The factories aren't much help as they come to us from time to time seeking historical clarification, believe it or not.

Holler if you need anything. Your parts guy, should you require anything, is Mikey777. Be patient when working with him, he is overwhelmed with parts orders most of the time and he also is a part owner in a medium sized West Coast drum maker. The man has almost anything you can think of, and 100 times more than you would never think of.

These thin shells have a very unique tone, very deep, warm and "smokey". I treat the interiors of all my thin shells with a good sanding and then 2-3 coats of clear lacquer, never polyurethane, as it adds a "plastic" sound to the drums. Contact me for further details. It not only enhances the tone, but it is also a preservation technique many of us use. There is more to it than just sanding and brushing, but let that suffice for now.

~John~

Jonnistix-Hit it on the nail..Also as far as part's....Mikey

VERY nice BDP BTW.....

Looks like what Camco or Slingerland/Gretsch used.............

I would play that MIJ kit................

Again, after looking at the bass lugs, they LOOK like Star, but the bass T-rods are certainly Pearl. That could mean something or nothing, like maybe if it is a Star kit, then the T-rods and inserts were replaced, but the snare is most certainly a Pearl. So, may we see a closer shot of the tom and mounting hardware?

Wow, thanks for the info. I always enjoy learning about history and it looks like there is a lot to learn in this area. To answer your question all three drums, including the bass, have two re-enforcement rings, one at the top and bottom rims of the drum.

Blairndrums, you stumped me with BDP, but I think I figured it out, black diamond pearl? I'm definitely looking forward to playing them myself.

I submitted the previous photos while I was at my office and away from the drums. I realized I didn't have anything with the tom mounting arm and had a feeling that would be requested. Hopefully what I have attached today will help. I've had a hard time finding any pics that matches this tom mount, most seem to have a bar that the drum could slide on, but this goes straight into the front center of the bass. I've been working on the tom today so hopefully the hardware looks extra nice due to cleaning and polishing.

I have no heads for anything other than the snare. Any advice on what heads to pick?

I also saw this today. The picture of the old catalog is not a high enough resolution for me to confidently say that it is a match. But my drums look just like the ones that the other guy has, this is the only matching kit I've found a picture of so far.

Yes,BDP is Black Diamond Pearl

WMP is..............White Marine Pearl etc etc

For this set I would go with coated Remo Emperors on the batter side of the toms, Ambassador coated or clear for the resonant sides, and Powerstroke 3s on the bass drum. However, head selection is a pretty subjective topic, and everyone will have their own preferences in regards to brands, weight, etc. Personally, I have found that coated heads sound best on these drums.