Thanks, how far do you go with edge prep? I imagine it would be easy to trash a bearing edge though I am reasonably handy I don't have any special wood working tools.
I simply use sandpaper to smooth and/or re-contour edges. If you need guidance, let me know! Smoothing is by far the better course of action.
niggy-
Jonnistix IS the guy to talk to about these drums!!!!!
N.Z.! I think that that is amazing! To me, as one who is not schooled in the art of computer science (as my friends here will attest), it is quite mystical to receive a reply from around the world almost instantaneously! I read your profile, sir. Very impressive! To me, as long as you are having fun doing what you enjoy, that's what counts! I read that you are interested in fitness. Drummers expend a lot of energy! Most members on the Forum, because of my livlihood probably think that I am a clone of Wally Cox! In reality, I am a six foot, 230 pound bodybuilder and ex-boxer. Drumming is much less painful!
Brian
P.S. Please don't tell jonnistix.
Hi,Why are the Japanese copies called stencil drums? Is it because they are literally a copy of the US brands of the day? i.e. using a stencil to copy an existing image or is it something much more intriguing?Thanks
I always thought that they were called stencil kits due to the common Japanese business practice of just stencilling any required name on an existing product, which often was a bold faced copy but not always. It was by no means limited to drum production. The Japanese had very peculiar business practices, after the war----they didn't respect patents , stole a lot of designs outright and for a number of other reasons offered the western world , exactly what they wanted----cheap consumer goods , often to the detriment of the longterm economic stability of local production. Anyone could contact innumerable companies and if they bought enough units have any name put on them. Almost all of the MIJ, MIT and MIK AND MIC names are marketer driven not producer driven. It really became a marketing freeforall. The only two drum companies in the Western world that I can verify that did this were Tromsa ,who badged Roxy for Rudolf Linnek;Lindberg for Lindberg Music; Korri for Korri ; Luxor for Luxor Music; Kings and Concorde for Kings of Holland, Hohner for Hohner and Sonor for Sonor-----and then Premier; who briefly had an arrangement with Boosey and Hawkes after B&H quit production. They both also did some custom heads and sold parts to other companies and if you look at the late 60's product line of Trixon and Ajax( B&H), there had to be some secret stencilling going on there. What about Leedy?
Cymbals are another thing altogether because A. Zildjian did stencils, Ufip and Zanchi did,Sabian did,Boosey & Hawkes did, Zyn did,Paiste did,Meinl did, K. Zildjian may have----basically anybody who was or is anybody in cymbals. and then there are heads and hardware which are all widely stencilled.
I always thought that they were called stencil kits due to the common Japanese business practice of just stencilling any required name on an existing product, which often was a bold faced copy but not always. It was by no means limited to drum production. The Japanese had very peculiar business practices, after the war----they didn't respect patents , stole a lot of designs outright and for a number of other reasons offered the western world , exactly what they wanted----cheap consumer goods , often to the detriment of the longterm economic stability of local production. Anyone could contact innumerable companies and if they bought enough units have any name put on them. Almost all of the MIJ, MIT and MIK AND MIC names are marketer driven not producer driven. It really became a marketing freeforall. The only two drum companies in the Western world that I can verify that did this were Tromsa ,who badged Roxy for Rudolf Linnek;Lindberg for Lindberg Music; Korri for Korri ; Luxor for Luxor Music; Kings and Concorde for Kings of Holland, Hohner for Hohner and Sonor for Sonor-----and then Premier; who briefly had an arrangement with Boosey and Hawkes after B&H quit production. They both also did some custom heads and sold parts to other companies and if you look at the late 60's product line of Trixon and Ajax( B&H), there had to be some secret stencilling going on there. What about Leedy? Cymbals are another thing altogether because A. Zildjian did stencils, Ufip and Zanchi did,Sabian did,Boosey & Hawkes did, Zyn did,Paiste did,Meinl did, K. Zildjian may have----basically anybody who was or is anybody in cymbals. and then there are heads and hardware which are all widely stencilled.
Awesome reply, thanks!
Sounds a lot like the situation with China today except the big differences are that our Western corporations are readily & knowingly exporting their manufacturing jobs & products this time & also Chinese quality is an absolutely abysmal disgrace, I'd be ashamed of placing the Made in China label on anything I was producing, whereas at least the Japenese had a reasonable level of quality manufactured into their products, not all of them but certainly mst of them. AND How's this for anecdotal evidence! In 2008 I moved into a new apartment & set up myself up with new appliances & other house hold items. I always buy middle of the road quality, never the cheapest & can't afford the absolute top range. Within 9 months not one of my appliances had been trouble free, most had been trashed & failed completely, I wish I had documented the failed products, it was just ridiculous & the crap coming from China, even the more expensive stuff, is garbage! As for their drums? What a waste of space they are!
Thanks, how far do you go with edge prep? I imagine it would be easy to trash a bearing edge though I am reasonably handy I don't have any special wood working tools.
Not much. I would just barely sand the bearing edge with 220 grit sand paper. Deep gouges need to be tended to with wood filler. Search on this forum, 'cos the wrong filler may not work well. I was lucky- I didn't need to do much work on my MIJ floor tom.
Not much. I would just barely sand the bearing edge with 220 grit sand paper. Deep gouges need to be tended to with wood filler. Search on this forum, 'cos the wrong filler may not work well. I was lucky- I didn't need to do much work on my MIJ floor tom.
i've used wood filler of several types but I'm always concerned that it can fall out or disadhere and vibrate or something. what i found that really works well is fine sawdust mixed into a paste with white wood glue or carpenters glue. i use a bag on the belt or orbital sander and collect some sawdust. if you want to do a bang up job----you can do a sanding on the same kind of wood as the shell and keep that. usually, you have to mound the mixture up a little , in order to have enough coverage because it shrinks some when it dries and sometimes you have to apply it a second time for the same reason. if you haven't got a sander----there should be a wood working shop somewhere nearby that would give you some-----just take the drum minus one head in; I'm sure they will fill it up for you. try to get dust from a hardwood. the soft conifers wouldn't be a good choice.
i've used wood filler of several types but I'm always concerned that it can fall out or disadhere and vibrate or something. what i found that really works well is fine sawdust mixed into a paste with white wood glue or carpenters glue. i use a bag on the belt or orbital sander and collect some sawdust. if you want to do a bang up job----you can do a sanding on the same kind of wood as the shell and keep that. usually, you have to mound the mixture up a little , in order to have enough coverage because it shrinks some when it dries and sometimes you have to apply it a second time for the same reason. if you haven't got a sander----there should be a wood working shop somewhere nearby that would give you some-----just take the drum minus one head in; I'm sure they will fill it up for you. try to get dust from a hardwood. the soft conifers wouldn't be a good choice.
good idea, i remember seeing that used once to fix a chipped corner on a particle board desk & it worked brilliiantly, I didn't think of applying it to a drum shell. In my case it's probably the best option too because what happened was a kid put an electric heater too close to the floor tom & walked away & left it there, oh oh! The wrap melted, caught fire & scorched the bearing edge along a 6cm length as well as a 20cm long 7cm wide area of the outer ply! I totally stripped the shell expecting it to be totally trashed and unbelievably the shell still resonates fully! I couldn't believe it! They just don't build em like they used too I suppose! It's an old Mapex Mars kit that I bought for $250 complete with a rather nice set of Zildjian Re-Mix 13" hi-hats that sound beautiful & all the hardware is still rock solid so I tuned them up with some Evans G2's & the kit just absolutely sings! It's a really really nice sounding kit. So once I've fixed the floor tom & decided how to refinish it this Mapex Mars will be brought back to life complete with restored floor tom! Don't want to re-wrap the whole kit and can't find a wrap for the floor tom that matches unfortunately, stripping the whole kit & laquering isn't my favourite option mainly because it looks like the outer ply on the bass drum doesn't match the rest of the kit so any suggestions you may to try & match up the floor tom with the rest of the kit will be appreciated. Thanks.
