Probably, someone has had a 3 piece John Grey(Broadway?) kit and bought a floor tom to complete it. My first Trixon kit came like that----had a Stewart 16" Tom. Your tom is similar; it is a pretty good condition for it's age Slingy copy from the 60's, likely made in the Pearl factory.They were a dime a dozen in the 60's and most ended up as wastepaper baskets in music shops. Are you sure the hoops are diecast? Usually , at the time ,those drums had fairly heavy ,chrome on cold rolled steel, somewhat sticksaverish hoops. It is a nice wrap, though-----probably matches the J G 's quite well. It will be very hard to find a matching , original.

One of the problems , with the later 60's European drums is that they promoted 3 piece kits, as entry level kits; as a way of competing pricewise with the 199.00, 4 piece with cymbals and hardware Japanese department store kits. So, floor toms were/are in short supply on the after market.

Hi Calfskin...thanks for your insight. My kit is the top of the line John Grey Autocrat series, so I was thinking that it did come with a floor tom, but who knows. There is a JG Broadway kit on eBay in the UK in the same color with a matching 16" floor tom and I emailed them to see if they had any leads for a matching floor tom for my kit. The 14" floor tom could very well have cold rolled steel stick-saver style hoops. There is an obvious welded seam that can be seen from both sides. The tension rods, if they are original, are not chrome but rather a dull grey color? I have included a few more pix. You are right, there is a shortage of floor toms. My UPBEAT - Drums For Kids program has purchased and/or been given used newer cheaper kits to re-furbish and a number of them came sans floor toms. I find it interesting to see the 14" tom has such a smooth rolled bearing edge both ways. Not at all like the older MIJ kits that I have seen. This floor tom sounds great too! Bonus

Barry, this is a Star made floor tom. Pearl did not go to the extra length of placing the third ring inside. I have a Majestic, a Star made brand, that is all but identical, except it is "blue flash", i.e. blue sparkle.

here's some more pix.

Thank you Jonnistix, that's interesting. I suspected the floor tom was not a typical MIJ piece. Nicer bearing edges and better overall construction with the addition of the third re-ring. The hoops don't impress me much, as one can easily see the join which detracts from the look. Were Star drums made in Japan as well? What year/era is this floor tom? I need some better legs for it, as one is non-original and at least one other has chrome missing.

Your floor tom is an MIJ product,be it a nice one.You,re lucky,a lot of them were,nt.

Thanks Wayne, it is a nice piece and sounds good too!

I have a 14 x 14 MIJ FT with the same wrap, leg brackets, etc...The only difference between the two look to be mine doesn`t have the middle re-ring in it...The vertical grain in the luan wood is the dead giveaway that it is MIJ...Nice FT though!!

Here`s a pic of mine before I detailed it...(Sorry, it`s the only pic I have right now)

Cheers

Hi granto... thanks for the info and picture. Your floor tom looks exactly like mine, just a different brand I guess?

Cheers