I have been using an old set of Pearl Exports for over 15 years. At the time, I thought it would be awesome to have the biggest drum set I could find, so it is an 8 pc double bass and to put is simply, it is stupid huge! That will be a different thread. So fast forward to today. I have changed a lot since my teenage self and I'm finally in a position that I can find something that fits me better. After lurking in this forum and my local Craigslist for a few months, I pulled the trigger on a new (old) set of Stewarts.
Based on the star catalogs in Vintagedrum.com, it appears to be a 1965. If someone wants to correct me, by all means. Here is the history that I was told.
I went to buy it and there was a woman in her 40s selling it. Her dad bought it for her older brother when he was a kid back in the 60s. It sat in their "music" room as the center piece along with a piano, organ, trumpets, guitars and various other instruments since that day. Her father died about 3 years ago and her Mother is losing her house so they needed to sell everything inside it, including the set. As you can imagine, this thing is covered in some pretty thick dust.
So, a little about the set: 13 tom, 16 floor tom, 22 bass, 14 snare. Old school tom mount and ride mount on the bass drum. All are gold sparkle wrap though it has discolored over time where the floor tom looks a little more orange and the bass is a little more yellow. The rack tom kinda fades between the two colors with the front more yellow and the back more orange. It kinda looks cool that way, but I'm considering re-wrapping it.
All hardware was included. The bass pedal is pretty useable, but definitely an old design with little adjustment options. The hi hat is also an old design and although decently solid for its day, its not going to put up with heavier cymbals and constant pounding. The ride mount has stripped out on the grooves on the cymbal holder, so it can't hold a cymbal upright due to the vibrations of the bass drum. I reversed the mount to use the other side of the grooves from the arm and that seems to tighten it up.
The drums are thin. I'm assuming 3 play "luan" with reinforcement rings all the way around top and bottom like has been mentioned in other threads. They seem a little thin and my understanding is that the wood is "soft". I'll have to keep my head tensions loose for this set so I don't warp the shells. The snare strainer is butter smooth. I tuned it up with the old heads that were on it and the snare sounds completely useable. The snare and both toms have dial dampeners built in for the batter heads. I have yet to take a lug off, but from what I can tell, they are very solid.
So anyway, I'm in the process of cleaning this thing up is going to be my little project for the next few months. Pics to come in the next few posts.
Tan
