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Majestic Snare??

Posts: 1955 Threads: 68

Just got this snare in exchange for resealing the lifted seams on an old pair of Ludwig concert toms. Any help identifying this particular vintage and lineage would be appreciated. I though Majestic was made by Star but the hardware doesn't make sense. The only Majestic I've seen had that common, simple lever strainer found on 90% of these MIJ snares. What's up with this strainer/throwoff and the strange tensioner butt mechanism? Could they be original or perhaps modifications?

Sorry for the low res pics...

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[Attachment: 48671]

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Majestic 2.JPG
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Majestic 3.JPG
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-No Guru... still learning more every day-
Posted on 12 years ago
#1
Posts: 5227 Threads: 555

From mchair303

Just got this snare in exchange for resealing the lifted seams on an old pair of Ludwig concert toms. Any help identifying this particular vintage and lineage would be appreciated. I though Majestic was made by Star but the hardware doesn't make sense. The only Majestic I've seen had that common, simple lever strainer found on 90% of these MIJ snares. What's up with this strainer/throwoff and the strange tensioner butt mechanism? Could they be original or perhaps modifications?Sorry for the low res pics...[Attachment: 48670][Attachment: 48671][Attachment: 48672]

Yes that strainer is original to the drum.Photo #1 shows the butt side,Photo #3 shows the strainer side to.The strainer set up is a copy of the 70s Gretsch Lighting like you would see on Gretsch drums.Star only used this set up for a few years that is when Gretsch went after them..The strainer dates you drum from about 1972-74 ....Mikey

Posted on 12 years ago
#2
Posts: 1955 Threads: 68

Thanks Mikey for the info. It needs a Dawn bath and some light buffing. I bet it can be set up to sound fairly decent.

-No Guru... still learning more every day-
Posted on 12 years ago
#3
Posts: 2349 Threads: 79

From mchair303

Thanks Mikey for the info. It needs a Dawn bath and some light buffing. I bet it can be set up to sound fairly decent.

You're right, it can sound great. Nice trade.

fishwaltz
Posted on 12 years ago
#4
Posts: 2413 Threads: 336

I have a snare with that exact badge (as well as a whole kit with matching badge). Mine is a 10 lug and a bit deeper and I believe it was made by Pearl as the lines on the side are a bit different-mine has the fin vertical etching. When I get to it, I will shoot some pics of mine and post it here (as well as in the recent Pearl Jupiter thread). I spent some considerable time cleaning her up and installed all new consumables and it sounds truly amazing! I have heard the same about vintage MIJs with this shell (be on the lookout for the one with the round blue 'made in japan' badge).

Spend the time soaking and brush and polishing and get ready for a great sounding snare. These Chromes steel snares have a reputation for being cheap due to the flood of cheap crappy ones in modern years, but these older MIJs tend to sound great. I have seen people argue that they sound as good as any Luddy Supraphonic - able to draw high sensitivity when the bottom head it cranked up a bit.

Enjoy!

John

I had a great day! Instead of sleeping in and wasting the day, I got up at 8 and I had all my slacking done by noon!

2Timothy1:7
Posted on 12 years ago
#5
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