I think this may depend a lot on what you are looking for, a players kit or a collector kit. Are you considering these because they are cheap, or because there is something about the sound or the styling you like?

Most of what we call stencil kits were manufactured either by Pearl, Tama (Star), or Hoshino. Combined they produced these under over 100 different brand names. Most are fairly similar, hence the moniker "stencil kits".

IMHO early Japanese drum manufacturing left much to be desired in terms of quality control. For example some drums made under the Stewart badge are pretty darn well constructed, and others are pure offal. That seems to be true for most.

I have noticed that some early Pearls under the badge name of Whitehall are a noticeable step up from most of the stencil drums of the time. Mine have a Maple veneer in the Bass drum and somewhat better mounting hardware than most 60's era stencils. The shells are also noticeably better constructed, with no wide gaps in the seams as is common among stencil sets. It will be interesting to hear what others have to say about this topic.

Oh and yes, nearly all were of Luan. Don't let that dissuade you though, under the right conditions those drums can be made to sing. I would not compare them to Maple or Birch by any means, but compared to the Poplar and Basswood schlock coming out of Asia these days, I think Luan wins hands down.

As far as re-wraps and bearing edges, I can't speak for most guys, but that's what I do. Bearing edges help a lot, and in my opinion absolutely necessary on some of these kits, but I have found that what benefits them the most is a good isolation mount combined with a fresh set of drum heads.

Oh, one more thing. You will find a great deal of bias against these drums here, it's normal and generally based more on conventional wisdom rather than empirical evidence, but there is also a cadre of people here who have actually taken the time to investigate these drums and have formed different opinions. These drums can definitely be considered to be "high maintenance", but sometimes the effort pays off dramatically.

Thanks for the reply.

I am wanting to buy one as a playing kit. Some of the drummers I follow which are studio drummers I have found to be using vintage kits in the studio and I'm loving the warm tight tones that they are getting out of them. I have noticed they use mostly US brands i.e. Ludwig and Slingerland but recently one of the guys posted on Twitter that he bought a US Mercury kit and was LOVING it which peaked my interest as they seem to sell for WAY less than the US made brands.

As far as Luan Mahogany goes, that is exactly what I want, even if I were to buy a newer kit as they seen to be warm and punchy. check out www.robertsdrums.com he makes nice stuff that's very reminiscent of 60's era kits.

MutantMozart was really spot on with his replies. I might add that Yamaha was also in the mix in the late 60's and were not stencil branded but instead always labeled as Yamaha. From all accounts here, these were a step up from your typical MIJ kit.

The earlier stencil kits had very thin shells with re-rings. In fact, the shells were often so thin and poorly made that snare drum shells would occasionally deform under the requisite tension applied. It's not uncommon to see bass drums and occasionally floor toms with a center reinforcement ring. Eventually, thicker shells (often nine ply) were introduced.

Be careful with bearing edge repairs as even the dried out and hardened over time Luan can still splinter pretty badly. A lot of guys have had great success with hand sanding to true up the edges. There is also quite a bit if talk around here regarding finishing the interiors with oils, shellac of even polyurethane. It seems like tounge oil is possibly the favored method.

These drums get a lot of love and a lot of hate around here. Truly they were pretty cheaply made drums back in the day and most guys would have viewed them as nothing but entry level kits. The term "Stencil" refers to the fact that the two or three companies that made these kits produced them as generic, unbranded kits that were then sold to various distributors around the US who either had "their" brand name installed by the manufacturer or did it themselves once imported. Generally the former. In the central US we saw a lot of Apollo, Whitehall, and Royce, plus anything you might purchase from Sears, JC Penney, or Montgomery Ward.

Besides the fact that they were mediocre cheap drums, a lot of guys dislike or disliked them because they helped to destroy American drum companies. Flash forward 40 years and those shells have dried out and hardened making them viable instruments if you take the time to work on them.

Well, to not to shamelessly plug myself but, if that is what you are looking for may I humbly suggest that you take a look at my website.

I run a custom drum shop, I specialize in refurbishing, customizing, and restoring old luan wood sets. http://www.georgiaphilcustomdrumworks.com

Oh and by the way, if nothing else, Luan wood is certainly famous for it's warm dark tone, so you are spot on in what you are describing about those studio drums. The drummer who bought the US Mercury is not a surprise to me. I've been saying for years as Tnsquint above alluded to, that as these drums age they seem to improve significantly in their sound. We are beginning to see more and more interest in these old kits and they are getting harder to find. I can attest to that as absolute fact at least in my area, much of my business is based on procuring and renovating these sets. Used to be I could walk into a used gear store or Pawn shop, throw $50 or $60 on the table and walk away with a ratty falling apart Tempro or something.

Not so easy now, a pawn dealer friend of mine told me just the other day, he's on the lookout for these. He used to turn them away, but not any more. Now they sell and sell well. I suspect we will see even more of that as time goes on and even your own presence here seems to bear that out.

One last thing, if a quality Luan wood kit is what you are after, you might also consider taking a look at an early set of CB700s. These were made in Taiwan in the early 70's and beyond. They are MUCH better drums than they get credit for. Or you could look at some of the early Pearl Exports, they are basically a stencil of the CB700s from what I can tell (or maybe vice versa). Much better made than the 60s stencil brands, but still using Luan wood. They are not as old but still old enough for the wood to have cured over time.

JSW07 -

I would like to recommend working with Phil (MutantMozart). If you look at his work - it is quite obvious that he does fabulous work. I have done business with him before and he is a real stand-up guy with integrity.

Also BTW - I concur that Whitehalls are found to be beefier (their lugs and such) and seem to be very well constructed. A clarification - as far as a Yamaha 'stencil' goes - the first kit made by (Yamaha) for an American drum company to be badged as the American company's - is the Rogers R-360/380 series. This is therefore one of the most controversial kits out there - part Rogers (designed by the same Rogers engineers) yet made by Yahama. There is alot of info here on this forum about them. Point - this could be considered a more sought after 'stencil' - and indeed, yes, head and shoulders over the typical Pearl or Star stencil of the day. A side note - when Yamaha first started making these - was the same year they started making ANY drums.

As far as the most sought after MIJ stencil kits - there indeed is a thread on here all about that. Search around and you will eventually find it. Many interesting kits on there and very enjoyable to read through.

Lastly, for the sound you are going after - I would recommend getting the pre-67 3ply with rerings. Those are more fuller, punchier, etc. VERY thin - so be careful with them - but you will surely be happy with them if you follow my prescribed tuning method:

keep the stock round-over edges, smooth them up a bit by hand (sand-paper...very carefully), knock the shells to discover their timbre-pitch, tune each (new) head to that note, use studio rings. Use isolation mounting if necessary. I say if necessary because I was blown away when I first got one of these thin 3-ply kits - no isolation mounting needed at all. This might be how they are most differentiated from the later thicker 9ply shells - which can sound fantastic as well, but requiring isolation mounts - and not quite as punchy as the thinner shells.

John

Phil,

Really cool looking restorations there sir. I had see the kit with the embrace graphics before but did not realize that was you.

Good info as usual Drummerjohn. I had forgotten about the R360 kits.

One of these days I am going to procure a stencil kit or two...

Thanks so much for the plug John, I really appreciate it, and oh by the way Beulah Mae is a mid sixties Whitehall 3 ply w/re-rings and boy howdy does she sing! She ain't just a looker, she's a keeper!

Oh and one more thing, I remain forever in your debt for supplying me with some of Beulah's constituent components. She and I will always be grateful, peace to you amigo!

What might I be looking for specifically (brand year and/or model) to get this 3 ply ply goodness that you speak of???