They look great Nath. Shoot us a picture of the whole set together when you have a moment. As to price, it seems Kenwood has been finding some really good deals on such drums in my old area of operation (Beantown). I would have thought I'd stolen those babies for $413.01. In fact, I would have been quite comfortable with $415. Coffee Break2

I'm going to have to give this MIJ thing another look. Extremely cool wrap and reinforced shells - plus in this case hardware and cymbals. I think I've been missing out!!

Cheers mate.

I really like this wrap too. My first ever kit was an old 1960's premier that i stupidly sold because i was a dumb teenage boy and wanted a modern kit with two floors and a rack system. If only i still had that kit. ...

This kit is a 3 ply version (apart from the snare).the kick drum has a third re-ring halfway down the shell.

Ill try and put her all together and grab a photo. Have just spent the afternoon throwing on some new heads and greasing lugs :-)

question....

if i wanted to upgrade the snare throw off, does anyone know which ones would be a neat swap without drilling holes?

I think you did fine price wise,these older MIJ kits are harder and harder to find in good condition.Wrap is super cool.The Zil ride is worth 100.00 minimum in the U.S.,and I have heard the super Zyn cymbals were quite nice.400.00 us would be quite a fair price considering the matching snare,desirability of the wrap,the condition,and the cymbals and hardware IMO.

I had a Pearl kit in a Blue pearl wrap that had the same oval badges,and also had a 7 lug floor and the center re ring on the Bass.

I wholeheartedly agree - that was a good score. I would not mind at all that the snare has a different badge and is the thicker shell. I have not yet heard a good sounding MIJ snare with the thin shells - but have indeed heard a great sounding MIJ snare with the thicker shell. I have some thin shell MIJ snares - but they need work/restoring that I haven't gotten around to yet.

That 7-lug FT business - how bizarre! I hope you all have your hoops - may be hard to find in 7.

Dan - congrats for 'seeing the light' of the MIJ segment of vintage drums. Just remember that it takes hunting to find the good ones - I concede that there are worse ones and better ones. In MIJ world, the most common criticism in question is the hardware. I would rate them as follows:

Best - Hoshino

OK - Star

Worse, but sometimes ok - Pearl

Clean parts work much better than dirty ones!

....but as for wraps - MIJ is the best segment in vintage drums (IMHO) as this was a priority to appeal to the young kids (most common consumer of these new from the store).

Cheers guys!

AnyAny thoughts regarding the upgrade of the snare throw off?

Yeah - don't do it. Instead, take it off, clean it , LIGHTLY lube it - and it should work fine.

We have no idea what one you have on there. If you show us a pic, we can comment more on it.

I have plenty of MIJ strainers and they all work fine. The reason some people don't like them is because they have memories of the ones on their first kit that did not work because they were dirty or missing parts. BUT - things change when you become knowledgeable about vintage drums. You buy the needed parts (or replace altogether), clean, lube, know more about how to properly set up a snare, etc.

My drum is at the school i teach at so i cant get a pic of it but will try and get a Google pic.

The throw off that is on there currently is very smooth and in good nick for its age by the looks of it; but where the snares attach to the butt plate and lower section of the throw off don't seem to grab the snare string as tightly as I'd like, hence wondering about an aftermarket throw that i could install to use the drum, and reinstall original if required down the track.

Ok.. went and grabbed my drum. ..

Here are some closer photos of the throw off mechanism. The slotted screw in the left is the one that is hard to do up properly as the groove isn't as deep as the one in the right. Screwdriver is finding it hard to stay in the slot...

Does anyone know if i can swap them for Philips/cross drive screws? Does anyone here have some i could buy? Or some brand new slotted would be OK as i feel i can get enough tension on the right screw. ..

Here are some shots of it all together.

Upon closer inspection, the hh stand is Premier, but i have been told the bass drum pedal is Pearl.