OK, everyone that has a Japanese kit should have one of these for that chrome drum sound, and WOW what a sound. This is one nice little drum. Little Red turned out pretty good after the extensive restoration job I did last night. Now, I just need to spend a little time dialing it in.
Now, on to the next part of this sweet deal. It totaled 36.00 for both drums, including shipping. Little Red, and Big Chrome. This is the infamous Made In Japan chrome snare. I see a lot of these around, I think Pappy has one in his collection as well. I am not sure which of the "legendary" snares this is supposed to be a copy of, but it sounds TIGHT! This one, and I kid you not, would qualify for a museum piece, if there was such a thing for these knock-offs. Let us consider the age of these MIJ labels. Most of these round badges, I have found, are early to mid 70's. I'm talking about this particular badge, not the over all MIJ line up, of which more than 50% can be traced back to the Star factory. As for this one, I am unsure as to it's origin. But it is a quality drum. It has heavy hardware, plastic washers to isolate the lugs, I mean this is a very well built drum, and it looks as though it came right out of the 70's and landed on my couch. And it has an AWESOME sound. Dare I say, it compares to some very well known Ludwigs, Acrolite among them, and more sought after names as well. I know some of you will laugh at these statements, but let me tell you, grab one, tune it up with your favorite heads and snare wires and give it a crack or three and see if I speak with forked tongue...The Band
As I began to gather my restoration tools, I decided to first pull the top head. It is a good thing I did, as it saved me some time. All this drum required was some glass cleaner and very light elbow grease to make it shine. I cannot begin to tell you guys how impressed I am with this drum, and happy I am the seller was not overly zealous in his description. Noone else bid on it, and I took it for a song. For the money, this is a dream machine. just make sure to look for this badge. And finding one in mint condition is a bonus, especially for $18.00.
