Hello,

Does anyone out there know exactly what wood they used on the star drum shells?..i'm guessing they were phillipine mahogany ?..i just bought a great looking and sounding STAR blue agate pearl 4 piece kit..and i was really surprised when i checked out vintage tama catalogues (pre-tama)and saw how innovative they were in terms of hardware....some of the hardware they made rivals the big boys such as slings, gretsch, and ofcourse rogers and ludwig..japanese drums might be cheap but were well made i think..here's a link for you STAR freaks to check out and to see what i'm talking about..this is from a '65 catalogue ! !..the hardware looks like it came right outta the mid 70's !

CHEERS !Keep on Pl

http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=3&now=1

Yes they are mahogany. And as far as the Star line up, they are very well made and the hardware is much heavier that the Pearl stencil stuff from the same period. Could you post some pix for us?

Comparing that yellow/orange onyx wrap Star kit in Tokyo show in this thread - looking at the lugs, wrap, tom mount... this kit I picked up in blue onyx looks to be the exact same without the STAR badge. These blue ones are quite old- from the hardware and the aging of the wood in the shells I think 65/66? But that is my guess only. The lug placement is not alternating like the STAR catalog pictures but parallel like the yellow onyx kit.

- Those T-rods at the bass drum I know only from Trixon (a German manufacturer at that time). But the rest is not Trixon-like.

- And the rail consolette is similar to Star's - but not an original Star one.

- The shape of the lugs: also not typical for Star.

So that's NOT a Star kit (my opinion!), but nevertheless - if cleaned up:D - a nice cool drumset.

Ralf

I have to disagree Ralf. My Majestic has all the Star hardware that Pearl did not offer, and the lugs are the same as these. And the T-rods ans claws I have seen on other stencils. The lugs are Slingerland knock-offs, and look identical to mine, the end caps on the rail are non-descript. I have a Pearl stencil that has some that look more like the Gretsch Broadkasters. This is another example of why I think, at some point at least, there was an independent foundry that made the lugs and other hardware parts.

sure...and thanks for the info..i kinda knew they were mahgonay shells...most japanese drum manufacturers used that wood..in 9 plies ! i'll post some pics from these wk end gigs !!

Cheers !

WOW !!LUCKY YOU !!! 50 BONES FOR ALL THAT ?!!..THAT'S NOT A GREAT DEAL ..THAT'S DOWNRIGHT ROBBERY ..LOL !!GOOD FOR YOU , MAN !!

I strongly believe that this mysterious third company is TIESCO.

They made lots of the kits that Sears used ( that was what I was told)

TIESCO was known for their outrageously cool psychadelic drum wraps - but the hardware was often cheaper quality than PEARL or STAR- as far as one Japanese old time drummer told me. I have a PDF of an old TIESCO catalog I will find and post here later when I can locate it. This blue onyx kit that I posted pics of- I thought this was a TIESCO kit but cannot be sure- it has no badges at all. Mystery!

TIESCO marketed products in the US as DelRay - but originally they had other stencil names and badges - I`ll see what I can dig up

It is quite possible Teisco is the missing link regarding a previous inquiry regarding Black Jack drums.One type of Black Jack is normal stencil quality,the other VERY bad.The bad Black Jack badge has print (font) very similar to Del Rey drum badges I've seen-HMMMMMMM.....

It`s really possible but I`m not sure how far into the 70s TIESCO and it`s stencils continued- I just don`t know. The 60s TIESCOs go for alot of money here in Japan- they look just killer and were not bad quality. I`m not at home now but I`ll try to start a Tiesco thread soon to show some of their cool kits. I`ll keep BlackJack in mind as I look