Blasphemy! Sacrilege! Mods?! MODS?! Throw this heathen out!!!

Funny, my American drums sit stacked in the corner because my Japanese drums sound and tune better. There are good and bad kits in all brands. Gotta play what you like. Hit drums: be happy. :D

Those Tempros had almost zero shell resonance. They were dead as a door nail, to be honest; almost no ring at all in the toms. I had two stencil sets at one point, and they were both inferior sounding to any of my vintage American sets. and much worse sounding than my DWs, which I think are the best drums I have ever owned.

I'll probably acquire another stencil set at some point, but only if they're larger sizes and in a cool finish.

Oh, you only had two stencil kits, I got the impression you had more experience with them. That's cool, its your opinion, nothing more.

I think we can point out some realities though:

Vintage MIJ kits CAN sound amazing. Like any drum, if the shell is square, in round, good edges, good heads, tuned up nicely...they can sing. Maybe it was you, and not the drums.

I own MIA, MIE and MIJ kits/snares. My experiences tell me to listen to the drum, not the badge. Yes, in general, the manufacturing of MIA drums back then was of a higher quality. But lets not pretend MIA drums didn't suffer from issues as well. You really think Rogers, Ludwig, etc painted the interiors of their shells because of sound? Lol. Ok.

Despite that, it doesn't stop us from buying them, playing them, and loving them. Again, its the sound, not the badge.

Btw, if you are talking in terms of build "quality", then my 70's Premier B303 kit smokes any kit I own, by far, including my Ludwigs, Rogers, etc. The craftsmanship in the hardware alone is stunning.

I'm not a DW fan. I once bought a $7000.00 kit from them. Waited 9 months for it, and meh. I sold it 6 months later. I'd rather get a LA Camco (which I did), the original, better, and much less money. Some people really fall for John Good's 'wood whisper' shtick. 2000 year old Slovakian river log...(rolls eyes). Hey, if it makes those hobbyist, doctor types smile, good on them.

When I do sessions, I let the engineers pick what they want me to bring, they know my gear well. You would be surprised how many times I get requested to bring my 60's Stewart kit, over my 60's Slingerland kit...tis true. Ears and microphones don't have biases, they don't care what country it came from, the badge on it, etc. They don't lie.

Enjoy whatever you play. These are my opinions, nothing more.

Trilok Girtu!

What an intelligent well-thought out reply, sir! You've summed up my thoughts completely. Your statement, "it's the sound, not the badge" should be memorized by any thinking, unbiased musician or collector. Thank you for clarifying, what I'm sure, many have been thinking.

Brian

Completely agree with Trilok. I haven't owned a better sounding kit than my Rogers, but I really enjoy playing the 60s Star kit I recently restored. The 14x14 FT with its crazy thin shell absolutely sings.

Generally speaking, in most cases, head choice and tuning are much more crucial than wood choice and build quality.

Amen, brother!

Brian

Just for the record, I have a MIJ Pearl black diamond pearl snare that I bought for $50 a couple years ago that sounds as good, if not better than anything else I own from the USA. So, I know that older Japanese drums can sound very good, if not great, under the proper conditions.

Both the stencil sets I owned simply did not sing the way I wanted them to, and I was unwilling to invest $$ into getting them worked on, because I knew, when I sold them, I'd never make that money back. The guitar world works the same way; you sink $500 into a $400 Epiphone, and it's still going bring you about $275-300 on the used market.

I know what Precision Drum and my local drum repair dude charge for bearing edges, etc. The bottom line was, I was not going to spend the coin to have them made right. Trust me; I know what good heads and proper tuning is all about. There was no making these tubs really sound good.

I haven't ruled out getting another stencil set again someday, but they have to be good ones that don't need work. I actually have a strong liking for 60's Japanese guitars and own several, so I'm not biased.