Wow!!!

That is a killer set.



Good Job.

Beautiful! You are incredibly fortunate to have found an entire 4pc kit in this wrap. At least I have a snare drum in the same finish! Thanks for sharing!

-Mark

"World's Supreme Quality". That's a big call. I've never seen, let alone played, a Stewart kit, so is the quality as good as what it says on the badge?

Hello R.Adam McHugh,

I think the phrase"World's Supreme Quality"
was more implied than it was actual fine workmanship of any kind

especially since the badges and numerous brand labels were created and applied mainly at the behest of the various musical instrument distributors of the day

also the phrase was not exclusive to Stewart badged drum kits
Many Star made kits with the brass oval badges used the phrase

For quality, the builders used cheap castings, inferior chrome plating
and inexpensive wood
the drum shells were designed to be built easily and in huge numbers

On the other hand being that they were Star made stencils
and their quality as it compares to other stencil drums was decent

I am guessing they (these featured fantasia pearl Stewarts)
are the thicker shells, which I know to be pretty sturdy

Most think the thinner shells with the reinforcement rings sound better
But some of them are pretty flimsy

But no, back when these super cool Stewarts were made
I doubt if there was much genuine pride in workmanship behind the phrase on the badges

Later Star fell out of stencil drum making to re-tool as Tama
and at the same time the music stores still had some demand for Stewart drums among others
Pearl actually supplied the kits and applied cheaper foil badges to drums of even lessor quality
perhaps it was just coincidental that the World's Supreme Quality phrase was no longer used on the foil badge Stewarts

You nailed it Kenwood! These drums are thick shell. They sound amazing. I use Remo Coated Emperor's as batters and Remo Coated Ambassador's as reso's. They sound great when cleaned up and tuned. Love them. I have a few sets...hard to part with them once they're in the collection.

Originally Posted by Kenwood

Hello R.Adam McHugh,

I think the phrase"World's Supreme Quality"
was more implied than it was actual fine workmanship of any kind

especially since the badges and numerous brand labels were created and applied mainly at the behest of the various musical instrument distributors of the day

also the phrase was not exclusive to Stewart badged drum kits
Many Star made kits with the brass oval badges used the phrase

For quality, the builders used cheap castings, inferior chrome plating
and inexpensive wood
the drum shells were designed to be built easily and in huge numbers

On the other hand being that they were Star made stencils
and their quality as it compares to other stencil drums was decent

I am guessing they (these featured fantasia pearl Stewarts)
are the thicker shells, which I know to be pretty sturdy

Most think the thinner shells with the reinforcement rings sound better
But some of them are pretty flimsy

But no, back when these super cool Stewarts were made
I doubt if there was much genuine pride in workmanship behind the phrase on the badges

Later Star fell out of stencil drum making to re-tool as Tama
and at the same time the music stores still had some demand for Stewart drums among others
Pearl actually supplied the kits and applied cheaper foil badges to drums of even lessor quality
perhaps it was just coincidental that the World's Supreme Quality phrase was no longer used on the foil badge Stewarts

I figured they were cheaply-made mass-produced numbers coming out of Japan and the quality, although obviously not top of the line, was probably around or just above entry level? Having said that some of these lesser kits can sound fantastic. I will continue to wax lyrical over my old Maxwin toms and the sound they produce.
Plus, I am a bit of a sucker for WMP, so I'm loving that Stewart kit... Thanks for the info!

I would LOVE to own a set in that finish.Do have a snare,but. Alas,that is probably as far as my search will go!Jim

I have acquired a Fantasia Pearl snare. It was no easy find though, I searched for almost a year with no luck, finally one came up on eBay and the cost didn't matter much...hahaha.

Originally Posted by MatthewSorge

Fantasia Pearl (after restore).

Amazing! You still got it?

I do, yes. It's part of the permanent collection.