Very good article...I hope the "snobs" read it..So true!!

isn't this just proof that smoking pot causes a hearing deficit?

Cant see how thats possible as Ive never smoked pot in my life :)

Those who don't 'get it' should not be called names and chastised. They are only reacting to their experience in their discovery of an honestly 'cheap' and low quality MIJ kit. The wide variable of quality found in these makes no surprise in the heavy lifting of shifting paradigms. Of course it makes for good discussion, yet only proves to frustrate promoters of the truth of vintage MIJ. Truth all be told, this effect only holds us back from slipping into a time when this will be common knowledge thus making it more difficult and more expensive (or shall I say less inexpensive) to operate as an MIJ enthusiast.

Great article and so true - thanks for sharing with us.

Word, Drummerjohn333 - that's it.

If it's common knowledge one day (I'm sure this day will come), we will have lots of time for moaning and wishing the good old times back when MIJ kits were affordable ! So we're living in a golden era where bargains are still taking place - every day.

Ralf (... knowing that my Star-website also makes a small contribution to the above mentioned effect ...)

Before I got hooked on Japanese drums of the 60's, I was collecting MIJ guitars from that same era. Twenty years ago I could buy one for $30-$50, so it was an affordable hobby, and like the drums, some were better than others. Back then, most of my scores came from pawn shops and estate sales.

Then Ebay came along and changed everything. Sitting in one spot and scrolling through dozens of guitars was amazing to me, but it didn't take long to notice the prices of these guitars getting higher and higher.

Along the way, more people started discovering these guitars, possibly because guys like Jack White would occasionally be seen playing one. Ry Cooder played them and even old bluesmen like Hound Dog Taylor got cool sounds out of these things.

Bidding wars and people willing to pay anything for these MIJ guitars has kept me off off Ebay for some time. I still look but they have become way to expensive to collect.

I'm perfectly fine with the world NOT knowing how cool the MIJ drums are, although I feel the cat's out of the bag already. I still see some bargains, but I feel the pricing for drums has inched up recently. At least the asking prices...

Oh here we go again. Well, I guess it wouldn't be a worthy VDF discussion if at least one nay-sayer didn't chime in. Thanks Calfskin.

I guess I'll throw my own two cents in. First I'll acknowledge that the bad rep MIJs have is not entirely undeserved. Quality control was spotty at best. Some of those MIJs have a hard time holding their round and thus keeping them properly tuned can be tough.

Buy I would also point out that due to the materials used, these drums more often than not seem to sound their best when tuned low and loose. Like that, they can have a great dark warm sound that can't easily be beat, and they will hold their tune better that way.

Another problem that is due to the materials is that these drums have a reputation of not having a lot of resonance. For years people blamed the Luan wood shells. But I can state unequivocally and for the record, that's not why they lack resonance, not entirely anyway. It's really the mounting system that is to blame. If you take one of those drums and use a rim mount, you can get up to 9 full seconds of resonance even on a 8x12 tom. The problem is that the wood which is fairly porous and light weight is severely affected by the huge spade mounts used at the time. That giant chunk of metal probably weighs close to half the weight of the wood. Contrast that with a heavy maple shell which easily outweighs by nearly double a luan shell and you get a fairly predictable result.

There is so much more mass in such a shell, that adding that mount only makes a small impact, but for the luan shell, it's a huge impact. The lighter shell's vibration is severely stunted by the mount, hence the dull thud detractors often complain about. I've tested this extensively in my lab. I've found that I get nearly the exact same amount of natural resonance out of a maple shell as I do out of a luan shell when using a rim mount, i.e. 9 to 10 seconds.

But when using a Pearl style L-Arm mount, the difference becomes stark. The Slingerland maple shell for example, resonates 7-8 seconds, whereas Luan will resonate about 4.5-5 seconds. And when you use the vintage MIJ spade mounts, that drops to about 1.5-2.5 seconds for the Luan shell. I also tried this test with a 60's Ludwig maple/mahogany shell using the old spade mounting system. I got about 5 seconds of resonance.

These tests were done using Chinese heads which closely approximate clear Remo ambassadors, top and bottom.

MutantMozart -

Your research is very much appreciated. I have been a user of RIMS mounts for a long time, as it is part of my approach to tuning (if that makes sense).

A couple years ago I bought a Pearl made stencil that is a 3-ply with re-rings. The thing is, much to my surprise, it does not need any suspension mounting. These thinner MIJs, spade mounted, resonate so much more than the standard thicker MIJs. At the same time, as you have noted, the thicker (post 67 or 68 ish I understand) do just fine with suspension mounting.

I think it is accurate when you say that the resonance killing spade mounting of the MIJ toms has really done alot of damage to their reputation. At the same time, I sincerely hope that we have learned enough by now to know that this variable can easily be addressed by suspension mounting, so long as:

1) the shell is not severely OOR

2) the edges are good

3) the heads used are in decent shape

4) the heads are tuned to the shell - 'timbre-pitching' as called by DW

If these criteria are met, resonance of any MIJ tom will not be a problem when going this route.

Thanks for your contribution.

Wow, I really didnt expect so many people to agree with me. I expected to be in a small minority when I wrote that but apparently not. We cant all be wrong haha