U.S.Mercury kits were done in the 60's - 70's and unfortunatly they are not being made anymore. And O-Lugs you are correct there are collectors ( such as myself ) out there who live for stencil kits.But since the vast majority of stencil drums were pretty much the same unless there is something unique about a kit its generally over looked.And yes there was a Japanese stencil kit names U.S.Mercury,lol.And blusdrmr they do have a great sound.The U.S.Mercury kit I own was my very first kit...i'll never part with it.Matter of fact a few of the drums are on my home kit because I love the sound and always will.And gweinst I don't personally have photos of a U.S.Mercury kit that looks like yours however I can more than likely find photos of other kits with the same finish.Many stencil kits ( again ) were all the same just had a different name for them.Also i'll be working with David for the stencil drum section of this website and i'll provide photos of what I have and all the information I have.

I hope these help, G.

I had to shrink them down quite a bit to get them to post. If you notice, the bass drum leg is not the original. I replaced the original with a set of Gibralter bass drum supports. The simple "slide out" one's would not hold the bass in place at all. I used to use these in a Rock-A-Billy band that I used to play with and set it up as a stand up kit. I used the bass and the floor tom and I inverted the floor tom and mounted it on the cymbal stand so it would be high enough and not too top heavy for the mount. I used my '58 WFL snare with it. It is covered in White Marine Pearl and it looked great with this set up.

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Hi All,

Well, I managed to find a kit that looks very similar to the one I own on e-bay. Interestingly though, this kit still has the original badge on it labelled "Challenge". Have a look and tell me what you know about Challenge drum kits as they appear to be a stencil kit from Japan.

Cheers

Grant

Again another stencil kit.More than likely made by hoshino from the look.Nothing grand about the kit.Pretty much features everything most Japanese stencil kits have.Definatly one more name to add to the list though.

ArchxAngel,

the kit posted by gweinst looks very similar to the floor tom that you had expressed interest in purchasing from me a while back. Are you still interested?

Hi all,

Still need help identifying these drums.

Cheers

An MIJ stecile kit is about all you can get as far as identifying it. What Pearl or Hoshino and maybe another maker would do is, apply a sticker with the name the cousomer wanted to call them in his store.

What you end up knowing is the country of origin, and that it was sent out under an alias brand name. There are so many of them that without the sticker, you can`t call it what the coustomer did. But you can rely on MIJ stencile and that is enough to know what you have.

Members jonnistix or mikey777 can probably tell you where to look (under a lug or something) for a hint of the maker. They`er very good at MIJ stenciles !i

Hello gweinst,

I like your drums and the upgrades you made to them

I have an orphaned orange sparkle "Decca" badged mount tom

with those same style lugs

good Luck with those cool drums

This is a long shot - but just thinking outloud here-

I once saw (and bought the hardware off of) a RODEO bassdrum. They had the same T-rods. If you can figure out who made Rodeo, then you might be one step closer to who made your kit. My opinion is that it does not look like Star. I would say Pearl or Hoshino. Yes, aforementioned MIJ experts will be able to tell you (Mikey777 best bet for something this obscure).

John

Yes, THIS ONE. Look up in the different pages (associated "Partner Websites") and there is quite a bit about stencils. Also search for the terms: MIJ , Japan , Import

jonnistix is also a forum member with great knowledge of these. Ralf is quite knowledgeable on the Star made kits. Mikey777 is perhaps the most knowledgeable on all of these, though he has had health issues recently and is very busy trying to get caught up on alot of orders and emails. He has a reputation for taking a long time to help people out, but is many times the only one to have certain MIJ parts; he has perhaps the best packaging; and he is a great guy in general. Have patience with him, as he is worth it.

Best Blessings!

John