As you seem to be not familiar with vintage drums, it will be difficult for you - as there are many, many different brands with almost the same configuration on the market.

To me (I'm - privately - STAR affiliated) you can't go wrong with any Star kit that comes your way. You may also look for the different other names, belonging all to the Star family as well (see my website for reference, the section 'Other brands & Badges').

But some of the early Pearl's are Yamaha's might be good for you, too ...

Cheers, Ralf

Honestly I think your best bet would be to just look inside the drum, generally if you see re-rings it's a good start.

There is a list here of the Japanese brand names, it's a big list, but I'd print it out and take it with you when you go looking in pawn shops and whatnot. http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/japanese_drums/list_of_names.html

In my opinion, the 3ply with Re-rings is only a slight improvement over the others. You get a bit more resonance, but the same basic kind of sound. What makes far more difference is the type of heads, bearing edge, and above all mounting system. Any of those factors will more than compensate and vastly outweigh the modicum of extra resonance you get from thinner shells.

Any of the Japanese brand names will give you that dark warm tone you are looking for. You might also look at Early CB700's and Pearl exports, and frankly just about any beginner grade sets from the 70's and early 80's. They are all made of Luan and generally far better constructed than the stencil drums of the 60's. They will also be easier to find.

A note of caution on the Pearl Exports. check to see the shell wood. I don't have direct experience with these, I'm told the earliest ones were made with Luan, but I have not directly confirmed that to be true.

What everyone has said here is on the money. Especially Mutant. I'd run across that site before and was impressed - I just didn't know it was you. I'm impressed! Thanks for keeping those drums alive and viable.

Ralf is the resident Star / Royal Star / Early & Pre Tama guy.

Now, I'm a bit of a elitist (see my nose up in the air) as far as actually 'playing' MIJ kits... I don't. But, only because I have so many others that are just better made.

That being said, here's some more examples that I've personally restored and found exceptional. I haven't kept any, but they were hugely cool and fun to do. I'll start with the more recent... say mid to late 70's:

Early CB-700's; not the crap out now, but the early ones with the odd shaped lugs (keyhole or whatever you want to call 'em). You'll find the same shells in slightly later CB's that sport the generic Pearl lugs. The first batch of these tune up nice and sound great. I've never seen any of these with re-rings.

Star and Royal Star: See Ralf's site for the detailed info for these. Also Hoshino.

Pearl: I've owned a couple VERY nice early Pearl kits. Neither had rings (thicker shells) but both tuned up and sounded great with the correct batter / reso heads. I'm cleaning up a late 70's / very early 80's Pearl kit right now. I hadn't had it more than an hour before a friend told me he wanted it for a practice kit. This guy has an exceptional late 60's Ludwig kit he's owned for well over forty years. He plays with two different bands, and wanted a kit he could take to practice without having to haul his Ludwig's around. I would also make a bet... I think there have been more Pearl Exports inside of bars (bar bands) than bikers. Well, maybe not bikers, but you get my drift.

Yamaha: Wow, what can I say... even their cheap intro kits from back then were ultra cool looking, and great sounding.

Gobs of other names... Pearl would build drums under whatever name you came up with.

I personally had a Crown kit (Pearl I think). My dad bought it for me, brand new in 1965 or '66. I played the... stuffin' (see how I cleaned that up!) out of that kit. It just takes a bit more maintenance. Yeah, they do go out of tune easier and faster, and their hardware can be kind of mind boggling (look up the threads on Star bass mounted cymbal holders) but that's all part of their charm.

Early Tama stuff is really beginning to get popular as well.

Click on the link in my sig to go to my web site and find them in the stuff for sale link. Those have all been sold already, but it will give you an idea, and more drums to look at!

I kind of see MIJ kits like running into and having coffee with your High School sweetheart. Those drums are made of fond memories.

I have to admit, out of my entire collection, my very favorite set is an HHS era Slingerland maple set. Don't get me wrong, I love those MIJs/MITs, and even some early MICs (more on all that shortly), but there is no comparison to a really good maple set. Especially for live performance.

But we are talking the difference between $200 drums and $3000 drums. Of course there is an ocean of difference. Having said that though, I first got into the business of restoring and upgrading those old MIJs out of a sense of nostalgia, and because I remember an old 14X14 MIJ floor tom I had that sounded better than anything on my early 70's small "R" Rogers set. I wanted to re-capture that sound.

That peaked my curiosity, and I began to wonder just how good I could make these drums sound. I spent years experimenting, testing, measuring, and finally found a few key modifications that I now apply all the time when restoring/upgrading these sets.

So now, after years of research, I still agree, these sets will never sound as good as top of the line modern (or vintage) drums from the major manufacturers. But, that doesn't mean they can't sound fantastic in their own right, just a little less fantastic than the best that money can buy.

When you think about it, it's kind of amazing what you can do with a couple hundred bucks and a little ingenuity.