Im new to the MiJ stuff but my new NOS Star kit is built like any NA pro kit so i cant offer any info except im very pleased with what i have.I think Cadeson might be a likely candidate as a third company because they have been around for a very long time.This will be an interesting topic if the experts chime in.

Interesting theme.

We should also define the aera, as Pearl is still existing and Star not.

(I presume that you really mean 'Star only' - and not including Tama.)

So the aera of interest will be approx. 1965 - 1975, not later.

And I think it will become confusing if we don't group the different parts.

Let me start like this (reflecting just my little experience)

Construction/ durability

Shell: no difference between Star and Pearl

Wraps: Star used to bring out much more cool wraps than Pearl

Hardware at the drums: Star definitely better (= less chrome pitting) then Pearl

Hardware/ thread: Star mainly (always?) metric, Pearl: no idea

Hardware (stands only): Pearl stronger than Star, but Pearl with more chrome pitting

Hardware (pedals): both simple, but good

Sound

depends to the preference of the drummer ...! I'd like to say: Star was better

Durability- I think almost all vintage, and I'm talkinig stuff from the 60's and maybe early seventies, such as bass drum pedals, hihat stands, and snare stands, really aren't up to modern playing styles, but the cymbal stands in most cases are usable and in some cases preferable to the modern hardware which is sometimes just overkill. Particularly in last decade the drums coming out of china look nice but little things that matter on hardware seem to malfuction like the little plastic inserts around clamp sections slipping out of place. As far as heavy duty hardware when required my experience is the Pearl gear from the eighties to early nineties is rock solid, sort of before the mass switch to Chinese manufacturing. That stuff just survives all sorts of abuse.

As far as the old Star and Pearl drums themselves go the fact that they've survived 40 years plus says something in itself. I actually see more modern sets experiencing more problems than these old drums. And there is such a thing as wood maturing to mellow the drum sound. Different sounds result from different maturing processes, such as temperature, humidity, and even the unique vibrations from different playing styles and individuals. The fact that these drums have had such a long maturing process is something that modern drums cannot replicate- whatever they're made from- there's no shortcuts there. The sound of a 50 year old drum takes 50 years.

On the down side the sizes of the older kits is limited, say you want a matching 8" tom- It might be hard to come by, or impossible. Unless you do something special. But alot of vintage players are adaptable enough not to require special sizes, or if so only occasionally. But on the plus side the shallower sizes of the mounted toms and bass drum are very good for recording with and playing in smaller venues. 18" deep bass drums can be very annoying to record with I've found as they are prone to producing disturbing overtones and the volume can be hard to control because of the depth not to mention the difficulty transport them. A 20" x 14" I find is capable of handling any playing situation with the right heads and miking techniques. The floor toms are usually 14 x 14 and/or 16 x 16, which can be good and other times carry problems that you don't get with shallower floor toms, but I can get that without too many probs just through tuning and theres not that many occasions were I find I want super definition and articulation in those bigger drums.

I've played both vintage Pearl and Star and love them both, but I'm particularly fond of Star in the form of "Boston" and "RoyalStar" at the moment because that is what I am fortunate to have as drumsets.

So great topic- its a very big one, which is great fun to discuss.

Stage Band2

How can we tell what is Star stuff and what is Pearl? I thought that one way was the type of badge. But now I'm not so sure.

For instance, the Slingerland copy badge, the black oval that says the brand name and 'Worlds Supreme Quality' I thought that was a Star giveaway. Is this correct? Below are pics of an Apollo and Stewart badge.

And I thought the rectangular badges, which I believe are just textured pieces of black plastic, were Pearl.

And I have no idea who made this,

Are the rail type tom mounts indicators? It seems like I have seen both the L bar shape mount and the Slingerland-like tab mount on both Pearl and Star stuff.

Pearl...see below

After quite a bit of research, as best we can do, I have been finding some inconsistencies as some of these get into the 70s. From what I can tell, as we get onto 1972, Star is beginning to get out of the stencil game because their costs are going up. They are refusing to cut back to cheaper castings, and this is driving the costs up, as well as the burgeoning technology market and subsequent boom in Japan. As this is happening, they are positioning themselves to go forward with the big name change as there was some legality of continiuing to use the Star name in the US market.

At the same time, Pearl is taking the bulk of it's production off-shore to a cheaper labor market, in Taiwan, and begiining to make the hardware cuts we begin to see and associate with this time period. Ludwig is seeing an opportunity because the problems Slingerland is having in it's CBS corp structure in the form of pressure to increase production and profits, hence the decresed quality, and since the Ludwig Family still, presumably, is in at least majority control of it's company they strike hard at the market with a better Standard Program and increased prodution of these more budget minded sets. Also, Rogers,Gretsch, and anyone else still hanging on during these periods of unprecedented inflation to to the paper and oil embargos and price gouges, and corporate greed, as both begin to struggle as well...

Anyway, this is the most painful financial period seen in a generation, and the musical instrument industry, along with virtually everything else, sees the biggest drop in quality in modern history, all in about a 5-8 year period. Made In Japan begins to become more equality viewed in quality during this period as well, as the quality of all things American begin to really suffer as a more lax attitude because the labor unions begin to put a real stranglehold on American production lines, causing more increases in costs, and the understanding that it is virtually impossibible to lose your job, so employees begin to take advantage of this mindset, and therefore in order to survive, companies are forced to cut material costs to meet budgetary demands. This is not an invitation to debate the labor unions. If it begins to happen, it will get ugly, and I will ask our venerable and esteemed moderators to close this thread.

So Pearl picks up many of Stars' contracts, as Star begins the shift to TAMA. Along the way, it leaves many distributors struggling to keep up with their contractual agreements to supply music stores and the big department stores, Sears, JC Penney, Montgomery-Ward et.al. So, Pearl gets all this new business, and has a rather captive audience in the climate of the day, they have increased production due to a quadrupling of requests and struggles to keep up with the deamnd of all this newly acquired increase, and so quality begins to suffer, materials get cheaper because the demand is also increasing, and we begin a thiry year downward spiral in quality from all builders.

There are many more paragraphs to be written on this subject, so I am hoping others that are from the inside will chime in to give more of the real story.

[COLOR=red]And again, I will ask that this thread not be hi-jacked by a nasty debate on that subject of labor unions, and will immediately ask for it to be closed if this happens. We all have very strong feelings about this, and I do not want a debate such as this to divide this forum.[/COLOR]

That said, let's get on with any more information on this subject. Remember, our friend is asking if we can give some information on the big change in a stencil buyers' quality and apparent shift in over all look and feel. Please understand, this is a subject dealing with the change in the MIJ market, not an invitation to bash iether the Japanese or America's drum builders. I have provided a timeline that I have dug about to get a grasp on from these same question as well.

Star and Pearl...see below