Along time ago, in a galaxy far away,..

...Never mind !!

Hello Brian,

Good idea - but unfortunately there seems to be no way to find it out. I've had contact to a German drummer some time ago, who has close contact to the Tama company (and seems to visit them at least once a year). He told me that there is absolutely no chance to find out more about the past of Tama. Quite in opposite: HIS knowledge about the early Tamas was appreciated greatly there at the company!

The workers, even just 20 years old in 1970, must have stayed + 40 years at the same company, in order to take notice of their knowledge about STAR now...

I have no idea why Tama appears not to keep their past up, although Japan in general is a country with a long tradition and history.

Just two weeks ago I got in contact with a responsible person at Tama, asking for an allowance to use the name 'STAR' for starting a new website with Star drums only by myself!

Response? Nada ...

Ralf

Japan had one thing and one thing only in mind during the 1950's and 60's and that was to acquire as much foreign currency as possible----specifically, Yankee dollars. This meant that it was primarily an export economy and the quality of the goods they exported was measured in one thing and one thing only----does it sell? We all know that early Japanese drums did not sell because they were good. They sold because they were good enough, so why would anyone keep exacting records of the production of products that were being mass produced for profit only.It is really kind of embarrassing to them and totally demeaning to suggest that they might have been proud of the stuff they were foisting on the world in this period . The fact that these drums are now thought highly of by westerners who regard them with nostalgia , in no way relates to the fact that the Japanese themselves probably scratched their heads with puzzlement at the sheer volume of substandard goods they could sell to the west.

Calfskin, It seems you post your distorted, shrunken view of Japanese business history a couple of times a year whenever the opportunity presents itself. Entering a market at a certain price point, for beginner level instruments, does not mean one is dedicated to low quality products, fooling the public, or foistering a fraud.

No,...but entering a market with a price point at a certain time with cloned copies of the big sell`n makers, and fully prepared to fight court battles while still selling clones,....says more than what he said !!

If you say cloned drums isn`t an attempt to fool the US buyers,...I`ll understand !!

Anyways,...a long time ago in a galaxy far away there was a bang,...but it wasn`t the big bang,....it was a drum,....

...Never mind again !!

With respect, I can follow all opinions (calfskin, tdennis and OddBall) on the intention of Japanese drum (business:D) makers back in the 60s.

But at a certain point in the early 70s, there must have been a change in their minds: not only doing further copies of the established drum companies, but also starting to do their own engineering in order to separate their quality products from others. Pearl started in the middle of the 70s with drumkits (Export series) 'Made in ROC' (= Taiwan). So 'MIJ' no longer were the cheapest ones on the market.

Especially Tama is a good example of how giving an extra value to their drums influenced their reputation: new ideas in hardware design (pedals, stands and snare strainer constructions), some excellent shell constructions and at least good/ excellent chroming (which we benefit from today).

To come back to Brian's query: I have my strong doubts, that some day someone at TAMA will take his time and go into the cellar and disclose the secrets about STAR on which we are puzzling regularly.

Ralf

This very narrow view of Japanese business practices is considerably off. It demonstrates a severe lack of history and business culture. If this be a Vintage Drum History site, I would suggest that we attempt to curve our personal bias and focus on truth. That would allow a bit of 'good' to come from David's vision.