Well said Bop. I've owned a few kits from Japan and China. One of the nicest features of an old MIJ is the cool wrap. It just looks right on stage. After working the shells, it does have a nice warm character that is easily controled. I used to keep a kit in cases at the ready for small acoustic trio calls. It never overstated anything. Good stuff.

You may be making another convert to MIJ drums...

This old Pearl floor tom I have here is a warm woody "smooth" sounding instrument.

So, what are MIJ "brands" to watch for locally here? Could you post a list?

Also, jonnistix could you throw up a pic of your nice Majestic blue sparkle kit and Osakabop a pic of a nice funkily wrapped MIJ kit you have?

Great posts and very informative!

-kelly

......before anyone says anything, I know...the tom is bakards...

Kelly, It's not so much in the name, but the shells. That said, Apollo, from the Star era, Majetic Semi-Pro, although if in good condition, the Deluxxe still a viable kit from the 60s. It is easy to tell. Look at the harware, if it loks quality, and the drums look 60s, try them out. Stewart...a lot depends on where you live. Different distributors, and many are regional. So, looka round the ads and find the predominant names, and let us know what you have in your area. I like Star, but my kit is a Pearl, I think, because of the fact it has a pipe tom mount.

LISTEN for the hidden tone, not for what you hear. The 3 ply bass will resonate for ever if the heads are even half playable. I had 45 year old heads on both sets when they came to us and they were nice sounding. Now the Majestic: Deluxxe brass badge, the shells are not 3 ply, they are the thicker lauan everyone refers to when cracking on MIJ drums. However, since most are from the mid 60s, they are nicely aged. And if they are well cared for, they will have the quality, low rumble and a tone that can be sweet as honey, or nasty, ringy and brutal. It is up to you at this point to determine if you want to take the time to get intimate with the shells and sand the edges to a little different contour, a tad bit sharper. It is hard to explain. If you work wood, the wood "tells" you how it wants to be. You look at it, take your 100 grit in hand, relaxed, and simply start sanding. The contour will reveal itself almost immediately, and follow that instinct. Every drum will have it's own feel, and each edge, top and bottom. Let it guide you, and they will come out better.

For instance, on the boys' toms, (this kit is an original 20-12-12-14 set up, one tom has a broken bottom edge on the shell and I have not taken the time to repair it) The one that is in the picture has nominally sharper edges than the other. They are originally almost flat roundovers. Now the this where the truth about my drum storation ability comes from. When I first got the kit, I came here, in July '09. I had signed on a couple of years ago, and forgot my user name and password. So I re-joined, and asked about edges. If you go back, Jaye and I did a lot of discussions last year on edges, and this is when and where I learned about these "crappy" drums that I have come to love. Jaye told me to take them to a cabinet shop and have them re-cut. I did not, I opted for the sandpaper method, and he got bit steamed with me because as a noob, I contradicted him, but we did it in a friendly, teacher/student way, and we both learned something. I don't decide, the wood does. Anyway, I took the sandpaper, looked over a few posts on edge design, read up on the latest technology from TAMA (they are the only ones that show and tell), and used the basic edge contour they are now using on the wood Starphonic snares for my thinner shells. These toms are about 6 thin plys, while the bass is a thicker 9 ply. They sing now, because I put passion into everything I do. If you hire me to do some light remodeling in your house for instance, and we settle on an hourly vs. contract, I will give 100%, no matter the rate. 10.00 or 25.00 and hour gets you the same quality, to a degree. I don't do sloppy, half-assed work. Anyway, the snare is a little thicker than the toms, and had flat, almost non-existant edges. Now, it is important to point out here, these came from a gentlemans' family that told me he played these drums out in the bars and honky-tonks of Oklahoma and surrounding area for 30 years. Now, I cannot fathom playing these with the old, original, SoundMaster heads and flat edges, in a band. Guy must have been a brilliant player, or the rest of the guys just did not care how they sounded, because they were horrible, flat and just ringy at some tunings. The only clue I have to the style of his mastery is the very light cymbals. He must have had a light touch and played a more jazzy style, (assuming C/W as the prodominent style here) using a hi-hat bottom for a small crash. And it works nicely for sweet, low sound..anyway, look for the lump of coal. Or the really nice, clean well cared for kit. Take a bad set and practice on it, them donate them to a talented kid at your local school, or to the school itself. Maybe an elementary if they will have it. Then look for the one, the sweet looking 3 ply shells with the really cool hardware and wrap. Post on C/L everyday for awhile, asking people to talk to the family and friends about those old beat up drums they put away 30 years ago because they sounded like crap. Then think about which type, thin 3 ply, or thicker 6-9 ply, maybe both, they are so cheap you can grab a set of each. When you go to look at them, remember they are someone else's pride, maybe, and they may not know the true value. If you see a really nice set from a player, advertised in the 300 range, go look anyway. They may or may not know, and may have already done a lot of the work for you. I've seen some sweet sets that are refurbed to a tee, advertised for 500, but there is no way I will ever go there, because I would never get it back. I got lucky on my son's set, they were only 50bucks, complete with cymbals and all hardware, no throne. Great deal. For the most part people that have these have no clue, they look in the attic, see old Polaris kit and run to the internet, not finding a match and assume they are "RARE" and think $$$$$ but look at them, educate them, if they have a brain, and make a resonable offer, bring them here and show them around first, and ask if they understand, then buy them for whatever they are worth. If you find a sweet, complete kit with all the goodie, 200-250 is not a bad price to pay. I try to stay in the 100 range, because honestly the economy and my health have put us in a very bad position, and I really don't like the prospect of turning a no profit deal on them as it can be a lot of work.

A lesser quality, cheaply manufactured product that is intended to very, very closely resemble a more prominent, well known, quality product of the same type. The intent is to sell a high volume of product at a low price to turn a profit instead of selling a lower number of well made units at a higher profit margin. Think "Foakley" sunglasses, Great Neck tools, WAl Mart stuff, Kia automobiles etc. These are all stencils.

Have a wonderful evening

drumhack

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... :)

jonnistix,

Nice description of your pathway in drum life...

Thanks for the tips on finding and researching MIJ drums.

I will keep my eye out for some of the brands you mentioned.

It's very true about the edges, tuning and listening to wood. I guess what we are listening for in a tom is resonance. Thin shells, mahogany in particular has that warm resonant quality...I suppose the Japanese, when sourcing out wood for their stencils didn't know at the time that their cheap Luan was actually quite warmly resonant...much like Basswood today (found in cheaper Chinese kits) has a beautiful resonanance, warm and sustaining. Cheaper Basswood kits are passed by though by so many because the wood is considered to be a cheap grade. Ironic... I have a Basswood tom worth about $50 that sounds much better than some maple toms I have costing 5 times more.

-kellyj

AMEN!!..But we,re not suposed to know that...ShhhhhhhWalking

Limitation is the simplest form of fattening.

Any one else prefer Basswood, Mahogany over Birch? Falling Do

I've owned, played, and given away quite a few basswood and/or cheap mahogany kits. After working the shells, they could sound nice.

The Mapex V series was one of my favorite basswood kits. I believe it was 9 ply basswood and had a nice warm round sound. The attack was reduced which enhanced the roundness of the tone. They don't make them like this anymore. They changed the layup.

I also liked the Gretsch Catalina series after they changed it. They started with 45 degree edges. Then they ever so slightly adjusted the shell layup and adjusted the edges to 30 degrees. Those are the good ones.

The Yamaha Rock Tour Custom series was one of the coolest. They were a birch mahogany blend. They were thick and had some very nice lacquered finishes. Unreal rock kit. My ALL TIME favorite rock kit. It pushed the sound beyond. It was warm, woody, and had unreal volume and tone.

Tama made a sweet batch of Rockstar kits during the 90's. They were reviewed by Modern Drummer and took top honors in the budget class shootout. Great kits before they changed 'em again.

Premier made some cool kits during the 90's. They used some of those wild swirly astro type wraps. Pretty good sounds, too.

If you are careful and pay attention to the shells, you can get a nice sounding kit for little cash. I never paid over 400 for any of those kits (except the Yamaha). One trick is to wait for Guitar Crappycenter to do their clearance of last years drum models. You can usually get the kit delivered to your door for under 400. A couple of years ago, I had three Gretsch kits delivered to my door for just under 900. It was a good Christmas for a couple of young drummers. Shop wisely.