By the looks of the bass T-rods, these are Star/Hoshino built. Nice drums, but I am not sure Iw ould drop more than a bone on them as they are just not top of the line stencils. They are Gretsch knock off lugs and some other parts are Gretsch-like, but all in all, they are still not the high end of the Star quality. These would be after Star halted production under the Star company name and would have been built under the Hoshino moniker in order to keep cash flowing while TAMA took it's place in history. This is the short period of time after Star, while TAMA was getting up to speed in a new market, the Japanese high-end market which they brought to market.

Many people believe, erroneously, that Pearl brought Japanese drums from stencil builders to top quality drums. TAMA actually began building high quality drums rivaling, and in some cases exceeding, the quality of the very American drums they had so sought to emulate for so many years. Today, TAMA still builds some of the worlds top quality drums, right alongside Pearl and Yamaha. Actually, I think TAMA are far better built than Pearl, even though Pearl still pulls out the "World Series" or whatever they call those exotics from time to time.

TAMA does it on a daily basis with the StarPhonic Snare Drums. The woodies are among the finest sounding wood snares I have ever heard. These are built from quality woods, bubinga, birch, maple and some other exotics as well on a limited edition basis. I am certainly not anti-American, but we just are not competing in the high-end market today. I wish our drum manufacturers would wake up and smell the lacquer, but it seems we are content to rely on Korea, China and Taiwan to build our drums, and everything else we consume.

Shoot, those look sweet. I think I see a hint of a re-ring as well. So maybe they are three or five ply's. Funky looking thing holding the rack tom though, that rod does not look original. The seller says it's missing a couple T rods also. But it seems like a great price with shipping included. You do have to wonder what the overall condition of the wrap is though. I'd run down south (about three hours) and grab 'em cheaper if he would knock off the shipping costs, but I have a few MIJ kits now. I really like that badge! :)

Well, if these were the post-Star, pre-Tama period drums, wouldn't they more likely have the shark tooth lugs? I'm not positive, but I think this set could be older than that. There are definitely re-rings, and the ink stamped numbers like those seen on earlier Star drums. Also, the center lug design and S/S copy rims, I believe, point to an earlier production date. The last thing I noticed was that the snare had a dual adjustment set up, which could be like the Crest Deluxe snare I have (hard to tell with these photos.) To the best of my knowledge, I dont think we've seen a Hoshino snare with a dual adjustment snare system.

Worth having just for those badges IMHO!

You're right, they are. I had my head where the sun ain't ever gonna shine. And the rail mount with the extra-long rod, I do believe you are correct, my friend. So, these are pre-Pearl, as they should be, and pre-67, most likely. In any even, if you would like to discuss some of the preservation techniques we use on these tin shelled Star and Pearl drums, once you decide if they are for you, please,feel free to contact me and I will share with you how it's done. If you have no previous restoration and preservation experience, it is not really hard to do, it's the "taking the first step off the curb" that is scary and most difficult for most people.

Now these thinner shells have a unique sound, really a bit lower in tone that you would expect. They will rather surprise you with the boom and short decay. Warm, dark and smoky, that is how I describe the sound of these shells to people that have not played them before. And the restoration/preservation techniques, once applied, enhance and balance this tone out, bringing out the best of the the tones. It's really rather fun once you get started and have gotten over the fear of "I might mess them up". If you follow our tutoring, you will have a great sounding set of drums for not a lot money.