copy, look alike, direct copy, your choice...

It kind of means rubber-stamped, as in the multiple near-identical kits Pearl and Hoshino cranked out in the '60s, featuring assorted brand names like Crown, Majestic, Whitehall, Trump, and many MANY more.

Bermuda

Just what the others have said. Pearl, Hoshino, and Star (may have been a few others) made the shells, and then (insert name brand here) made their own lugs, brackets etc. and assembled them, putting their name on them. So you basically had 50 kits from 50 different name brands that were just marginally different. The "stencil" companies (again there were MANY) sometimes tried to copy the American companies (Grestch, Ludwig, Rogers and Slingerland), other times they just did their own thing.

Think of it this way: Toyota makes thier own brand of cars, but also "makes" Lexus and Scion, just with a different name on them. The Japanese "stencils" were much like this, just with many more name brands.

No, the distributors did NOT make their own parts/hardware. Star, Pearl, Hoshino and the 2-4 others used all identical parts. Star made 2 types of lugs and 3 or 4 different strainers. They also made a stick saver type of hoop for many years, then in the later days went to triple flanged. Pearl made approx 4 types of lugs and over the years 4 or so types of strainers. The distributors that sold the stencil kits in the US and Europe made up there own names and the makers made the badges and placed them on the drums. This was done in runs so that there would be little chance that ZimGar would not get shipped to a Stewart dealer, (in the later days, after Star gave up stenciling).

St Louis Music Supply was the largest dealer of stencil drums in the 60s, selling literally hundreds of thousands of drums and sets. One of the coolest things they did, and they were the premier Star distributor in the US, was to compete directly with themselves.

Let's say I am the SLMS rep for a given city, say Kansas City. I go into Joe's Music shoppe and sell him on making more money by introducing an entry level kit, Apollo, and then give him an "exclusive" dealership agreement. Then, I go right around the corner the KC Drum and Percussion. I speak with the owner of the store and sell him on exactly the same deal, the same exact drums, only with a different name, Stewart, and give him the same exclusive territory. I am competing directly with myself and I have shelf space in two competing stores and no matter which shop little Frankie and his daddy decide to buy that first kit, I win....cool set up, eh?

Thanks for the history lesson, jonni. You are the MIJ guru around here!

I had always thought that each "brand" (Stewart, Whitehall etc.) made their own lugs and mounts etc., because each brand of MIJ drums that I have seen all seem to have slightly different "accoutrements" on them.

Thanks for righting the ship!

Stencil means the made in the U.S. ONLY" drum snobs have a good laugh at the "inferior" MIJ gear which is not even worth mentioning around a few drum forums:confused:

There needs to be a difference drawn between factory generated names and those commisioned by distributors etc. A case in point is 1960's Beverley and Olympic. The same kit existed(exists) for each right down to the cymbals. Only the lugs are different. Since these were produced out of different programs out of the same factory, they are brands, not stencils. -----and what about a drum company that is contracted to make drums for another drum company? What are those?

Well, technically, they would still be a stencil drum kit. I mean, that is the true definition of this practice. Even Toyota built cars for Chevy and Geo, another type of stenciling.