Hi all, Well further to this post I have come across another almost identical kit to mine in these photos but this one is called a "Riviera" kit. Refer to the attached photos. Does anyone know whether these kits were put together, branded differently and have different lugs per brand? For example, I've seen them called Aria, Tempo and now Riviera! Any info you can share would be appreciated!! ThanksGrant
Grant, they are "branded" as stencils were badged per the distributors wishes, also they were built by Star (TAMA), Pearl, and later by Hoshino. They each had different styles of lugs, Star had 3 styles, as well as Pearl. Hoshino, we are not certain but seems only one type. The shells, they changed from really thin 3 ply to 6 and 9 ply in 67-68. The 3 ply shells resonate and have a deeper, woodier tone, the 6 and 9, well you have those, so you know how they sound. The snare and toms are usually 6 and the bass 9 ply. A lot of snares are really thin as well, almost looking like single ply lauan with a wrap around it and rerings. So you can kind of get an idea what to look for, the older drums with the thin shells have early 60s hardware as they were shameless in their attempts to emulate American builders toa tee. I like the thinner shells because to my ears they sound like American drums, and I can afford them, where I cannot afford the same Luds or Slings. The thicker ones, sound like Japanese drums of the era and later, until they got it that ply shells of better grades of wood sound better. Not that lauan sounds bad, I love the sound of thin lauan, but the thicker sounds sharp to me.
