Maybe you've heard of the brand they eventually became: Tama.
In the 1960s, Star and Pearl were start-up drum companies in Japan, producing cheap drums under a LOT of different brand names for import to the U.S. and other markets.
They do have their fans -- jonnistix and well, umm... Well, there's gotta be another one somewhere. ;) Anyway, leaving the drum's merits out of the conversation, it was originally sold as a cheap alternative to brands like Ludwig, Slingerland, and Rogers.
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=14893 Theres the other thread its about the sellers other drum for sale but that drum was brought up. I'll leave the low end MIJ discussion for someone else...
Hey, thanks for that link Musicaldeath! That was some good reading and an eye opener! I am so glad I joined this forum when I did. So you guys are saying this would not go with my mid-60's champagne sparkle Slingy kit? lol! Well, that is I ever hear back from the guy. But that is a whole 'nother story.
Yeah, that was me that messaged you through ebay. The Star company was the precursor to TAMA. In about 64ish they began building drums for the stencil market and under their own badge after they got some experience building them. In 74, they dropped the Star moniker, keeping the Hoshino Gakki plant open for a short time building some of the stencil brands, adn many of the others went to Pearl after this switch as TAMA was to focus the bulk of their talent on TAMA drums and exiting the stencil market.
This drum is a nice sounding drum, when properly tuned, however, it is worth about 40-60 bucks, in this decent condition. Really nioce drum, but forgive me, I just hate to see people get hit with bad feedback and SNAD reports for no good reason.
That set of lugs are so close to identical to the real Slingerlands that many people get confused, and they really get ugly when someone brings up the possibility of them not being the real deal. Also, since they are so close, many people are selling thm as the real thing, and many really don't know they aren't, and many people are using them to counterfeit. I hope you are cool with my communication, as I get a lot of ugly in return for trying to help people to know they are in danger oif getting hit with bad feedback unknowingly. Now that you know, is that a real Sling badge? Can you show us the badge? And yes, there are many slaves to the MIJ, I juist happen to be the most vocal and hated....
Here is another Star snare, Apollo I am about to snag, shell only. Same shell as you drum.
HOLY S@(# this guy who has this snare on eBay now has pictures of a Slingerland snare on that listing, that you can see is off a 3 line COB shell. What a scammer look at this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270599286599&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
I really hope whoever wins this gets their money back because this is just a shame. Its such a blatant scam.
I have reported him.
And he has it listed as a private auction! This is a real winner!
270599286599
Looks like ebay pulled his plug. What a scam. I told him last week this would not fly and that it was obvious this was not a Slingerland. It comes to my mind I have seen this snare before, just can't place it.
HOLY S@(# this guy who has this snare on eBay now has pictures of a Slingerland snare on that listing, that you can see is off a 3 line COB shell. What a scammer look at this...http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270599286599&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Even the close-up of the Zoomatic strainer looks suspicious...
