I found my Rosebud drum set! My first drum set was given to me by my parents in 1966. It was a no name “Made in Japan” blue sparkle set that had Slingerland type parts. It was a good sounding little four piece set that I used with many garage bands and on gigs. It served me well from 1966 until 1971 when my second drum set was given to me, a Ludwig Pro Beat set. The MIJ set went into the closet and I eventually sold the bass and toms from my first set which I have regretted. I kept the snare drum but it was lost by a drum shop when I took it there in the mid nineties to be refurbished. That’s when I started looking on the internet to by another one just like it as a sentimental replacement. Thus my Rosebud: Like Citizen Kane’s sled named “Rosebud”, I have found the prized posession of my youth.
I got into collecting these sixties Japanese snares and kits and even started a Japanese Drum Set Museum website. I think it was the first one. I would buy a MIJ snare of set, then sell it because none of the drums I bought were exactly like my original drum set. I was after the original, or close enough to it. I determined that the kit was made by Pearl because there was a cymbal holder bracket that had Pearl stamped into it, but I’m not sure. This kit comes so very close; same finish, lugs, hoops and other hardware. The only real differences are the badges, the cymbal arm holder, and the floor tom leg brackets. Also they have badges - TEMPO on all the except the floor tom which has the ugliest badge I’ve ever seen - ZimGar.
This set was sold to me by Bob Cianci who did a great job of refurbishing them. They sound great. Good tone, resonance and sustain. Probably the best sounding MIJ kit I’ve ever played, and I’ve played a lot of them. I think it’s because of the more rigid Slingerland type hoops and the maple reinforcing rings - and three rings in the bass drum. The tom holder was missing. Because I did not want to use the clip mount on the small tom, I bought a very Gibraltar 3/4” tom arm, a 3/4” tom bracket and had a 13” RIMS holder in stock. The cymbal holder bracket is pretty heavy duty. I’d love to find a cymbal arm that would fit it. The Ludwigs and Slingerlands don’t fit. One really odd thing - seven lugs on the floor tom! What in the holy hockey stick is that about?!! I’ll use this kit on smaller gigs that don’t require volume. The luan shells in MIJ kits are limited in the volume department, but the ones with maple re-inforcement rings have a wider dynamic range than the shells without the rings.
This will be the last MIJ set I will buy (famous last words). The quest is over. This will help in my ongoing thinning of the drum herd.
https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-the-significance-of-Rosebud-in-Citizen-Kane