One of my favorite parts of the vintage MIJ drum genre is simply admiring all the badges, the styles and types and even the brands. A badge on a drum (especially a stencil) lets you know who sold it. Any kind of badging usually accomplishes at minimum the tasks of identification and advertising, and sometimes a little deception with the styling.
The bold raised lettering on a black background on modern auto dealership badges is very similar to the vintage stencil badges. It’s more about who sold it than who made it, (and you’ll know where to come to buy more).
Badges are sometimes attached at the factory as part of the manufacturing process while others are applied at the main point of distribution (big box stores, musical instrument distributors, or music stores), Most often (but not always), if a drum has a badge attached at the vent hole it’s factory, while stickers can be applied at either.
Badge Types:
Sticker: A sticker badge is the cheapest and simplest badge type, it’s usually just a plastic, metallic, or thin aluminum foil with the logo printed on it. This type of badge was usually applied at the distributor. Note: Any attempt to remove this type of badge with destroy the badge. Some of the unbranded stencil drums floating around today originally had this type of badge and it simply peeled off.
Thick Foil: The thick aluminum foil badge was very common, especially with drums that came out of the Hoshino factory and Pearl’s Taiwan factory in the 70’s. These badges were the same as sticker badges, only thicker. There are some versions of this type of badge that were mounted using the vent hole grommet with adhesive or nails.
Stamped metal: The stamped metal badge is made by physically bending the metal into the logo shape with a press. The process hollows out the backside and is the most three dimensional. These can be found in brass and chromed metal. These badges can also be painted as well. Usually the brass badges are unpainted.
The last two types of processes are Cast and Struck. Cast badges are made in a mold and struck badges are made more like coins from metal blanks. My reason for lumping them together is they have the same general outward appearance. Both are distinguished by a three dimensional front and a flat back. These badges are often brass and very often painted to make the bare metal raised lettering stand out.
Here are some of my favorite badges.
Lyra Percussion: My favorite is very detailed and has the double lion crest with black and red in relief with a lyre surrounding the vent hole. These badges were found on Star made drums.
Sakae Rhythm King: Another very ornate badge, it features flowers and vines with the crown on top, in a deep royal blue in relief, giving it the majestic look of a medal. This is a very rare badge because most Sakae made drums were unbadged.
Trump: This three color, three dimensional badge was likely made in the USA and can be found on Gracy and Star made drums. (I’m sure their drums were “tremendous”!)
Artist Ltd.: Aside from the rich blue color, this badge also features a cymbal on a stand under the logo. This is another one that appears on Star made drums.
Truetone: Another badge with great color and also uses the vent hole to incorporate their logo which is a man made out of a “W” and an ”A”. Truetone was the official brand of Western Auto. The drums were Star made.
Coronet: I believe this badge was a cast made badge, the metal, which appears to be an alloy, is quite thick and the lines are very sharp. These badges appeared on Pearl made drums from the late 60’s into the mid 70’s.
My smallest and largest badges. On many 8-lug snare drums the Crown badge is so big it is mounted at a steep angle to fit it between the lugs. The Marco Polo is sometimes mounted on the strainer. (These are the actual proportions to each other.)
Stewart is a great example of how badges vary between the different manufacturers. The Hoshino badge actually has “JAPAN” in very small print hidden underneath the thick grommet. The Pearl version I believe was the earliest of the three (mid 60’s). The Star version has the iconic “World’s Supreme Quality” and is likely the newest of the three.
The similar practice of badging instruments was used on MIJ stencil guitars, several of which carried the same brand name as drums.
AUTHOR NOTE: As a general rule I am not one for parting out completely intact drums or taking badges from drums, but as someone who has devoted a lot of time to preserving the history of MIJ drums I have bought quite a few drum badges from those who have parted out drums in the past. At least I can use them to properly document their existence. I personally don’t recommend the rebadging of drums unless the proper research is done to insure the badge matches the manufacturer, shell type, and lugs to keep the integrity of the drum intact. But at the end of the day they are just drums and are meant to be played, with whatever badge they wear.
If you find an odd badge or one with lots of color let me know! I know for a fact I have not seen them all!