Most of the things I write about are just stating the facts as I have found them, but this one is purely an opinion piece, and just for fun. I have decided to go through and rate the different strainers used specifically on the stencil drums. I know that there are more than the 15 that I reviewed, but these are the most common ones mixed with a few rare ones, and I have owned and used them all. The four categories I used for grading are reliability, adjustability, action, and aesthetics.
RELIABILITY: How well is stays locked on, tensioned, and parts stay put.
ADJUSTABILITY: The ability to tighten or loosen the snare wires by the knob.
ACTION: How effective is the throw arm and how well it stays put.
AESTHETICS: How well it looks.
I have listed these from best to worst using a 10-point scale. Excluded are Pearl’s Taiwan factory made and any strainer found only on brand name drums, like parallel strainers or a Gladstone.
The Star 925 & 929 Rapid Strainer measures up with a vintage Ludwig P-85 and modern two-point strainers. The most reliable of the stencil strainers.
A lesser seen Gracy three-point is the best strainer that Gracy offered, the only real downside is the thin sheet metal it was pressed out of, but it doesn’t affect its functionality at all. It’s very adjustable and the handle goes so far down that it stays out of the way.
The Hoshino 55RX is another solid two-point strainer, the only real negative is that they are rarely seen on stencil drums.
By far the best stencil strainer made in Japan by Pearl is the Deluxe. It has great adjustability for a front knob strainer and the handle is solid.
The Hoshino round strainer is a favorite for many just for its looks. The adjustability isn’t that great, but it makes up for it by being solid and reliable.
The rarely seen Sakae three point, which looks very similar to Gracy’s, is a good strainer, but not as reliable as Gracy’s. The main difference from the Gracy is the handle shape and how far it goes down. It’s possible that designs were bought from Gracy when they discontinued using them or they went out of business.
This is another extremely rare strainer made by Pearl in the early 60’s. The handle is just thin sheet metal in the shape of a spoon handle and can be easily bent. It’s slightly more adjustable with the cover off but the adjustment knob is small.
Sakae definitely copied the design from Gretcsh’s Microsensitive Strainer. It’s another strainer that you have to get the straps perfect because of the limited adjustability. Most of these were branded “St. George” or “Zim-Gar” and are paired with an adjustable butt plate.
The Pearl S-012 is the most common Japanese strainer made by Pearl. Its adjustability isn’t very good, but it functions okay.
Hoshino’s version of the Microsensitive is an average strainer, they tend to need a rubber band to keep the handle down and the handles can come unscrewed.
The Star 930 is the most common strainer made by Star and possibly overall. It looks and functions like a Slingerland Zoomatic, only less adjustable and more cheaply made from pressed steel. With these strainers you have to make sure the handle is tight, because the handles come unscrewed easily. These strainers were also sold as replacements to music stores, so there are still many floating around, mostly without a handle.
This was Pearl’s common strainer in the mid 1960’s. It’s a below average strainer that is susceptible coming disengaged or having the handle fall off. This same model was also found on Sakae and Yamaha drums made in the late 60’s. Another case where someone might have bought a discontinued design,
This is a lesser seen Star strainer that is usually found on drums with their Sonor styled lugs. This strainer is usually paired with an adjustable butt plate. (The handle comes unscrewed easily on these as well.)
Bringing up the rear is actually a nice looking stainer, but horribly flawed, (the kind you don’t date or marry). It has bad adjustability, it’s hard to dial in and it doesn’t lock into place that well. To add to it, the handle is made out of pot metal that is extremely likely to break if you gig with it. I have seen more broken clam shell strainers than intact ones. Personally, owning a drum with this strainer is pretty much a punishment to a drummer, unless it’s on display, with no risk of that handle being touched by anything.(Yes, it is that fragile.)
If you are looking for a versatile drum to gig with, I would look for one with a strainer that’s rated above 8.0, anything less will be frustrating and time consuming to tweak. I hope this was helpful as you search for tho