Melody Williams writes, Hello, Just rescued this drum from an estate. We were told it was mother of pearl. Is that possible? Are you able to tell me what type of drum this is. Label on the drum is Star Japan. Looks quite old.
Thank you.
Melody
I sent this to our resident vintage Japanese vintage drum nerd expert, Marc Patch, who answered -
Hello!
This is a bass drum from Star's junior drum set called the "Midget" model. Its earliest appearance in a catalog was 1965. The wrap is called "White Marine Pearl" which is still popular to this day. It’s made of an inexpensive wood called Luan, which was the wood of choice for drums made in Japan from the 50's through the 70's. The market value for it can be anywhere from $75 to $150. Note that Star became Tama in 1974 and is a thriving company today. Here is a catalog that has it, it's near the bottom of the page: https://www.hoshinogakki.co.jp/pdf/tama/catalog/1965Swingstar.pdf
Hope this helps!
Marc Patch