WELCOME TO THE M.I.J. E.R.

 Welcome to my "Emergency Room" for "Made-in-Japan" drums.  Here I take on the difficult challenges of repairing and restoring old neglected drums when the cause seems hopeless.  Let's look at a couple of tough cases.

THE RSP STAR SNARE

This drum was recovered via Ebay where it was being "sold for parts," which is rather odd since there aren't any major problems visible here in the main auction photo.

This is a Red Sparkle Pearl 5 x 14" Star Snare that at first glance looks perfectly fine.  The wrap is bright, the chrome is shiny, the badge looks to be in excellent condition and the proper butt plate is in clear view.  What could be the problem?

Let's look at another photo from a different angle.  Sometimes when you see the other side there's a huge hole in the shell or some severe damage to the wrap.

Ouch!  Okay, now we are starting to see the problem.  There are a lot of empty holes there.  A couple of vital parts are obviously missing.  I guess when they say they are selling it "for parts" they mean "because of missing parts" or "for parts to be added" or something like that.

Anyway, whatever the case, have no fear because here at the MIJ ER we have plenty of spare parts, don't we?

Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly do.  I've been stockpiling for years now.

Now let's see how things look after the misplacedmtnman manipulates his magic.....

THE GSP MIJ 16 FT

For our second patient we have here a 16 x 16" Gold Sparkle Pearl "unbranded" or "no-name" MIJ Floor Tom.

Most people with some common sense would shrink away from such a project and say, "Forget it, old man!  That drum is a hunk of junk!  It's past its time!  Not worth the effort!"

We at the MIJ ER, however, see potential.  We don't listen to common sense because we love drums, we have money, and a fool and his money are soon gonna buy some more drums to fix up.  Something like that.

HOW IS THAT for results, huh?  Rims and rods replaced, shined-up chrome and new heads?

THAT IS A FLOOR TOM BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!!!

And that's what we do here at the MIJ ER.  We bring good things to life.....no wait, that's General Electric.  We bring good drums to life.  Or back to life.  Whatever.

And when I say we I actually mean me, the misplacedmtnman, because I did all the damn work while you guys were busy doing all sorts of other more important things.

Now.....unfortunately I don't even have a Gold Sparkle Pearl drum set that needs a 16" floor tom, so.....if anybody wants to buy this drum just let me know.  I might sell it to you.

Or I'll just add it to the stacks.....

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