Tama Rockstar from 1990-93

[Newdrumking]

Does anybody own one? or know what wood they are made from? looking at buying one second hand, what do you think?

[That Guy]

http://www.tama.com/history/ Scroll down to 1990.

[Newdrumking]

have seen that. does not answer any of my questions!

[fourstringdrums]

What series is it?

According to that History link, it mentions the Rockstar Pro as being 9-ply with basswood interior, but I don't know if that means the inner ply is basswood or the whole shell is.

[That Guy]

Ya, I searched around a bit and thats what I found with the most info on the Rockstar series in one spot. I don't know exactly what it means either. I'm starting to think that they are "selected veneers" with a inner layer of basswood for dulling the overtones. If I am correct, the rockstars might be the same as the Ludwig Accent Series, only it has an innner layer of basswood.

But, who knows. I tried to find more info, but that seemed to be the best source so far. I will keep looking.

Speaking of looking, are you doing any searching Newdrumking? I hope so.. lol.

[tomtom]

Does anybody own one? or know what wood they are made from? looking at buying one second hand, what do you think?

Well, I once shared bills on a recording with a drummer who used a ´91 Rockstar. I was using my $$$$$$$ Brady kit. I can´t begin to tell you how dissapointed I was to hear that his drums sounded just as good as mine, if not better on the cd. But, might have been the engineer.......

[fourstringdrums]

Well, I once shared bills on a recording with a drummer who used a ´91 Rockstar. I was using my $$$$$$$ Brady kit. I can´t begin to tell you how dissapointed I was to hear that his drums sounded just as good as mine, if not better on the cd. But, might have been the engineer.......

I had a Gretsch Catalina Birch that my teacher felt sounded almost as good as his Tama Starclassic. Only mine cost $600 and his cost $2000+ :)

[That Guy]

Hmmm, thats interesting guys. But, we do hear stories like that alot. Most of it comes down to perception.

[MRA Drummer]

I own a Tama Rockstar DX.. Not sure exactly how old, but to me it's very nice, I especially love the 24" Bass drum on my set, with the Aquarian SK II on it, the thing booms. The toms i've gotten fairly adept at tuning so I like the drumset, Haven't gotten any complaints about it so I feel confident playing it. Also, I use a Ludwig Acrolite Snare, not the snare that came with the DX so, as far as the snare goes, I cant help you there, sorry man... Hope this helped, if you have any questions feel free to ask. I own a camera so pictures shouldn't be a problem if you need more than I showed in my profile.

[Newdrumking]

I am looking. :)

I got as far as the basswood. I always hear how good these sound and now I have a chance to get one. I know it is all down to tuning but just wanted some info.

I will update if I find anything more.

Thanks all

[JoeyWaters]

I have a Rockstar RK kit from '93. It was only a step above the Swingstars at that time. With the right heads, it sounds great as a second kit. It is a worthy purchase, especially if the kit that you speak of is one of the other Rockstar lines that was above my RK kit. I still like to play it every now and then since my Starclassic is always at the practice pad.

[breandan]

The Rockstar series is made like this: Basswood/Philippine Mahogany Shells-- 9mm, 7-Ply (1 ply Basswood, 5 plies Philippine Mahogany, 1 ply Basswood)

Breandan

[eamesuser]

I have re headed a few tama rockstar kits for people and the 1 basswood,5 luan 1 basswood,sounds right to me,I remember the inner plies having that orangey color,outer plies being beige/cream looking,the kicks had an amazing amount of flex in them,especially considering the weight of the tom holder and toms,but once I got the pinstripes of of them they were killer sounding kicks,one person recorded one the kits,and it went to tape very well.I was supprised. At one time I believe the rockstars were selling so well that they had a premium line,and I think they may have added an outer ply of birch, and offered it in a stain/laquer.

[rogue_drummer]

Interesting thread. I got an old Tama Rockstar from a Dallas recording studio in March as a second kit to gig with since I wanted the 22 inch bass. I've gigged with them once and they do sound loud and proud. I had some good compliments. The guitar players were upset because in that particular venue, my drums ruled and they felt they had to turn up their knobs. LOL Many a Tama Rockstars have gone on tour and into the studio and sounded great. With the right heads and proper tuning they sound just as good if not better than the more expensive kits that cost $$$$. This kit cost me $275 used. I should have only offered $250.00 since the snare was in bad shape. I've used a Ludwig Acrolite snare from 1976 and the entire kit sounded good. I'm in the process of refurbishing the snare without too much difficulty. I believe the finish is laquer Emrald Green.

Here are the pics:

[Adam6890]

Interesting thread. I got an old Tama Rockstar from a Dallas recording studio in March as a second kit to gig with since I wanted the 22 inch bass. I've gigged with them once and they do sound loud and proud. I had some good compliments. The guitar players were upset because in that particular venue, my drums ruled and they felt they had to turn up their knobs. LOL Many a Tama Rockstars have gone on tour and into the studio and sounded great. With the right heads and proper tuning they sound just as good if not better than the more expensive kits that cost $$$$. This kit cost me $275 used. I should have only offered $250.00 since the snare was in bad shape. I've used a Ludwig Acrolite snare from 1976 and the entire kit sounded good. I'm in the process of refurbishing the snare without too much difficulty. I believe the finish is laquer Emrald Green.

Here are the pics:

Mine is the same colour as yours! I've always wanted to know the specs of my kit as it seems to be completely unheard to most people! Does anyone know how much they were worth new?

@RogueDrummer, what heads do you use on yours?

[cyclepilot2]

i bought my tama rockstar DX 9pc in 1993 brand new for around $1300. a five piece was around 5-600 bucks. price was from thoroughbred music which i think is sam ash now or some other big store and yes they are made with basswood / mahogany.

[rogue_drummer]

I just researched this yesterday and found my particular rockstar model pictured below is called a Rockstar Custom. It has 9mm shells with 7 plies. Outer layer is Basswood, 5 plies of Philippine Mahogany, inner shell is Basswood. It's a called a Custom because it has options of 8 painted and stained clear laquer finishes. Mine is dark green and is called "Custom Green" "CGR" for short. I think mine is from 1997, the year they started making the more rounded full length lugs. And whereas the Rockstars came with chrome snares, the customs came with wooden snares the same color as the kit.

I believe mine came with 10 x 12 inch tom, 11 x 13 inch tom, 16 x 16 inch floor tom, 16 x 22 inch bass, and 5 1/2 x 14 inch wooden snare. I don't have the 11 x 13 inch tom for it. The tom holder that came with the model is Tama's new holder that allows you to mount 2 toms or 1 tom and 1 cymbal. It got it off eBay for about $25 plus 10 for shipping.

As far as the heads Adam 6890, it's a mix. I have a Evans Coated G2 on the 12 x 10 tom, and the heads the previous owner put on the floor and bass. They still sound ok, but I need to rehead the entire kit.

I got all this information about the kit off of Tama's web site for the USA.

The only drawback I see is the Serial numbers. They don't correspond to anything. Tama did this in order for the buyer to register the numbers for insurance tracking purposes only and not to track when and where it was manufactured.

7 ply 9mm shells, the drums are almost indestructable. I'm sure with the right heads they sound awesome.

[Adam6890]

Cool, I have the fusion pack, so 10", 12" and 14", I'd really like a deeper floor tom though, can't get any powerful triplets going with those sizes. And yeah, got what I presume is the chrome snare too, just tuned that today, sounds pretty wicked.

I noticed when I bought new heads for mine, it sounded like a brand new kit, I was so surprised! The stock heads are pretty poor quality, so they're just on the resonant side now, and I use Remo Encores on the toms, and a weather king on the snare.

[rogue_drummer]

Cool! I was wondering about the heads I should use. I may give your head combo a try. What type of music do you play Adam6890?

[Adam6890]

Cool! I was wondering about the heads I should use. I may give your head combo a try. What type of music do you play Adam6890?

Well there's not much point changing the resonant heads if you're on a budget, I don't think they make much difference. But the Remo Encore's I use on the top are just cheap overseas produced versions of Remo's more expensive ones, but they're basically exactly the same, just not USA made. I play rock music mainly, which kinda sucks for a fusion kit but when I bought it I had no idea about sizes and now I don't have the money to change :P

[Flattop1960]

You can date your rockstar kit within a year or two.
LOOK at the vintage catalogs closely!
Match your hardware first. look at the lugs.
They change over the years...
LOOK at the badges - they also change over the years.
I bought mine used for less than $200.
I thought mine were 90-93 - I was wrong.
Turns out they are 2003 customs!
My tom lugs are rounded and my badge is an oval with gold lettering.
Mine also had the star cast mount on the tom - although I use a snare stand.
The matching color Bass drum hoop and lugs were the final statement dating my kit at 2003.

I hope this helps.http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?fbid=491120672664&set=a.90640647664.89099.528052664

I'm using Attack 2 ply medium on the toms tops and standard remo pinstripes on the bottom.
Say what you will, but I get NO overtones and a solid full bodied tom sound - healthy too

[razorx]

I have both series of rockstars. They are great drums. Currently have the customs up. Beautiful looking and sounding drums.

[Nick Dodson]

I have a Rockstar DX kit that was purchased new in late '93. Purchased from Guitar Center for I think about $400 or $450, it came with a 16"x22" kick, 11"x12" and 12"x13" rack toms, 16"x16" floor tom and a 6.5"x14" COS snare. About a year and a half later I purchased a second kick drum to add on to it (hey, I was playin in a metal band in high school and having two kick drums wasn't quite out of style yet, haha). The second kick however is a Rockstar RS, as they had apparently discontinued the DX series sometime in '94. As far as I could tell the only real difference between the DX and RS kick drums was that the RS came with painted black metal hoops whereas the DX had chrome, both with a strip of matching wrap finish in the middle. Oddly enough, though this appears to be the only difference between the two series of Rockstars, the RS kick always sounded way more boomy than the DX. The DX still sounds good, but seems to have more of a super-low frequency resonance.

The toms have always sounded great. Amazing attack and lots of punch with just enough resonance. Matter of fact, the floor tom, if tuned properly, has huge resonance. The snare always sounded alright to me. I mean it's just a simple chrome and steel snare, but it always cut through pretty well. I had to replace the screws at one point for the butt plate and throwoff for where the snare cords attach cause they had all started to strip out, but that's about the only hardware issue I ever had with the entire kit. I actually just cleaned up the snare recently and got it tuned up again and honestly, if you get it tuned just right it can start to sound pretty close to a Supraphonic. I A/B'd it not long ago with my buddy's Supra and it really did sound very similar. Main difference was his Supra has a 42 strand strainer on it right now and my DX only has a 20 strand. The DX isn't quite as loud but has a very similar overall tone.

As far as heads, well back when I first got these drums I always used pinstripes on the batter of the toms with either ebonys or the stock heads on the resonant side. Later on I started using coated Ambassadors on the batter with the same resonants, but now I usually use Emperor coated on the batter. Being a two-ply head gives em better resonance and a more focused tone. I typically put a single moongel on top, if I need it, just to tame any overtones. For the kick I always liked Powerstroke 3s, clear or coated, on the batter side. They both sound great on the Rockstar kicks. For recording I typically end up leaving off the front (resonant) head on the kick drum. For snares I almost always use a coated CS reverse black dot on the batter and ambassador snare side, unless I want a little more ring and sizzle. For that I'd go with an Ambassador coated on top.

Overall, I've always loved my Rockstar kit. I've played a ton a shows with it and recorded a ton of songs with it as well. I've also got a vintage Slingerland kit, but I almost always end up recording with one of my Rockstar kicks. A friend of mine had an early '90s Rockstar kit for a while as well, and his kick drum was always being borrowed by another friend of ours (an engineer) to record with, haha. They do sound great for how reasonably priced the kits were.

Oh, and sorry this was so long, haha!

[eclipseownzu]

I think if you read this from the catalog you will see that TAMA does not want you to know what the shells are made of.

Kinda makes you wonder

http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=92&now=2

[MightyOx]

Glad to be here.

I actually have the original receipt from when I bought my Tama Rockstar. I'm assuming it must be an '89 (?) or '90 because I bought it on 2.15.90. The receipt from Ace Music Center in Miami says TAMA RS522XM, but besides the 'RS' I can't really tell what the rest of the number means.

In any event, it's a strong kit. It's served me well for 20+ years.

[Joe Ray]

I have a Tama Rockstar Pro set in that dark brown lacquer. Is there anything special about that color?
Thank you,
Joe