Tama Starclassic

[pasta]

I saw a band last night and the drummer had a TSC, 20" kick/1 up/2 down.
They really sounded great. Can anyone tell me anything about them? At the Tama website, there seem to be different Starclassics (woods) and I didn't see any with this specific wrap (turquoise glitter/sparkle) or kick size. Perhaps they're discontinued.

TIA

[Tamascb10]

Custom finishes and sizes? It's possible

[razorx]

The sizes are most likely custom, they are most likely the bubing birch starclassics........AKA:Starclassic B/B. Is this the finish? I couldn't find a bigger picture.
http://images.miretail.com/products/thumbs/Tama/633122427944094828.jpg

[ZDrums24]

the starclassics have a few different lines based on the wood they are made out of (starclassic maple, starclassic performer (birch), bubinga, and I believe a kit that combines birch and bubinga). The really fun (note a little sarcasm) part about tama is that they redesign about half their catalogue on a yearly basis, so they can cycle through a lot of finishes/sizes/thicknesses pretty quickly. For example, my dad has a starclassic performer from the late 90s with almost square sized toms (10, 12, 14) and an 22x16 kick, all at about 7 plys thick. I have a scp that is about 7 years newer that has 5 ply toms (way more open sound) and the depth selection doesnt even go close to square except for the 16 floor tom and maybe one or two of the smallest toms. the kicks now come a little deeper (mines a 22x18) and they now have wood hoops as well as a tom mount that does not penetrate the shell.

The complaints I hear about tama most often is about their hardware, but I honestly can't say I have had any issues with the hardware owned by myself or my dad except that 2 wing bolts on my dads stands have striped (the ones on the legs, so its not a big deal) and the cymbal booms that sit in the tops of the legs of my rack system move more than id like (which I could probably fix if i took the time to look at them). I'm not saying their hardware is some how massively superior to any other company at their level, but ive found people give them more crap than they deserve.
Side note: The iron cobras can handle just about anything, play well and cost about half of the dw equivalent.

Keep in mind that about 90% of tamas endorsees are metal/hard rock drummers. This is more than just a marketing strategy. Their drums really do cater to that style of playing really well (particularly the birch kits. something about the construction of their maples doesnt really let the wood sing as well as dws or the like), and conversly, i usually don't like the sound i hear when someone plays jazz with tama drums compared to drums by yamaha or dw. In my opinion, the company as a whole just turns out drums with a more aggressive sound than the other big names (save maybe sonor).

I guess what this adds up to is that if you play high energy music requiring lots of punch and energy, I stand fully behind the starclassic performers. My experiences with their maples is limited (but nothing specacular) and I haven't even seen a bubinga kit of theirs in person yet, so I can't speak too much for them.

ps: they make pretty good entry/intermediate level kits as well

[pasta]

Yeah, thanks guys! I found a bigger pic.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/duncandudley/35052370_640.jpg

Nice looking, aren't they? Are these supposed to be pro line kits or middle of the road? And for some reason, the other colors (cobalt blue) are with 22" kick and the 20" option only seems to be in the turquoise.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tama-Starclassic-Performer-Birch-Bubinga-4-pc-Shell-Pack?sku=445487&src=3WFRWXX&CAWELAID=48297533

[ZDrums24]

Those are top of the line drums.

And the color option being only available with certain bass drums is more of a musicians friend issue i believe. I ordered mine through a shop and could pretty much name the color i wanted (though I did have to wait while they got the color on some of the shells).

[Abstsbtsb]

There is one of those cobalt blue B/B kits at the guitar center near my house. It sounded great! The guy did say the color was discontinued because its ugly as hell.