Tamburo Original: maple stave snare

I have a Tamburo Opera Custom kit, I wish to add extra toms to. I have contacted Tamburo directly, they informed me they can not help as they have discontinued the series that I own. Can any one help. I live in the UK
sacco said:
Both kits were built in 1991, when suspension mounts were not common at all (at least in Italy). The maple set, which was built based on my whishes, has old Yamaha hardware. On the walnut one, which I probably played at the Tamburo factory when it was first built (there are very few Tamburo walnut kits), the store which sold it later to me agreed to replace the original tom holders (Tambuto holders, Yamaha style) with new Yamaha tom holders.

In fact, I would like to try suspension mounts (RIMS or similar), but several people told me that the sound would not change that much. Additionally, since the drilling is not exactly between two lugs, the drilling would be seeable: in a stave drum, the main drill must be in the center of a stave, so a mounting system would not cover the holes (of course, I could turn the shell by 180°, but the holes would still be seeable). I even thought about trying to install the current Yamaha YESS system, wich I do not like very much but that could probably fit at least the two upper holes.

Opinions about replacing intrusive hardware with suspension mounts are more than welcome! Would the sound really change (both of my sets are already extremely powerful)? Maybe it would be a good idea to start a specific thread on this issue.
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Cool Set! You really don't see Originals very often.

I have a question about the reinforcement ring: it's a seperate ring which is added afterwards, not directly milled in the stave shell, right?


Here some of my imperssions of Tamburo and the German market. I don't know the newer models, so my imporessions are made on the models 2-6 years ago.

About five years ago or so they had a uptime in Germany, the new distribution got the lower series from Ash to Formula in the market. Also the Opera series, but the concept of segmented shells with staves of plywood and a plastic ring is not much convincingly, or is it? The Original series is still very unknown, you knew it only from the website but never saw it in stores.

The shells up to Formula Series come from china, the kits are only assembled in Italy. Often it was said that all sets are all made in Italy including the shells, but that was simply not true.
Also the stands are standard products from the asian market, not better than other products in that price range. The factory where the hardware came from, was not one of the better ones.

And I know some people personal who had problems after a while, some broken lugs (!), one damaged shell. Series were TSB and XD.

Well, they sounded good, but in my opinion not better than other drums. Together with the fact that the hardware wasn't the best, there were obejctively not much reasons for me to recommend them. The ply drums fom Tamburo were good sounding and relative cheap drums, but not more.

Due to this quality issues they don't get much attention from big dealers anymore. I don't know if they improved, e.g. how the new lugs are.
 
I have a question about the reinforcement ring: it's a seperate ring which is added afterwards, not directly milled in the stave shell, right?
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Yes, the reinforcing rings are added afterwards on all the shells you see in the different pictures above.

About five years ago or so they had a uptime in Germany, the new distribution got the lower series from Ash to Formula in the market. Also the Opera series, but the concept of segmented shells with staves of plywood and a plastic ring is not much convincingly, or is it? The Original series is still very unknown, you knew it only from the website but never saw it in stores.
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Now, let be clear: everybody loves (or try to convince himself he does love ...) his own gear, and I do love my Tamburo's (not all the time, but most of it!). Nevertheless, I am not an endorser and I am not interested in defending the brand. All I can say is that:
  • I know very well only the Original series, and I could spend quite a lot of time at the old Tamburo factory, so I exactly know how well those nineties kit are built;

  • Tamburo (or, say Tullio Granatello) had incredible ideas: as far as I know he was the first guy worldwide to really believe in stave drums, the first guy worldwide to extensively use small diameter but deep bass drums also for non-jazz usage, the first guy worldwide to introduce a bass drum support to allow beaters to hit small bass drums in the center, etc.;

  • I tried lots of drumsets, including the most prized US and Japanese ones (I owned several of them), but to me Tamburo Originals remain the most impressive kits I had the opportunity to play: one can like them or not, but they really are something different;

  • I know of several top world drummers asking Tullio for entire Original kits or at least snare drums: it would have been interesting to see if those drummers would have used their endorsement sets could only Tamburo have offered them similar contracts;

  • Opera sets can seem strange (ply stave, plastic reinforcing rings) but apparently their sound is quite impressive: go on YouTube and search for Tamburo Opera and Daniele Chiantese (e.g.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcy1-ZEp6JA);

  • Maybe lower models are not particularly good, but I tried some XD's and they certainly did not sound worse than most ply (most expensive) kits available on the market;
 
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My Ash kit is actually a very good little kit. You're right - the hardware is the let down on it (one of my lugs snapped on the snare) but the shells are really fantastic. The toms sound great and the bass drum is equally awesome. The stave kits they make have always been fantastic and far superior to mine, but I've had mine for around four years and it's always served me well.
 
sacco said:
Yes, the reinforcing rings are added afterwards on all the shells you see in the different pictures above.
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Thanks. Maybe you know Alex Zachow and Troyan Drums from Munich. He builts also only stave shells, mostly with reinforcement rings, but it's not an extra ring, it's directly milled when the shell gets his inner shape. That's just for info, I don't want to weight those things.

Also my first post was thought as an info, what happened to Tamburo in Germany in the last years.

You don't need to convince me, though I never played the Original series I believe their beautiful sounding drums. I know stave kits from Troyan, those kits sound different.

sacco said:
Maybe lower models are not particularly good, but I tried some XD's and they certainly did not sound worse than most ply (most expensive) kits available on the market
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That's what I said, they're good sounding drums, even down to the ash series. But with some lack of quality at the hardware and due to shells from china not much special, in my opinion.

But you get 16" and 18" bass drums also in the lower series. On the whole market there are not much kits in jazz configuration under 1000 €.
 
00Schneider said:
That's what I said, they're good sounding drums, even down to the ash series. But with some lack of quality at the hardware and due to shells from china not much special, in my opinion.
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Well, I also heard some bad things about the hardware mounted on lower Tamburo series, so you're probably right.

That said, I never had hardware problems with my two Originals, and the only hardware part mounted on Originals directly made by Tamburo, i.e. the casing lugs, are in my opinion beautiful and functionally excellent. On the other side I recognize that e.g. the throw off of the snare drum presented above is certainly not the best one ever built, both from a functional and an estetical point of view.

Anyway, general discussion is always more than welcome, especially when regarding minor brands (minor from a commercial perspective!) , but actually I started the thread to talk about Originals, not about other series ...
 
Hi all, I am new so forgive me if this sounds dumb as I know I am reviving a thread that has not been touched in a long time. I posted something on the Pearl forum looking for info on the drum in this link....

http://www.pearldrummersforum.com/showthread.php?p=1853651154#post1853651154

I own the thing, and have had it for years. It appears to be similar to one in this thread, only with a different finish on it. I live in the US, and I know that Tamburo stuff does not pop up here very often, so I am trying to determine anything I can about the drum. Thanks!
 
giantmink said:
... It appears to be similar to one in this thread, only with a different finish on it. I live in the US, and I know that Tamburo stuff does not pop up here very often, so I am trying to determine anything I can about the drum. Thanks!
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I had a look at your snare and I can confirm it is a Tamburo Nuova model, which was effectively introduced at the end of the 80's and discontinued, as far as I can remember, when the Opera model was created. The tab inside the drum carries Tullio Granatello's signature, and this guarantees your drum has been built by one of the most innovative and original drum designer wordlwide!

The Nuova was introduced in order to offer drummers a less expensive alternative by the time Tamburo mainly offered (expensive) solid stave drums. In fact, the staves of the Nuova are multi-layered, and the re-rings were substituted by a plastic collar similar to the one now found on the Opera models (actually, the Nuova was a kind of conjunction between the Original and the Opera).

Now let's get to the price: an Original snare costs, as of today, about 1,400 euro (i.e. about 1,800 US$!). The Nuova is not produced anymore, but anyway the value of your drum is BY FAR more than 50US$! I know Tamburo is not well known in the States, but people working in a music shop should be able to understand whether a snare drum can be considered of good quality or not!

So, finally you own a beautiful instrument, and personally I would keep and cherish such a snare for the rest of my life.

One last thing: Tullio Granatello left Proel, the company that acquired the Tamburo brand years ago, and created a new brand, Volume Drums (http://www.volumedrums.com/). Proel still produces Tamburo sets from entry models up to the Opera model, but the former Tamburo Original are now produced by Volume Drums with new features and beautiful lug casing. Have a look at their site, and send pictures of the drum to Tullio: I am not sure he will answer, but he would be very happy to see one of his old snares still in such good conditions!

Do not hesitate to contact me for further infos!
 
Thank you so much for the info! I actually have been wanting to sell it because it does not get a ton of use, but I cannot bear to part with it! I was shocked when I saw the drum for $50.00. It was used at a Guitar Center, and it was FILTHY. I saw the lugs from across the room and instantly knew it was a Tamburo, then when I saw how much it was, I bought it immediately. Guitar Center has a 30 day waiting period to take the used gear home in case it was stolen, but this all worked out. I put new heads on it (not the ones on there now, those were clear heads for the pictures), cleaned it up, etc, and it sounds great. Once again thank you a ton.

I have to ask, are there people who collect Tamburo stuff?
 
chiledrums said:
Hi iam a chilean drummer and a few days a go get mi first tamburo snare. Made in 1991, but have no idea the model and wood of the snare. Help please!!! (sorry about mi english)

Thanks

Stefan
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Well, it is a Tamburo Linea, a very very nice and rare drum. Here you will find all you need ...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Tamburo-LINEA-Italian-Custom-Beech-Stave-Shell-Snare-1991-13x6-/330621347312#ht_500wt_1413

I am quite surprised by your request, but I will be kind enough to send you a message in Spanish through your profile e-mail.
 
sacco said:
Well, it is a Tamburo Linea, a very very nice and rare drum. Here you will find all you need ...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Tamburo-LINEA-Italian-Custom-Beech-Stave-Shell-Snare-1991-13x6-/330621347312#ht_500wt_1413

I am quite surprised by your request, but I will be kind enough to send you a message in Spanish through your profile e-mail.
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Thanks a lot for inmediatly answer!!!

But that pictures was taken by the guy who soldsme the snare. And he took the info from tamburoweb , caused not pretty shure about the model.

I wich to know more about the caracteristics from my snare, if you can send me something about that to my mail, im very happy.

Salute!

Stefan

Gracias por la repuesta!!! pero esas fotos fueron tomadas por el señor que me vendió el tambor. El no estaba seguro de que modelo es el tambor, menos de su precio y sacó la información del website de tamburo.

Me gustaría saber como reconocerlas y saber diferenciar entre una ORIGINAL, NUOVA o LINEA, Son muy parecidas!! Y mi tambor en particular solo indica su fecha de fabricación.

Thanks a lot again

Stefan
 
chiledrums said:
Thanks a lot for inmediatly answer!!!

But that pictures was taken by the guy who soldsme the snare. And he took the info from tamburoweb , caused not pretty shure about the model.

I wich to know more about the caracteristics from my snare, if you can send me something about that to my mail, im very happy.

Salute!

Stefan

Gracias por la repuesta!!! pero esas fotos fueron tomadas por el señor que me vendió el tambor. El no estaba seguro de que modelo es el tambor, menos de su precio y sacó la información del website de tamburo.

Me gustaría saber como reconocerlas y saber diferenciar entre una ORIGINAL, NUOVA o LINEA, Son muy parecidas!! Y mi tambor en particular solo indica su fecha de fabricación.

Thanks a lot again

Stefan
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Im forget to told you he determinate the model for de year of snare construction nothin else.

the drum is that

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...0309579278614.358485.562678613&type=3&theater
 
I am really sorry, but I made a mistake: your snare is not a Tamburo Linea but a Tamburo Nuova, which was a line between the Linea and the Original!

Here you will find all you need to know: http://www.volumedrums.com/storia/foto-nuova/

The link will bring you to the site of Volume Drums, which is the new brand created by Tullio Granatello. There you will find the entire story of the Tamburo AND of the Volume Drums brands: http://www.volumedrums.eu/history/
 
sacco said:
I am really sorry, but I made a mistake: your snare is not a Tamburo Linea but a Tamburo Nuova, which was a line between the Linea and the Original!

Here you will find all you need to know: http://www.volumedrums.com/storia/foto-nuova/

The link will bring you to the site of Volume Drums, which is the new brand created by Tullio Granatello. There you will find the entire story of the Tamburo AND of the Volume Drums brands: http://www.volumedrums.eu/history/
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Hi!!!
I send a email to Tullio Granattello and...... he answered my!!!
that is Nuova model made with
Italian proplar inside and african frake outside.

Many Thanks
 
Hello,

so a couple of years later i drop in with this question.
Can you tell me more about this Tamburo snare?
 

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Coprine said:
Hello,

so a couple of years later i drop in with this question.
Can you tell me more about this Tamburo snare?
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Quite interestingly this became a «Can you tell me anything about my Tamburo?» threat. In general I am kind enough to answer any questions, but hey, honestly, this was a threat about MY SNARE / SETS, not YOURS …

Anyway, no, I'm really sorry but I cannot tell you anything about your snare.
 
Sacco,

i apologize for breaking into your thread.
And i want to thank you for your answer.

I'll try to find another, more common, thread to search an answer.
 
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