My new Tama Starclassic Bubinga kit!

So I'm sure many of you have heard about my problems with my Performance Series kit, and my quest to find some new drums. Well after months of deliberating and playing a bunch of different drums to find the sound I was after, I think I've finally done it.

I was dead set on the Yamaha Live Custom kit, and while I absolutely loved the bass drum and the floor toms, I didn't much care for the rack toms. Just wasn't my sound. So I played a Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute (used obviously) at GC, and absolutely loved the toms on that kit, but didn't feel like I was getting enough out of the kick. Of course, had this been 5 years ago, I would have just ordered a Maple bass drum and been happy with that, but alas, it's not. So I played a Mapex Saturn kit, and I was really impressed, the toms were really buttery, but the bass drum was perhaps a bit too punchy and while it still sounded great, wasn't really my cup of tea. So finally, I find this Tama Starclassic Birch/Bubinga kit and I sit down at it, and I was immediately blown away. Tone, power, and low-end that you could just feel. Then I played it's big brother, the full Bubinga, and I found it. It did everything that I wanted it to do, and combined with Tama's rock solid build quality, I'm satisfied in every way possible.

So without further ado, here's the specs:

Tama Starclassic Bubinga in Satin Aztec Gold Metallic with Smoked Black Nickel hardware

22x18 bass drum
10x8 rack tom
12x9 rack tom
16x14 floor tom

8x6 concert tom
10x6 concert tom
13x10 rack tom (from another kit)

Pictured is a 14x5 custom brass snare drum that I picked up for about $150.
 

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That's really awesome Lefty ! That is one of my favorite kits by far and one of the most underrated or unknown kits.

That color combo is incredible IMO !
 
Nice kit. I don't think I've seen a solid gold finish before. I bet you're a happy camper. Very nice indeed. Congrats.
 
Wow! I love it! Are you planing on keeping the current heads?

I have a Peace Paragon Bubinga that surprisingly came with Remo Pinstripes on it. And even more surprisingly it has very nice and resonant tone with them. So I decided to leave them on until I need a head change.

I actually already changed out the heads on them to Remo Coated Emperors, as they came stock with Clear G2's. I was thinking about putting some clear pinstripes on them for that 80's studio sound though. I put some clear Ambassador's on them the other night and I was actually kind of surprised at the difference in tone and sustain. These drums seems to handle different heads like chameleons.

This is what I've gathered thus far:

Clear single ply heads: scooped mids, strong attack, birch-like quality

Clear double ply heads: slightly less attack, slightly less scooped, but still quite birch-like with way more low end.

Coated two ply: less attack, more fullness and warmth while not sounding too harsh, and more of a maple-like tonality.

EC2/Pinstripe: Haven't used these on this kit yet, but I bet that it would probably make the drums sound insanely deep.
 
I actually already changed out the heads on them to Remo Coated Emperors, as they came stock with Clear G2's. I was thinking about putting some clear pinstripes on them for that 80's studio sound though. I put some clear Ambassador's on them the other night and I was actually kind of surprised at the difference in tone and sustain. These drums seems to handle different heads like chameleons.

This is what I've gathered thus far:

Clear single ply heads: scooped mids, strong attack, birch-like quality

Clear double ply heads: slightly less attack, slightly less scooped, but still quite birch-like with way more low end.

Coated two ply: less attack, more fullness and warmth while not sounding too harsh, and more of a maple-like tonality.

EC2/Pinstripe: Haven't used these on this kit yet, but I bet that it would probably make the drums sound insanely deep.

Interesting. I have a set of clear G12 ready to go next, but I was also considering the clear G2. So you didn't like these? I have the silly thing that I really like seeing the bubunga color on the inside of the shells. So I will be using clear heads until I get bored of it :)
Your guess about the Pinstripes is correct. I did tune them a bit higher to avoid the plasticy click from the initial attack you get from these when you hit the drum. It was especially noticeable on the floor tom.
Overall I'm very pleased with the sound of the bubinga. It has a character.
 
Beautiful looking set! I've never played a bubinga set...just the bubinga birch combo ones. The Tama's sound amazing in clips I've watched. Did you get them used or new?
 
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