New Tama Silverstar and K Customs

Smethe

Junior Member
Hey everyone, I'm new to posting on the forum but use it all the time. I picked up one of Tama's new Silverstar kits in the Jazz configuration because I decided to downsize and keep it simple (I used to have a 6 piece maple DW kit). Figured I'd throw up some pics. The drums sound quite good even with the stock powercraft 2 heads, albeit with some evans rings on them. The finish is top notch, I'm really impressed. For a "budget" kit this is a hell of a deal, and they sound great with the K customs. My A customs are a little bright/loud for these, but that's because of the small shell sizes. I use DW 5000 Hardware, pedal(s), and throne. Hope you guys like it!

Drums: Tama Silverstar transparent blue burst- 18x14 kick, 12x8 tom, 14x14 floor tom, 14x5 snare

Cymbals: Zildjian- 14" K/Z hats, 15" K custom fast crash, 20" K custom medium ride,
10" K splash, 17" A custom crash, 16" A custom projection crash (not on kit), 13" A custom mastersound hats (not on kit).

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Thanks! I'm really enjoying it so far. I plan on putting some Remo coated emperors on the batter sides and clear ambassadors for the reso soon.
 
Nice classy setup and drums. I think those Silverstars are under $500 or around that amount. Hard to resist.
 
Really a nice looking kit - especially with those cymbals.

Larry - there's a wrapped Tama kit and a lacquer one. Almost every place advertises the wrap at $529.99 and the lacquer is about a hundred bucks more.

It was a toss up for me when I was looking for a similar kit, between the Tama and the Yamaha. I went with the Yamaha, because I already had a 20" kick, 5 piece set in the same finish, and with the 18" kick in the bop kit, I had a lot more setup options.
Also, I like Yamaha's tom mount system better.

The things I liked better on the Tama centered on the bass drum. It's got 8 lugs instead of the 6 on the Yamaha, and the claws are a lot classier looking.

That's the only things I don't like about the Yamaha - those cheap looking, generic stamped claws, and the 6 lugs.
They sound a lot alike though, and are both really good, inexpensive deals.

Not trying to hijack the thread Smethe, just throwing out some observations. I like your kit.
 
Thanks guys, and no worries Wildbill! I did a lot of comparing/pros and cons between a few sets. I looked at the Mapex big city kit, Yamaha stage custom and the Sonor bop kit, but went with the Tama because of how sturdy it is and all the hardware on the kit is really high quality. Plus the bass drum riser is really nice so that the beater hits the head right in the center of the 18" kick. And yeah, I got mine on sale for about $540! too hard to pass up. The wrap is about $100 cheaper, but I think the quality of the lacquer finish is well worth stepping up from the wrap (in my opinion).
 
Ya - that's another thing. The Tama also comes with a snare, and a riser, and the Yamaha doesn't. I use an aftermarket riser, and already had a few snares, so that didn't enter to much into it for me.
But it's something to consider when looking at kits.
 
Yeah, the only thing that I would have really liked to have was an 18x15 (which the yamaha birch bop kit has) bass rather than the 18x14. It's a pretty insignificant thing I suppose, but that extra inch would help the bass project just that little bit more I think it needs to be heard over the toms on the Tama. If I am totally honest, I probably would have sprung for the Yamaha if they offered their kit in other finishes than just red and natural- if they offered their matte black, I would have gone yamaha. The transparent blue burst finish on the Tama is just as nice as the finish on my DW kit was though (other than the wood grain of DW's maple) so I'm super happy with it.
 
Thanks Thunderstruck! I'm sure I will, its hard to keep me off it...we'll see how long it takes for the neighbors to knock on the door...
 
Other than the fact that they misspelled Gretsch on the head, those are great looking and the sizes are perfect. enjoy.
 
I'd love to throw a sound bite up, but I just don't have any good way to record the sound property other than my iPhone, which doesn't do much for sound quality, I tested it just to see but it was no good.
 
Other than the fact that they misspelled Gretsch on the head, those are great looking and the sizes are perfect. enjoy.

No offence intended, but that reminded me of Sticks with his Saturns :)

Anyway that's a great looking kit! I'm sure it sounds great too! I love the Silverstars, such great quality for a very respectable price :)
 
Thanks, and the Silverstar actually does come with a bass drum riser attached to the kick, so the beater hits dead center. It's very sturdy too.
 
That looks my kinda kit, very nice. Enjoy it. Peace and goodwill.
 
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