80s and 90s drums (the Glam Rock ones)

In the early 80's I rocked a Ludwig SL series 2 kicks 12,13,14,15,rack toms triditional depth, 16" Fl. tom and 10 & 12 roto toms. After no time at all the power tom craz stated. I wanted them soooo bad, but could not afford another kit. The drums sounded great, but the tom holders needed locks to keep them in place. So I made some. (I work in weld shops) The kick spurrs didn't work either. They went straight out with no forward slant. I modified those also, and they worked great. In the late 80's I bought Yamaha Power Tour Customs (5 pc.) They are still great drums. I don't play them much now days, but I still have them. I would put them up against my Birch Custom Absolute Nouveau drums anytime. The PTC's look funny now, and the toms are too high for me to play comfortably. I don't know how I played them for 20 yr. So I've got good memories of the 80's drums.
 
Super Phil said:
I would love to get another set of 80's Tama Superstars. Wouldn't mind getting some ArtStars or Granstars too.
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It is nice to see the love for the old Tama kits. I have my 1987 Granstars in oddball Weckyl induced sizes (power toms). I ditched the pinstripe idea long ago and have used G1 or G2's on top with clear ambassadors below. The damn things sing like nobody's business.

I don't gig the kit much because they are really, really heavy ... and I seem to be getting older every day .... ;-) When I do, inevitably one of my bandmates will comment favourably on the sound.

But for quality? Bloody hell ... these were/are top notch!
IIRC, the idea of the Granstars was an intermediate, working drummer's kit. They replaced Peart's beloved Superstars and put the wrap on them (i.e. for the working drummer). Depending on perspective, this may have been a misguided approach.

But nothing was as misguided as those awful, but distinctive, traingular lugs!
 
radman said:
But nothing was as misguided as those awful, but distinctive, traingular lugs!
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Whenever I see those lugs, I always think of Lars.

LarsUlrich1987Tamareklame.jpg
 
PorkPieGuy said:
Whenever I see those lugs, I always think of Lars.
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um, thx for bringing that up .... lol. I try to forget that.

[ I will put on my asbestos underwear for the onslaught of abuse from Lars fans...]

cheers,
radman
 
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FreDrummer said:
Larry, great insight on the "DEM." Not sure if I read you right, but are you saying the Rogers hardware was good?

I don't think I've ever disclosed this before on DW forums, but my first drumset was a Rogers Holiday 4-piece. I bought them used in 1974 when I was 14. I don't recall the exact names of the hardware, but the octagonal tom mounts going through-shell via a collett was some of the WORST hardware I ever encountered. Even when I bought mine, the 12" tom collett, when fully cranked down, did not fully grip the octagonal mount, i.e. You could pull the tom off the mount without even loosening the collett. Say what you will about the Pearl 7/8's tube mounts (big, ugly), but it works.
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TBH, I've never owned Rogers. I've gathered here that guys back in the 60's, whatever kit they'd use, would substitute Rogers hardware. I'm totally going by what I gather here. John Ploughman is the resident Rogers expert. According to him, the stuff was great.
 
radman said:
It is nice to see the love for the old Tama kits. I have my 1987 Granstars in oddball Weckyl induced sizes (power toms). I ditched the pinstripe idea long ago and have used G1 or G2's on top with clear ambassadors below. The damn things sing like nobody's business.

I don't gig the kit much because they are really, really heavy ... and I seem to be getting older every day .... ;-) When I do, inevitably one of my bandmates will comment favourably on the sound.

But for quality? Bloody hell ... these were/are top notch!
IIRC, the idea of the Granstars was an intermediate, working drummer's kit. They replaced Peart's beloved Superstars and put the wrap on them (i.e. for the working drummer). Depending on perspective, this may have been a misguided approach.

But nothing was as misguided as those awful, but distinctive, traingular lugs!
Click to expand...

I personally love the lugs haha, but they are monstrous and heavy drums. Gigging with them sucks.
 

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FreDrummer said:
Larry, great insight on the "DEM." Not sure if I read you right, but are you saying the Rogers hardware was good?

I don't think I've ever disclosed this before on DW forums, but my first drumset was a Rogers Holiday 4-piece. I bought them used in 1974 when I was 14. I don't recall the exact names of the hardware, but the octagonal tom mounts going through-shell via a collett was some of the WORST hardware I ever encountered. Even when I bought mine, the 12" tom collett, when fully cranked down, did not fully grip the octagonal mount, i.e. You could pull the tom off the mount without even loosening the collett. Say what you will about the Pearl 7/8's tube mounts (big, ugly), but it works.
Click to expand...

My father had a 60s Holiday kit and it had that same, idiotic tom mounting system. No problem, just rest those two 12-inch toms on the bass drum shell…yeah, that'll fix the problem. :)
 
Super Phil said:
I would love to get another set of 80's Tama Superstars. Wouldn't mind getting some ArtStars or Granstars too.
Click to expand...
I bought a new set of Superstars back in '85 and they were really nice (Cherry Wine). But they were power sizes and it didn't take me long to figure out that they were too much work to set up over a 24" kick drum, so I sold them 5 years later.

Then I saw a kit on eBay from the same era a few years ago. Same gorgeous color and most of the same sizes, but in standard depths, so I pulled the trigger.

This time, I sold them off because the design itself seemed too dated. I discovered that I really don't prefer thick shells with rounded edges, and as pretty as they were to look at, I just couldn't get them to open up and sing like my other kit (thin Keller maple with sharp edges).

Only production kit I can see revisiting from the way back like that would be Gretsch, who have always used thin resonant shells. But that probably won't happen either since they all had (and still have) the die cast hoops on everything, and I'm just not a big fan of those.

All this to say that while there were some gems of that era, the shell design philosophy wasn't what we're used to these days, and like the old saying goes: you can never go back home.

At least I can't.
 
I still love my 1987 Tama Granstar which despite its history never stops being as cool as it is.

Sure big Xtra size Tama thick birch but it was there waiting for me and I just grabbed the chance right away.

It has had amazingly long road time including heavy accidents on the road in Germany and then rental until 2001. It was not damaged at all in that DIO truck. But VA the drummer says he did not play them.

So I got to ask Ulrich if I got his white kit from that ad. Otherwise what was it doing on the way to a monsters of rock show in Germany where Metallica played ad well?

As for hardware the 13 inch tom needed a new bracket and some 9-11 tension rods for the floor toms but the rest is very strong and sturdy holding up well and tuned up sounds big and beautiful. Easy to tune as well and keeping the tension even with the help of a Tama tension watch can make any skin choice great for months without muffling of any kind.
 
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