80's Tama Imperialstar mastercarft 14 x 6.5 snare

That's strange. The version I have has the lugs and strainer of the powerline, but it also has rollers on both sides and die cast hoops. Maybe a retro fit? And I don't see any rollers on the Kingbeats in this picture. Those strainers look like the Japanese supersensitive strainers of the late 70's I've seen on some Pearl snares of that era. I'm sure they must've changed up the hardware through the years. BTW this drum weighs a ton.

The Kingbeats and Powerlines did not have rollers. The strainer for the Powerline and Mastercraft are most likely the same. Even if they aren't they could be interchanged. The snare wire ends are flat metal strips. The King Beat strainer is unique to that particular system having the snare wires with the little loop on the end. I guess you could even make that work on the other systems if you really had to.

Assuming nobody Frankenstiened your drum and its original, it sounds like you have an older Mastercraft. I'm not sure what year they changed over, I think 81, but earlier in the production years they all had the 'generic' looking lugs like you see on the Powerline. If you go to tama.com and click on the catalog history everything is there to see. What made the Mastercraft or King Beat or Powerline different from each other was the strainer systems. All the shells are the same. And one thing I'm not sure about is the die cast hoops. I think they are standard on the Mastercraft. Most likely also on the King Beats. But I think it was an option on the Powerline or maybe not??? Besides that is easy to change out.

Tama at the time was making many changes to their equipment. The Bell Brass snare changed thickness and finish. The Rosewood snares went from 12 ply to 10 ply. Lugs changed. They kept trying to improve.

Here is a picture of the Mastercraft from the 1980 catalog with the small lugs
 

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I don't see any rollers on the Kingbeats in this picture. Those strainers look like the Japanese supersensitive strainers of the late 70's I've seen on some Pearl snares of that era. I'm sure they must've changed up the hardware through the years. BTW this drum weighs a ton.

The roller bed casing is pic'd on Thesilverfox's snare pic below. His snare fits the catalog description of Mastercraft/Imperialstar minus the wire-set and replaced lugs. Its clearly a Roller-Action strainer.
 

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I have recently purchased a Tama Imperialstar Chrome 6.5 x 14 steel snare drum, serial number 15405557 (Made in Japan). It has several problems and I'm wondering if anyone can help me finding out about the drum and help me locate some parts that I need for it?

I has a missing tension knob which slides onto a splined shaft which is located inside the muffler exterior large knob with two blades on the outside perimeter. The larger knob is a quick off/on for the muffler. The missing knob appears to adjust the tension of the muffler as mentioned. I have noticed on an earlier message on this thread a picture of the muffler knobs, and my snare looks the same, but missing the inside chrome knob. As well my lugs look like the original lugs shown on this thread, although they don't appear to have any damage.

The other issue is one of the two brackets which have two rollers on them is badly bent out of shape. The snare retaining strips go thru the rollers and then attach at the butt end and the strainer end. Both of the roller brackets look identical. I need a new or good used one.

The drum has cast hoops, and does have a nice loud sound. I bought it to replace my 1979 Ludwig Black Beauty that I bought new and I'm considering selling. This is my first attempt to get this Tama snare in good working order. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Barry
 
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The Kingbeats and Powerlines did not have rollers. The strainer for the Powerline and Mastercraft are most likely the same. Even if they aren't they could be interchanged. The snare wire ends are flat metal strips. The King Beat strainer is unique to that particular system having the snare wires with the little loop on the end. I guess you could even make that work on the other systems if you really had to.

Assuming nobody Frankenstiened your drum and its original, it sounds like you have an older Mastercraft. I'm not sure what year they changed over, I think 81, but earlier in the production years they all had the 'generic' looking lugs like you see on the Powerline. If you go to tama.com and click on the catalog history everything is there to see. What made the Mastercraft or King Beat or Powerline different from each other was the strainer systems. All the shells are the same. And one thing I'm not sure about is the die cast hoops. I think they are standard on the Mastercraft. Most likely also on the King Beats. But I think it was an option on the Powerline or maybe not??? Besides that is easy to change out.

Tama at the time was making many changes to their equipment. The Bell Brass snare changed thickness and finish. The Rosewood snares went from 12 ply to 10 ply. Lugs changed. They kept trying to improve.

Here is a picture of the Mastercraft from the 1980 catalog with the small lugs

Yep, that's the model I have to a T. I'd love to try that Rosewood version. I wonder if that's the one Alex Van Halen used on the later VH recordings. I see the steel version of this drum all the time on ebay, but the wood ones are extremely rare.
 
Resurrecting this thread 'cause I've scored one of these, a 5x14, for 80 bucks. Looks like it's in great condition. Solid and heavy! It has the identical roller things underneath the strainer and butt plate, and lugs from that 1980 catalog photo above- same as the steel snare on the right, except the depth. It sounds pretty good even though the heads and snare wires are pretty ragged, which leads me to my reason for resurrecting the thread- what size snare wires do I need to buy? 16"? (i know the wires won't be 16", but I mean, wires for a 16" drum?) The worn-out ones on mine do extend past the bearing edge, but the end plates seem to be nearly touching the bottom of those roller-assembly things, which is making me think that these are a little TOO long. Also, there seems to be no snare beds on this drum. Is that why it requires snares that extend past the bearing edge? If I were to put normal wires for a 14" drum on it, would they not perform correctly?

*Edit*- looked mine up in the Tama catalogs. My exact drum is a 1980 Tama Mastercraft Steel 5/14, pictured here with the same roller-things on the strainer: http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=42&now=9
 
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I have the same drum. I got it with my 1982 Superstar kit. It was my main snare drum for 28 years. Heavy as hell and super sensitive. I'm never gonna get rid of it.
 
Despite the catalog listing as seamless, my KING BEAT had a seam... although well hidden it is there.

You have to look really close, TAMA finished these shells very well, apparently well enough to call them seamless, but not one piece.

When I found the seam is when I lost interest in TAMA as a whole and haven't owned/supported them since, this was back in the 80's.

Catalog descriptions were/are not immune to (we'll call it) error, especially back in the day.
 
Bump! (Ba-dum Bump, haha) Can anyone help with my question about the snare wires, 3 posts up? :)
 
If I were to put normal wires for a 14" drum on it, would they not perform correctly?


Yes.

The TAMA RB strainer was a bomb, its no longer being used as a result.
 
If I were to put normal wires for a 14" drum on it, would they not perform correctly?


Yes.

The TAMA RB strainer was a bomb, its no longer being used as a result.

Well, it does seem cumbersome (and possibly heavy), and maybe unnecessary, but there's nothing *wrong* with it, so I don't mind using it as it is... So more specifically, if I put on wires for a 14" drum but still utilize the RB system, will that still work or do I need to have the longer ones? If I use the shorter ones, should I remove both sides of the RB assembly and just use the strainer/butt plate as on most other drums? Again, there's no snare bed on the bottom bearing edge.
 
Well, it does seem cumbersome (and possibly heavy), and maybe unnecessary, but there's nothing *wrong* with it, so I don't mind using it as it is... So more specifically, if I put on wires for a 14" drum but still utilize the RB system, will that still work or do I need to have the longer ones? If I use the shorter ones, should I remove both sides of the RB assembly and just use the strainer/butt plate as on most other drums? Again, there's no snare bed on the bottom bearing edge.



It'll work/function with shorter snares.

Look closely inside the lip/channel (the folded over metal that forms the bearing edges) you'll find the seam.

These drums are not seamless, they were well finished, the seam is hidden, hidden well enough to marketed as 'seamless'. Drawn metal shells have a reinforcing bead around their center and for good reason.

TAMA deception in marketing... these shells are plain steel, welded and finished. Well, maybe not deception, you don't see a seam, so I guess they feel OK about calling it 'seamless'. Most welded metal shells of that era were not finished well, the seams were pretty obvious.

A cast drum (bell brass etc.) is solid enough to not require a reinforcing bead.
 
Wires that work well with the Tama RB system are the Pearl freefloating models. pretty easy to find and extend across the shell like the original Tama wires did.
BTW i have a Tama Artstar cordia wood snare im selling on Ebay shameless plug :)
 
Tama Kingbeat and Powerline steel snares were in fact,seamless one piece molded shells.The Tama Swingstar steel snare(MS-14),and the Royalstar steel snare(7588)had welded shells.These drums also have a thinner shell than the Kingbeat,and powerline.I have had an early 80's Kingbeat for about 25 years,and the strainer still works perfectly,and there is NO weld in the shell.:

Steve B
 
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