ed427vette
Junior Member
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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