DW Performance Kit vs Tama Superstar Classic Kit

Rattlin' Bones

Rattlin' Bones

Gold Member
The DW kit sells for almost $2,000 now. The Tama $799. DW made in USA. Tama made in China.

I bought Tama Superstar 3 piece kit for my gigging kit. Super lightweight very easy to move around. But I didn't think there would be this much difference in sound.

I've been playing the DW Performance 3 piece for a year. I like the sound. Looks great.

Both are 18x14 kicks and 14x14 floor toms. The DW rack tom is 12x9, the Tama is 12x8.

I've had the Tama Superstar for a few weeks, getting ready for 2022 gigs. Mainly small jazz groups. Easy jazz no bop (I'm not good enough for bop lol). But I'm also playing with some blues bands that are louder. Shuffle/ fill/ shuffle/ fill. Kick needs to be louder for the blues bands.

The Tama, to me, sounds a LOT better than the DW. I am honestly shocked. And it's less than half the price of the DW. Hard to believe - I woulda said NO WAY before. The DW sounds good but the thin shell Tama sounds phenomenal. Just enough more musical that it's noticeable. I can tune the Tama a wider range and the entire range sounds musical and good. The DW is a more narrow tuning range.IMG_1705.JPGIMG_1706.JPG

$799 made in China wins for me.
 
If there's one thing I've learned about drums (and about gear in general) over the years, it's that the higher price tag isn't necessarily appended to my preferred item. If you favor a $799 kit over a $2,000 kit, consider yourself lucky and play it with pride.
 
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Wow. .... Now this is impressive........ I knew the Superstars were darn good.. but did not know the extent of it.
 
I'm surprised but I'm not surprised. NA maple vs Asian maple, US manufacturing vs Chinese manufacturing....in the end does any of it really matter? Is it all marketing and reason to slap a high price tag on kits? Seems to be the case. I remember Tommy D saying his PDP concepts were equivalent sounding to his DW Collector Series. It is natural to think more expensive is better, but it is clearly not always true. Rock whatever suits you best, forget the labels and price tags.
 
Good on you mate go with your heart. Expensive doesn't always mean better. Tama are a great drum to me dw are very over rated and way to pricey especially here in Australia.
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
The DW kit sells for almost $2,000 now. The Tama $799. DW made in USA. Tama made in China.

I bought Tama Superstar 3 piece kit for my gigging kit. Super lightweight very easy to move around. But I didn't think there would be this much difference in sound.

I've been playing the DW Performance 3 piece for a year. I like the sound. Looks great.

Both are 18x14 kicks and 14x14 floor toms. The DW rack tom is 12x9, the Tama is 12x8.

I've had the Tama Superstar for a few weeks, getting ready for 2022 gigs. Mainly small jazz groups. Easy jazz no bop (I'm not good enough for bop lol). But I'm also playing with some blues bands that are louder. Shuffle/ fill/ shuffle/ fill. Kick needs to be louder for the blues bands.

The Tama, to me, sounds a LOT better than the DW. I am honestly shocked. And it's less than half the price of the DW. Hard to believe - I woulda said NO WAY before. The DW sounds good but the thin shell Tama sounds phenomenal. Just enough more musical that it's noticeable. I can tune the Tama a wider range and the entire range sounds musical and good. The DW is a more narrow tuning range.View attachment 113383View attachment 113384

$799 made in China wins for me.
Click to expand...
Were you able to get those sizes as a kit or did you order individual drums? I know tama makes an 18" kick, but I've only seen it individually and never a part of, say, a bop size kit.
 
I have a Performance set and love them for rock, blues…etc. But they definitely suffer sonically when tuned higher. I did some side by side with my 70’s Gretsch set and could get them to sound almost identical at low to high mid tunings. When tuned even a hair above high mid, the Performance resonance starts to disappear quickly while the Gretsch keep on singing. Dunno what factors into that resonance drop off w the DWs.
 
incrementalg said:
I have a Performance set and love them for rock, blues…etc. But they definitely suffer sonically when tuned higher. I did some side by side with my 70’s Gretsch set and could get them to sound almost identical at low to high mid tunings. When tuned even a hair above high mid, the Performance resonance starts to disappear quickly while the Gretsch keep on singing. Dunno what factors into that resonance drop off w the DWs.
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Thicker shells maybe? "My" sound seems to always be found with thinner shells.
 
someguy01 said:
Were you able to get those sizes as a kit or did you order individual drums? I know tama makes an 18" kick, but I've only seen it individually and never a part of, say, a bop size kit.
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Good question. I have been looking for a thin shell kit for several months. I wanted a 3 piece kit, thin shells, 8x14 kick and 14/12 toms. I wanted a kick mounted rack. And priced $800 or less. Made in USA.

Over last few years I tried a Barton kit and an INDE kit. The Barton was lovely but the tension rods were so thin I feared they'd not hold up for gigging. The INDe was another lovely set of thin shells, but the kick drum spurs and floor tom hardware are so over-engineered with 3 or 4 (I don't remember exactly) wing nuts and drum key bolts to adjust it added a lot of time to gig set-up and tear down. And it was hard to get them adjusted consistently and correctly. It created additional tasks and added time I didn't need setting up at a low light gig with little room to maneuver. Honestly I don't think INDe thought of that when designing them. Great drums but, for me, not worth the hassle to gig with. Plus both were virgin kicks and I've found it easier to set up for gigs with a kick mounted tom vs a snare stand for tom.

Oh, for gigging I also used a DW FF. Another excellent kit. I got it used at a steal-of-a-price. Problem was sound of kick. Sounded great in my basement but videos of our blues band you could not hear un-mic'd kick in mix and I don't want to buy a mic and amp for a kick (I'm all about less is more for setting up at gigs).

Back to the Tama. Based on what I wanted, I looked and looked. Hoping to find a used kit with thin shells and USA made. One thing I learned - 22" kicks rule the market. Every kit that fit my criteria seemed to be an 22" kick. However, the more I read about Tama shells and their lightweight I changed my mind about China-made drums. But, you're right Someguy - try and find an 18x14 Tama kit. Very hard. I was also particular about finish I didn't want something outrageous, and I wanted something that would look good with most any snare.

After weeks of searching, one popped up from Dale's. And it was new and in-stock. I snagged it. It did seem to be a kit from factory as the kick and floor tom were packaged together in Tama box. But yeah really really difficult to find.
 
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If you keep your eyes open there are some amazing deals that come along once in a while. Some of the old MIJ vintage stuff that has been well cared for is hard to beat regarding build quality and value. It really doesn't matter what you pay for a kit if you build a great sound around it with cymbals/stands and high quality heads tuned properly. It's not rocket science, but there is science to the acoustics and with enough time and effort most committed drummers could take a $200 yard sale kit and with good heads/rims plus quality snare drum and cymbals could make it a respectable bar kit. I mean, after all they're just shells to give the rims something to hold on the heads and create resonance...:)(y)
 
I have a thing about Hoshino products since being so rudely talked to by an employee once and blown off when I asked for a wiring diagram for an Ibanez bass I used to have. But the drummer I’m playing with has a bop kit of Superstar Maples and they do kick much ass, as does he.
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
The DW kit sells for almost $2,000 now. The Tama $799. DW made in USA. Tama made in China.

I bought Tama Superstar 3 piece kit for my gigging kit. Super lightweight very easy to move around. But I didn't think there would be this much difference in sound.

I've been playing the DW Performance 3 piece for a year. I like the sound. Looks great.

Both are 18x14 kicks and 14x14 floor toms. The DW rack tom is 12x9, the Tama is 12x8.

I've had the Tama Superstar for a few weeks, getting ready for 2022 gigs. Mainly small jazz groups. Easy jazz no bop (I'm not good enough for bop lol). But I'm also playing with some blues bands that are louder. Shuffle/ fill/ shuffle/ fill. Kick needs to be louder for the blues bands.

The Tama, to me, sounds a LOT better than the DW. I am honestly shocked. And it's less than half the price of the DW. Hard to believe - I woulda said NO WAY before. The DW sounds good but the thin shell Tama sounds phenomenal. Just enough more musical that it's noticeable. I can tune the Tama a wider range and the entire range sounds musical and good. The DW is a more narrow tuning range.View attachment 113383View attachment 113384

$799 made in China wins for me.
Click to expand...
Late reply, but I couldn’t agree more. The TAMA Superstar Classics sing. I’m about to get one.
 
RK1 said:
Late reply, but I couldn’t agree more. The TAMA Superstar Classics sing. I’m about to get one.
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I have them (Indigo Sparkle) and be sure that they're phenomenal. TBH It was hard to tune them until I bought new heads and replace stock ones.
They sound excellent with both EC2s and G2s.
 
I think that most of us would agree that there's more than just the sound of a drum kit to consider at the end of the day. It's pretty much settled that modern drum kits can be made to sound good with the right heads and tuning, regardless of cost.

Would I play a stadium/arena tour with a $799 drum kit? Probably not. Bars and pubs? Absolutely.
 
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Rattlin' Bones said:
The DW kit sells for almost $2,000 now. The Tama $799. DW made in USA. Tama made in China.

I bought Tama Superstar 3 piece kit for my gigging kit. Super lightweight very easy to move around. But I didn't think there would be this much difference in sound.

I've been playing the DW Performance 3 piece for a year. I like the sound. Looks great.

Both are 18x14 kicks and 14x14 floor toms. The DW rack tom is 12x9, the Tama is 12x8.

I've had the Tama Superstar for a few weeks, getting ready for 2022 gigs. Mainly small jazz groups. Easy jazz no bop (I'm not good enough for bop lol). But I'm also playing with some blues bands that are louder. Shuffle/ fill/ shuffle/ fill. Kick needs to be louder for the blues bands.

The Tama, to me, sounds a LOT better than the DW. I am honestly shocked. And it's less than half the price of the DW. Hard to believe - I woulda said NO WAY before. The DW sounds good but the thin shell Tama sounds phenomenal. Just enough more musical that it's noticeable. I can tune the Tama a wider range and the entire range sounds musical and good. The DW is a more narrow tuning range.View attachment 113383View attachment 113384

$799 made in China wins for me.
Click to expand...
Ive played Tama for years. I have a Superstar mid 2000's . Best value in Drums IMO. They sound amazing for the price
 
I agree with many of the others who say that big prices don't always mean the best sound for you. There are drums way more expensive with fancier finishes than Ludwig CM's, but that's what my ears like to hear.
 
First off, I want to say that I've said several times in other threads that you can get drumkits in this price range to sound really good with top tier heads and proper tuning, and I still believe that. I have recent experience and am currently playing with the Tama Superstar Classic after years away from playing. It's not my kit, but I won't go into the whole story as to why, it's complicated. Anyway, it's a good sounding kit. I have clear Emperors on the toms and a pinstripe on the kick. A reverse black dot coated ambassador head on the snare. The kit was purchased only a few years ago. I was used to birch my whole life, so maple is definitely (in my view) a little harder to control and keep focused, but I do think the kit sounds good. The hardware, as I've said many times, is where things change. I do have to fine tune more due to the thinner hoops, the snare strainer is what I would only call serviceable. And the tom holder is the weakest part of the kit IMO. You, or maybe I should say "I" can definitely tell I'm playing on a "budget" kit when it comes to that tom mount/holder. I had to really crank down the wingnuts on everything related to the tom holder and toms to get everything to remain stable. Think Little Ceasers Pizza and you've got the idea I'm going for when it comes to the aforementioned hardware quality. For the money it's fine, you really can't complain, but in comparison to higher end kits there is going to be a really big difference. The only reason I'm bringing this up, and I debated internally whether or not to do so, is because I just don't want some inexperienced young kid coming on the board for the for the first time and thinking they can get this kit, or one like it, and be playing on an amazing sounding kit with top quality hardware that is flawless etc. You can get kits like this to sound really good, but the hardware will be what it will be, and what it won't be is top quality. Again, think Little Ceasers, for the money it's good, certainly a fair price for what you're getting. Lastly, the caveat to all this is that I'm a pretty heavy handed and footed player, if you're not (and many aren't) you'll likely not notice the flaws in the cheaper hardware as much as a guy like me, and that's great because you'll probably really love a kit like this (sincerely). No intended offense to anyone, but I felt to compelled to give my 2 cents on this one.
 
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