Tama Superstar Custom Hyper Drive kits.

This kit is reviewed in the September 2008 issue (pg. 32) of Modern Drummer and it gets pretty high marks.

"This is one of the most impressive pro kits we've seen in the intermediate price range."

The only criticism they offer is that the tuning range of the shorter toms is more limited than their traditional depth counterparts. Noting that they sound good and punchy, "... there's not as much projection and and sustain as you'd achieve with deeper-shelled drums."

Otherwise, the snare, bass, hardware, overall quality and sound get a decidedly positive review.

Personally, I love the way they look and the setup options you have with the virgin bass.
 
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Check out the "dark desert burst" finish with the black-nickel hoops:

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Sinsyk17 said:
That looks like a computer generated image.
Click to expand...

Well, that's cause it probably came from the official Tama site or Musicians Friend.
:p

But seriously, I got a Superstar kit and have nothing my good news about it. It is really, really good for the price of it. The shorter toms really do give you a nice, punchy tone. I personally love the punchy tone.
 
m1ck said:
"... there's not as much projection and and sustain as you'd achieve with deeper-shelled drums."
Click to expand...

This is not so much the case in respect to the sustain. In fact, it is often the other way around. The reason why a shorter depth shell can acquire more sustain than a longer depth shell is due to the distance the vibrations have to travel across the inside of the shell. The batter head is struck and the resonant head vibrates and then compresses the air back to toward the batter head. The farther those vibrations travel, the more energy they lose (completely depends on the material of the shell) and the less the heads resonate together. Not sure if this makes any sense, but in theory a short depth shell with a decent diameter (up to a certain point or else it the vibrations are lost other ways) will actually resonate a lot. I have a set of toms like this where I work and they have great sustain.
 
grooveweapon said:
This is not so much the case in respect to the sustain. In fact, it is often the other way around. The reason why a shorter depth shell can acquire more sustain than a longer depth shell is due to the distance the vibrations have to travel across the inside of the shell. The batter head is struck and the resonant head vibrates and then compresses the air back to toward the batter head. The farther those vibrations travel, the more energy they lose (completely depends on the material of the shell) and the less the heads resonate together. Not sure if this makes any sense, but in theory a short depth shell with a decent diameter (up to a certain point or else it the vibrations are lost other ways) will actually resonate a lot. I have a set of toms like this where I work and they have great sustain.
Click to expand...

The shorter the tom the less sustain. The main reason for the shorter toms is to have more puch. I played a superstar with the hyper drive toms and thats totally what you get.... lots and lots of puch and less sustain. DW calls them FAST toms for a reason!
 
m1ck said:
Check out the "dark desert burst" finish with the black-nickel hoops:

I have seen this finish in person at my local shop and it is indeed a head-turner. Very impressive with the nickel hardware. However, I am very much a split lug man, which is my only knock on the superstar series. But as they say, sound comes first.
Click to expand...
 
How come the floor tom doesn't look smaller? I haven't played those or anything, but wouldn't it make sense for the floor tom to be "fast"-sized to match the rack toms?

- That is a beautiful picture, by the way.
 
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