What do y'all think about the Tama mini cocktail kit?

I think it's a good kit for street performers, but that's pretty much it. Those 2 crazy Asian guys make it look a lot sexier than it is.

For indoor gigs on a teeny tiny stage, with acoustic instruments...I'd prefer the Ludwig Breakbeats or Pearl Midtown kits. They sound better.

That being said, that bass drum is cute and I want it.
 
Very niche instrument. Showcased with the drum & bass duo .... that's certainly one of it's "target markets". I could see this also being used with triggers, and working well with various electronic/acoustic projects. I like the sizes of the Mini over Flyer, that's for sure.
 
I agree the Asian guys were great, and really showed the set off- I like the second vid where pieces were added while he played.

I also agree that it is a thing I probably have no real use for.

I also, also agree that that bass drum is pretty cool.
 
Those guys make it look fun. I’d try that!

Although, for live settings without sound reinforcement I prefer a large bass drum. That small thing probably sounds a little thin on the streets.
 
I like it except for the shallow floor Tom. I bet it’s fun to play nonetheless.
 
While watching the unboxing video I was like "wow, that might give an insanely fat snare drum" ?
 
That bass player in first video knows how to entertain on multiple levels. The bass player for Fearless fliers does this head bob like a dove in time- this dude is an octopus. He’s freakin awesome I’d love to jam with him.
 
Hard to tell.. is that phone video sound or quality room mics? Kick sounded a bit thin and snare was okay.. nice form factor esp. for small clubs.. might be good if tuned properly. Sonor makes a great sounding mini kit also.
But that bass player..! Wow!
 
2 piece under $300

OH - funny story about your video.

The guy with the glasses and the slick hair in the back that heads up the stairs is named Brandon Pfundt - when I met him in like 2014 he was the US rep for Bosphorus cymbals and was the guy that was responsible my very first cymbal endorsement - a company I still represent to this day. :)

He's since moved from Bosphorus and now owns a wonderful store in Philedelphia called Philadelphia Drum and Percussion.

So if you all every need anything drum wise - check them out:

 
I gigged one of those kits for awhile. Very light weight. The snare is a little flat but an upgrade to 2.3mm hoops helped that a ton. The bass drum can sound surprisingly good but is extremely picky about heads and tuning, I got it sounding great but never fought with a drum so much to get there. The six lugs on the bass drum lower the fundamental pitch but also making tuning and tuning stability a PITA! It doesn't come with the cymbal arm (even though it does come with the mounting bracket) so expect another $60 +/- right there just for that. They are poplar shells with mersawa (or something like that) inner plys, very smart as it reduces weight and cost while not giving you the generic poplar sound. I found these vastly superior to the Ludwig breakbeats. The pearl midtown is overall a better quality kit in terms of build and sound potential however the midtown takes up much more space. I ultimately went back to the Tama cocktail jam, a minor sacrifice in sound for the ease of transport and smaller footprint.

If you plan to keep it as a 2pc bass/snare set up, the club jam mini is great. If you plan to add the toms to make a 4pc set up then I HIGHLY suggest you save a ton of time, money, and frustration and buy either the regular club jam 4pc kit or the pearl midtown. Both are great kits and both have dedicated bag sets available.

The Tama imperial star 18" bass drum kit is a good choice as well. Around $600 but it's a 5pc kit with full hardware and set of low end meinl cymbals. You could sell the cymbals for $100 and the hardware for $150 (assuming you've already got your own) and have a 5pc shell pack with 18" bass drum for under $400.... Well below the cost of the club jam with toms or pearl midtown.
 
I had this kit for a while. Not to be confused with the newer Tama Neo, which seems a higher quality kit all-around. The Club Jam was horrible. Lug splay. Snare was useless. Floor tom was a horrible sounding cardboard hatbox. Six lugs on kick drum made it untunable. As I recall the kick hoops were plastic, but the advertising material says they are wood. Whatever - it was very poor quality set of drums. No better than the kids sets you see on eBay for $99. Really. It was no fun to play.
 
The Club Jam was horrible. Lug splay. Snare was useless. Floor tom was a horrible sounding cardboard hatbox. Six lugs on kick drum made it untunable. As I recall the kick hoops were plastic, but the advertising material says they are wood. Whatever - it was very poor quality set of drums. No better than the kids sets you see on eBay for $99. Really. It was no fun to play.

Inspired by the Club Jam, I made my own (for the reasons stated above). This one has a 22x8 kick & the snare is a single head with the wires touching underneath.
The snare I built will sound off with effort, but the subtleties are lost if you don't hit it right. As such, I now have a Gretsch Blackhawk "Mighty Mini" on it as the one I made just didn't cut it.

This kit is great for small coffee house & low volume restaurant gigs. Plus the whole thing fits in the trunk of my Toyota Solara.
 

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