1980's Drum Sounds/ Kits

cbpunk16

Junior Member
Alright, I'm a huge fan of the band Dokken, and their three big albums from the 1980's (Tooth and Nail- 1984, Under Lock and Key- 1985, and Back For The Attack- 1987), and I want to save up and eventually purchase a vintage 80's drum set just to have as a home studio set or something, but until I have the money, I was curious as to how one would go about tuning their drums to get an 80s-ish kind of sound, especially the snare...

My father has a wooden 10-lug (6.5 x 14) Tama Superstar snare that I can use for now, but how would I tune it to get a deep sound similar to Dokken (and yes I understand that there were many effects applied in studio, and different heads affect the sound), and also how do you tune the toms and bass drum (Currently have a Yamaha Rydeen). I've been playing for about three years now, so I can't tune great yet... anyways, I'm all for experimenting, but I'm not sure where to start so I was hoping I could get some tips for tuning for that style from anyone here that played back then...

One more thing, can anyone recommend an 80's drum set I should look into? I'm a Tama and Yamaha fan...

Thanks in advance.
 
There's alot of vintage stuff on eBay right now. Search for "vintage Tama" or "vintage Yamaha drums" and all kinds of sets will come up. As for tuning, you'll have to experiment with that. Bass drums are the usual blanket in the drum sound and processed, and the snare and toms are the usual sorta' live -sounding and heavily processed. It isn't that '80s drums sound different as much as it sounds dated.
 
Don't forget the power toms.....take your new fangled hyperdrives and shove 'em where the sun don't shine. If the tom is wider than it is deep, it ain't from the 80's.

Some spandex and big hair are recommended to complete the look. :)
 
For rock, you can't get more 80's than a Tama Superstar in cherry wine, with power toms- it seems like you should be able to find a sweet deal on the deep toms- they're not real popular these days. For jazz- meaning fusion- Yamaha Recording Custom in piano black w/10/12/14/20, or the Gadd setup, or the freakish Weckl set up w/an 8 and 10 on the BD. As for getting the sound, that has as much to do with the recording engineer as it does the drums.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far... I have another question. Were the Tama Rockstar DX and Tama Imperialstar kits of the 80's any good compared to the Superstars?

I would maybe consider this if I knew their condition better and if they were any good... Like I said before I'm just now getting into vintage drums so I appreciate everyone giving me pointers!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Tama-Ro...=Vintgae_Drums_Percussion&hash=item588f0943a4

I almost bought those Rockstars!

But - the Rockstars at the time were their entry-level kits, but they weren't bad if you didn't abuse them. The Imperialstars were the line below the Superstars but the differences were that the Imperialstars were covered with a super tough wrap, and the inside of the shells were coated with a weather resistant paint. The Imperialstar bass drum hoops were also metal. The Superstars were stained lacquer woods, very pretty in comparison with matching wood bass drum hoops. It's obvious the Imperialstars were built for the road. In fact, Stewart Copeland went back and forth between the blue Imperialstars and mahogany Superstars. The Imperialstars probably held-up better on the road. Billy Cobham used Superstars exclusively.

Sorry for sounding like such a Tama geek, but I really studied this stuff when I was a kid. In fact, I still have alot of those old catalogs on CD! I think this affliction for Tama back in the late 70s is what led me back to them with my current kit. I've been around the block with just about every brand so far, but when I got this Starclassic Bubinga Elite kit, it felt like going home.
 
I almost bought those Rockstars!

But - the Rockstars at the time were their entry-level kits, but they weren't bad if you didn't abuse them. The Imperialstars were the line below the Superstars but the differences were that the Imperialstars were covered with a super tough wrap, and the inside of the shells were coated with a weather resistant paint. The Imperialstar bass drum hoops were also metal. The Superstars were stained lacquer woods, very pretty in comparison with matching wood bass drum hoops. It's obvious the Imperialstars were built for the road. In fact, Stewart Copeland went back and forth between the blue Imperialstars and mahogany Superstars. The Imperialstars probably held-up better on the road. Billy Cobham used Superstars exclusively.

Sorry for sounding like such a Tama geek, but I really studied this stuff when I was a kid. In fact, I still have alot of those old catalogs on CD! I think this affliction for Tama back in the late 70s is what led me back to them with my current kit. I've been around the block with just about every brand so far, but when I got this Starclassic Bubinga Elite kit, it felt like going home.

Oh Im glad you gave me all this information about vintage Tama's, thanks a-million! But man would I love to own a Starclassic... I have my Yamaha Rydeens for now, which aren't bad for what I do at this time, but I'm getting serious into drumming alongside with guitar playing, so I'll definitely need to upgrade within a couple of years.

I am gonna keep searching for a vintage kit as a kind of side-drumset just so I have one; my dad has a 1993 Yamaha Rock Tour Custom 8-pc, but he won't be giving that up for a long time hehe...
 
Oh Im glad you gave me all this information about vintage Tama's, thanks a-million! But man would I love to own a Starclassic... I have my Yamaha Rydeens for now, which aren't bad for what I do at this time, but I'm getting serious into drumming alongside with guitar playing, so I'll definitely need to upgrade within a couple of years.

I am gonna keep searching for a vintage kit as a kind of side-drumset just so I have one; my dad has a 1993 Yamaha Rock Tour Custom 8-pc, but he won't be giving that up for a long time hehe...

You're welcome!

You know, as I was looking around for vintage Tama stuff, a particular Imperialstar kit came up that I was going to try to get. It had a 14x24 bass drum, 10x14 rack tom, and 16x18 floor tom with a 6.5x14 metal snare. The guy is only asking $550 plus shipping. If you wanted a vintage rock 'n' roll set-up - that kit would be perfect. But it sounds like you're trying to find a power tom set-up in a two-up configuration. You might want to check those out - it's rare to find something like that sitting on eBay. The guy's been trying to sell it for a month now.
 
The "easy part" to chasing down the '80's hard rock drum sound ..... buy a Tama Superstar kit .... the hard part ... put it into a $20K studio drumroom ....​
 

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You're welcome!

You know, as I was looking around for vintage Tama stuff, a particular Imperialstar kit came up that I was going to try to get. It had a 14x24 bass drum, 10x14 rack tom, and 16x18 floor tom with a 6.5x14 metal snare. The guy is only asking $550 plus shipping. If you wanted a vintage rock 'n' roll set-up - that kit would be perfect. But it sounds like you're trying to find a power tom set-up in a two-up configuration. You might want to check those out - it's rare to find something like that sitting on eBay. The guy's been trying to sell it for a month now.

I have been watching the same set. However, I did notice the leather/velcro used to hold the snare wires (not a big concern as it would take 2 minutes to correct this) and some surface rust on certain parts. These wouldn't be deal breakers if the price was substantially lower. Is that a hole or a smoke burn in the 5th from the bottom pic?
 
Tama Granstar rules for the ultimate 80s drum sound baby.
So does Pearl BLX and MLX.
Pretty much anything with "Power Toms" will do.
Yammies were also huge back in the day but I know next to notning about them.

These kits may not be collectible for another 25 years though...lol
 
I have been watching the same set. However, I did notice the leather/velcro used to hold the snare wires (not a big concern as it would take 2 minutes to correct this) and some surface rust on certain parts. These wouldn't be deal breakers if the price was substantially lower. Is that a hole or a smoke burn in the 5th from the bottom pic?

It looks like a burn mark from a cigarette. There's a crack in the pearling on the floor tom. But as 30-year-old sets go, this one has all the correct parts. Unfortunately you never really know what you're going to get until you get them and check them out. There was another guy selling a black Imperialstar for $450 that looked in better shape, but it was just a standard (non-power tom) 5-piece kit.
 
2-3 years ago I saw dokken's 26x26 bass drums with cases on Phoenix craigslist. If only I had 500$ to spend on that at the time. Anyway what everyone said 80's tama on the cheap. I miss my 83 imperialstar with 6 toms and a 24 :(
 
I dont think we have to have those drums from those era to get " that sound". Today engineers can create that "AC/DC "Back in Black so called "pocket" sound from even a piccollo.
 
Tama Imperialstars were second only to Superstars.Imperialstars had mahogany shells with a wrap finish and Superstars were 100% birch lacquer finish 6 ply 9mm shells.Both models of drums sound great but the Superstars are legendary.Also the Mastercraft steel snares were and are loud and cutting and have great tone.Rim shots sound like gunfire.

I have a 8x14 Superstar snare and if you want that 80 mud sound use coated Emperors or Pinstripes with a diplomat reso and a piece of (I hate to say this) duct tape on the batter side.Alex Van Halen used 4 pieces on his snares.

Superstars a going pretty cheap on ebay except for 8,10 toms and 12" toms in standard sizes.These drums sound great,especially the bass drums.I have a 15 (yes its a 15"depth 9600 series with rerings)x22 and a 16x24.Both are cannons.

Steve B
 
I was curious as to how one would go about tuning their drums to get an 80s-ish kind of sound, especially the snare...

I would expect that a medium tuning with some tape and/or moon gel would do the trick. Nothing really special going on with the tuning, but Phil Rudd played a 5.5X14 steel Sonor snare, which likely had die-cast hoops.

That deep-sounding 80s snare usually has one or more of the following studio effects:

1. Gated or non-linear reverb, in addition to a room or plate reverb. This way, the gated 'verb won't sound so stark in the mix. Tweak the decay time and pre-delay! No preset will get you all the way there. Also, it was common to have good reverb units (Eventide, Lexicon). A free plug-in might not cut it.

2. The "Eventide 910" trick: Make a copy of the snare track, gated, EQ'd, and mildy compressed. Send that signal to the Eventide 910, where it gets pitched down by as much as an octave (12 half steps). Bring this track back into the mix along with the original, un-pitched snare track. Also send this track to your reverbs. This trick is easily accomplished with free or included plug-ins.

3. Mutt Lange used to make samples to blend in with snare tracks, or replace them entirely (listen to Bryan Adams hit records). He was doing this long before SoundReplacer or Drumagog.

4. Room mics. If you've never recorded drums in an empty warehouse, you haven't lived! Real reverb from a real room is something to behold!

5. Mic both the top and bottom of the snare. The bottom snare mic usually sounds pretty bad by itself, but if you gate, EQ, and compress it well, you'll never track without that mic again!

Bass drums and toms were also treated the same way with the reverbs. It's unusual these days to apply reverb to a kick sound (gated reverb is especially out of fashion), but it was very common then.
 
When I watched the Tonight Show back in the 80s, it seemed as though every band that played there had Yamaha drums. They were not metal bands however. Birch shells, power toms, the beginning of no muffling (at least with toms)...those were the 80s. Peace and goodwill.
 
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