Tama Superstar Custom

I bought the superstar customs in early 2006 right after they were introduced. I love my drums and wouldnt take anything for them. i love the look of them, the hardware they came with is alot better than i expected to get and the sound is awesome and they are reasonably priced for the amount of drum you get.

Let me start by saying that i have recorded 2 records with 2 differnet bands and they worked out great. the engineer didnt have to spend half a day working on the eq to get them to sound great basicly plug and play. The sound isnt as great as you would get from some top of the line maple shells but it can hold its own. the birch and basswood has a bright but dark sound too them depending on the type of heads you use. i usually use remo ambassador heads but when the evans EC2 heads came out i tried those since they were new. i wasnt crazy about the evans on any of my drum sexcept for the floor tom. the ec2 made my floor tom have a deep rumble. with the remos it has a little more high end but nothing i cant tolerate. i typically tune my right at standard tuning or a hair above so. tuned like i do you can make them sing or scream depending on the type of music you play. i play contemporary christian and praise and worship style music and they sound fine for that but i have also played other styles of music and they blend in with it too.

I have had my drums for a little over 3 years now and they still sound just as good as the first time i played them. i cant report on wrap because my have a lacquered finish and it seems to be holding up nice. usually once i put new heads on i dont have to re-tune for a while. the die cast hoops really hold a tune nicely except for the snare drum and every now and then i hear it out and fix it but no real probems other than that. also the stand that this kit came with blew me away when i opened the box. they came with tama roadpro stands and they are alot more heavy than i expected and and its all double braced. they have never fell over while i play or loose their hold. they just keep on holding on.

Dont know anything about his because i havent had any problems.

Ive been playing for 10 years and this is the best set of drums i have played for the price. i have recorded and traveled the states playing these and they have never let me down. i something were to happen to these i would buy them again for sure. overall a great kit and an excellent investment for serious drummers.

One of the best price point kits available. The hardware is all highest end heavy duty stuff. The pedal is a single chain Iron Cobra Jr. does the job well, hi-hat stand has just as smooth pedal. The drums are mounted with star-cast mounting system and the drums have die cast hoops. Made from Birch/Basswood including the snare, mine is standard rock setup with ambassador equaivalent heads and diplomat resos, powerstroke 3 bass head with ebony reso. Snare has coated ambasador equivalent top and clear bottom.

The drums suit all genres, I think the drums sound quite bright but mellow too, probably due to the hybrid wood. Because of this I wouldn't recommend much muffling because it is mellow enough already - however the brightness of the drums can get a bit overpowering so I use moongel to help and a lot of mufflign in the bass drum makes a big difference. I've tuned my high and low, I guess skins help get the desired tone but overall the drums are great with rock sounds most suited but tuning higher for a Dave Weckl style sound is also posible.

Built realy tough hardware will never break, drums will probly get scratched but never break either. The wrap is really well done except the wrap there my bass pedal is has started to come off, but that is kinda unevitable with wrap finishes. They only ever noticably go out of tune if I dont play them for prolonged periods, but the snare I have to fine tune again every week but that might just be me being fussy. Definitely giggable kit with no problems.

1 year warranty, never had to deal witht them though.

For the price nothing is better. Used with zildjian cymbals it is really professional sounding. Although I'm quite addicted to tuning drum kits I'd have to say this is probably 3x better than most of the other kits that I play often i.e the Pearl Export at school and the Mapex V series at my usual gig/practice venue. If I had researhed more before buying a kit I probably would have still bought this kit but in fusion size instead and with natural finish because wrap can fall off. It is pretty much just the best thing you can buy short of the professional maple kits that cost 3 grand or so.