aphrophluph

Member
Tama Starclassic Bubinga Elite

This is my Tama Starclassic Bubinga Elite kit. Bought it in March 2007, it was discounted because it was a demo model at the local drum shop, but it had no defects! That's a good way to buy a Bubinga kit if you ask me :)

The finish is Tama's Black Metallic Gold Inlay (IBMG). The photos reflect a 1 up 1 down setup ... I like having everything really close.

It took me years to finally be able to put this kit together. If you're still looking for the kit of your dreams, be patient. There is hope! I am still hoping to add a 14" floor tom, but boy are they hard to find ... buying it new from Tama would cost almost $1000!

Drums:
  • 14" x 6" Tama Starphonic Aluminum snare
  • 14" x 6.5" Tama Starclassic Bubinga snare
  • 13" x 3" Pearl Steel Piccolo snare
  • 10" x 8" rack tom
  • 12" x 9" rack tom
  • 16" x 14" floor tom
  • 22" x 18" kick

Cymbals (updated Feb 2012):
  • 14" Zildjian A Custom hi-hats
  • 17" Zildjian K Custom Dark crash
  • 18" Meinl Byzance 18" Traditional Medium Crash
  • 20" Zildjian K Custom Dark ride

Hardware:
  • Tama Iron Cobra
  • Tama Roadpro
  • Evans batter/reso heads
 

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Beautiful! If you take away the gold inlay, you have what I have, a custom color. You think it's hard finding extra drums? I have to special order and pay a premium, and then wait six months! Which is why I haven't added to my kit at all.

The metal grey is much prettier in person, isn't it? Nice kit!
 
Bo,

Wicked kit, yours looks great. That black metallic really is something you've gotta see in person. I love the Copeland snare, was thinking about getting one but I might get a Starphonic instead. I have the damnedest time getting my bubinga snare to sound the way I want it, it is a really difficult snare to master.

Also I saw on your blog that you got into sequencing/sampling. I've been eying the Roland SPD-S for a while, and now am also looking at the Yamaha DTX Multi-12 pad. Would love to add a sampling pad to the setup for even more fun!

Cheers.
 
Bo,

Wicked kit, yours looks great. That black metallic really is something you've gotta see in person. I love the Copeland snare, was thinking about getting one but I might get a Starphonic instead. I have the damnedest time getting my bubinga snare to sound the way I want it, it is a really difficult snare to master.

Also I saw on your blog that you got into sequencing/sampling. I've been eying the Roland SPD-S for a while, and now am also looking at the Yamaha DTX Multi-12 pad. Would love to add a sampling pad to the setup for even more fun!

Cheers.

Thanks. Actually, I did mostly sequencing in my day. Got to the point where I was dragging around a powerbook 540 back in the day (and even earlier versions before that) and knowing MOTU's Performer (this was pre-Digital Performer) like the back of my hand. I miss those days, yet don't miss those days, you know what I mean?

Regarding wood snares in general, I guess I have a slight aversion to them because I can never get them to sound good. A friend let me install heads on his then-new Noble & Cooley years ago and I wasn't satisfied with what I could do with it to make it sound nice. It must just be me, because alot of people get great sounds out their wood snares.
 
i think you have to play with how the wood reacts a lot more... for example my 14x5" king beat imperial star will tune to pretty much anything, low->high and it still sounds decent, but my 14x5.5" b/b starclassic snare will only go from a medium high -> high... any lower and it'll sound so bad.... i think bubinga's really suited for higher tuning, since it's such a hard wood.


nevertheless you have a beautiful drum kit there!
 
I keep my Bubinga drums tuned fairly low and they all sound spectacular. I'm using Evans G2 clear over G1 clear heads. Maybe birch/bubinga might sound a bit different with the way I tune my kit.

Dennis
 
Very nice! I love the warmth and roundness of a low-tuned bubinga kit!
 
I like your kit man, I'm a fan of Tama drums...

Nice artistic photoshoot too... like walkera1962 said, some would make a good desk wallpaper... :)
 
This is my buddy's new Bubinga Elite kit colour. Quilted Mocha Burst. Probably one of the best out there.
TamainQuiltedMochaBurst.jpg
 
That Quilted Mocha Burst is fantastic. And yes, my kit is the Bubinga Elite. I got the 4-piece (toms, kick) back in 2006 as a floor model at Guitar Center for $1800. Added the snare for $300 mostly for value. As I said earlier, I've had the snare for 5 years and am still wrestling with it over tuning.

The 14x6.5 snare rings a lot (check out this demo) ... I'm considering switching out the metal/nylon washers for Tama's nylon-only to try and decrease the ring. I'm also probably going to buy a Starphonic Aluminum (see great Starclassic Bubinga/Starphonic demo here).

More Starclassic! Cheers.
 
That Quilted Mocha Burst is fantastic. And yes, my kit is the Bubinga Elite. I got the 4-piece (toms, kick) back in 2006 as a floor model at Guitar Center for $1800. Added the snare for $300 mostly for value. As I said earlier, I've had the snare for 5 years and am still wrestling with it over tuning.

The 14x6.5 snare rings a lot (check out this demo) ... I'm considering switching out the metal/nylon washers for Tama's nylon-only to try and decrease the ring. I'm also probably going to buy a Starphonic Aluminum (see great Starclassic Bubinga/Starphonic demo here).

More Starclassic! Cheers.
You got a very good deal on those. Congratulations!
 
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