1998 TAMA Rockstar Pro advice

Benthedrummer

Silver Member
Hi everyone......I hope you are all safe and well during these trying times.

I have an opportunity to get a 1998 TAMA Rockstar Pro in amber lacquer.

It has 10, 12, 14, 16 inch toms with a 22 x 16 inch bass drum and 14 inch snare.

The rack toms have the star cast rim mounts.

It has a clear PS3 BD batter head and ebony pinstripes on the toms. The snare has a Remo CS dot coated head.

Anyways........is there anyone who has experience in either playing these drums or possibly from a sound engineering perspective?

Do they record well?

Are they comparable to other well known kits?

I think the wood is basswood with 7 ply Philippine Mahogany.

I'm really wanting to see what the general consensus is on them before I go any further.

A ROUGH opinion on how they perform in the live and studio/micing scene would be just wonderful.

The guy lives way north but will be able to come by my place and drop them off tomorrow.

The dude wants $299 USD for it.

Thanks guys......I really do appreciate any help. I mean that sincerely.
 
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For $299 you can't go wrong if they are in good shape. They are built solidly, like anything Tama, and sound great under mics like most drums do. I played one in the late 90s at a buddies house almost every day.
 
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For $299 you can't go wrong if they are in good shape. They are built solidly, like anything Tama, and sound great under mics like most drums do. I played one in the late 90s at a buddies house almost every day.

Hi clutch.......so when you were playing them at your mate's place, how did they sound to you?

Did you play them unmiced?
 
They sounded fine to me even with Pinstripes. They were unmiced the majority of the time when we would all rehearse. He had 10,12,13,16ft, 22k. We played a lot of Tool back then so the toms were used. A lot.
Are they Pro or Custom? I recall the Pros being early 90s, but I could be mistaken. A pic would help.
 
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They sounded fine to me even with Pinstripes. They were unmiced the majority of the time when we would all rehearse. He had 10,12,13,16ft, 22k. We played a lot of Tool back then so the toms were used. A lot.
Are they Pro or Custom? I recall the Pros being early 90s, but I could be mistaken. A pic would help.

Ok.

The ACTUAL drums themselves are covered with a horrid camo vinyl which he is going to remove for me.

The snare is the actual colour. Amber lacquer I do believe.

Pics coming in a sec, hang on......
 
Ben, for $299 they should be in your car and on the way back to your place by now.....

And, no, I am not joking in the slightest.

Tama Rockstars in any of their various versions were consistently rated #1 or #2 in their price range back in the day....

I have no need of another kit but I would find it hard to walk away from them at that price!
 
I have had to take screenshots of the pics he sent me. The message system for Gumtree doesn't let you download them.
 

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Ben, for $299 they should be in your car and on the way back to your place by now.....

And, no, I am not joking in the slightest.

Tama Rockstars in any of their various versions were consistently rated #1 or #2 in their price range back in the day....

I have no need of another kit but I would find it hard to walk away from them at that price!

Hey....hiya Mongrel. Great to hear from you bud.

Yeah........I think I'm starting to agree.
 
If anything the vinyl probably protected the finish, so that's a plus. They look like Customs to me. Do it. After all the hard work you have been putting in you need to treat yoself!
 

Make sure he removes the vinyl though. You never know if he is hiding a nightmare or just had horrible taste.
 
As long as the camo isn't glued and the seller doesn't destroy the finish in the process, hell yes buy those drums. They sound great, are extremely durable, and will last you a lifetime. Me personally: I'd buy the whole set and convert the 16 to a bass drum so then you have the 10, 12, and 14 to set up as you see fit with two different bass drums.
 
I have an opportunity to get a 1998 TAMA Rockstar Pro in amber lacquer.
As you saw the 2000 catalog, and there's really Amber lacquer under that wrap, I think you're getting into Rockstar Customs. I think the Rockstar Pro had a 10 lug bass drum (looks like 8 on the pics you posted) .... and I don't think the line went into 1998.

They should be fine for recording. And all other drum duties. Find the right head combo's for your taste, and your good to go. $299 is a great price, if they're in decent shape.
 
I own a set of 2002 Rockstar Customs in 10, 12, 14, and 22, and a matching 14" snare. All Amber colored. I still own them to this day, a great set of drums. Phillipine mahogany amd basswood. They aren't the highest quality materials but great sounding drums for the priceFB_IMG_1586027720907.jpg

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I owned a rockstar custom from that same period. Good and strong kit. My only advice would be about the snare drum which wasn’t that good. I used a Tama Artwood maple with this kit at that time. Take a special care with the starmount. My kit was a Custom EFX with an abalone blue wrap, 22, 12 13 14 16 toms, plus the 14x6,5 Artwood maple.
 

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I might be too late to the thread, but here's my Tama Rockstar Custom I bought new in 1999. Birch/Basswood shells, sizes 10/12/14/16/22 and 14" snare. I ordered the 16" floor tom separately.

It is a good kit, but there are some quirks you should be aware of.

The bass drum sounds great, and I believe this is due to the fiberglass bass hoops. I really liked the snare and the 10" and 16" toms.

However, the 12" and especially the 14" hanging tom were difficult to get sounding good , and I blame the Star-Cast mounts. They mount directly to the hoops. That's bad. That puts a lot of pressure on the hoops and saps all the resonance and causes tuning issues. The 10" tom only sounds better because it's not heavy enough to be distorted by the Star-Cast mount.

Also, the finish is incredibly easy to mess up. They get nicks and dents if you look at them funny. That could explain why the kit you're looking at has a wrap on it now. Maybe it looks like mine underneath, haha.

I used to carry this kit in cases, but after several years I gave up trying to keep them looking nice. Every little thing would put a dent in them. This is what they look like now after at least 500-700 gigs.

Snare not pictured
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