Old Dog new Cans
Senior Member
Can I somehow look it up by serial #? I picked up an old Cherry Wine snare, not it bad shape at all. I would just like to learn more about it. No pics yet
Identifying a "vintage" Tama snare
- Thread starter Old Dog new Cans
- Start date
SYMBOLIC DEATH
Senior Member
Your kit is a Tama Superstar which are from the early 80's, IIRC. They have birch shells, and I think the finish is called "super mahogany," but I could be wrong on that. There's some super knowledgeable Tama guys on here that could you exact specs on your drums.
You have a 1982 Superstar. Circa 1982-1984 Tama prefixed the serial number with the last 2 digits of the year (eg. 82-nnnnn) which makes it easier to pinpoint those few years.
Both the Cherry Wine and somewhat similar Super Mahogany finishes were available that year (as well as others). It can be difficult to determine the difference from photos with different lighting, but in person CW has more of a red hue whereas SM is more brown. If I had to guess from this screen I’d say you have the CW finish, though Symbolic may be right.
Old Dog new Cans
Senior Member
No worries at all. We need to share all the sources we can. I hate posting pics, that doesn't help. But in my situation, I know what the drum is, it's badged with serial number. Mine is a Superstar Cherry Wine 14x5" snare. 6-ply birch as stated above. I simply want to know more about it, and want help in how I go about it. I don't know what year it's from--I'm also curious about value, although I highly doubt I would turn around and sell it. The hoops are cast, I don't know if that was typical of the time.
Anyway
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Photos actually can be helpful (it quickly revealed the year of rddmm2's bass drum), but I can certainly understand not wanting to post them or serial numbers. So to minimize time trying to identify other features of your snare or other people’s drums, here’s some suggestions for a more self-help process...
1. Outside of the year prefixes to serial numbers I noted above, pinpointing build year(s), shell & h/w details, etc. for other serial numbers requires matching other features of the drum(s) to the year(s) they were offered. The Tama forum was a good resource for this, but it shutdown several years ago so leveraging Tama catalogs are the next best bet. Two good sources are Tama itself:
TAMA Drums | Download Catalog
TAMA Drums (Download Catalog) TAMA offers Drum Kits, Snare Drums, Original Percussion, Hardware, Microphone Stands and Sticks, plus drum accessories like bags, cases and practice goods.
And DrumArchive:
2. In general, the Cherry Wine finish was initially offered in 1981 with the Superstar X-tras series (power tom depths) and ran until the Superstar was discontinued after 1984 or so. However, like with many things, there are few absolutes here and plenty of room for exceptions. Given this, focus on those years of the catalogs and try to match characteristics of your snare/drum... lugs, hoops, strainer, etc.
NOTE: For anyone else trying to determine if they have a Cherry Wine or Super Mahogany finish, photos of the 40th anniversary reissue snare drums are probably a better reference than the 80s catalogs. Tama seems to have taken down those web pages from 2014 so images of both are attached below... CW first, SM second.
3. As far as current value, reviewing recent sales on eBay (Sold Items) and Reverb (Sold Listings) are probably your best reference like with other vintage gear. Other forums (e.g. VDF, DFO, etc.) and Facebook may also be helpful.
If you get stuck or need any other info, just let me know. I lived in Japan in the 80s and have some direct experience with Tama (as well as Yamaha and Pearl) during that time that may be helpful.
Old Dog new Cans
Senior Member
Photos actually can be helpful (it quickly revealed the year of rddmm2's bass drum), but I can certainly understand not wanting to post them or serial numbers. So to minimize time trying to identify other features of your snare or other people’s drums, here’s some suggestions for a more self-help process...
1. Outside of the year prefixes to serial numbers I noted above, pinpointing build year(s), shell & h/w details, etc. for other serial numbers requires matching other features of the drum(s) to the year(s) they were offered. The Tama forum was a good resource for this, but it shutdown several years ago so leveraging Tama catalogs are the next best bet. Two good sources are Tama itself:
TAMA Drums | Download Catalog
TAMA Drums (Download Catalog) TAMA offers Drum Kits, Snare Drums, Original Percussion, Hardware, Microphone Stands and Sticks, plus drum accessories like bags, cases and practice goods.www.tama.com
And DrumArchive:
2. In general, the Cherry Wine finish was initially offered in 1981 with the Superstar X-tras series (power tom depths) and ran until the Superstar was discontinued after 1984 or so. However, like with many things, there are few absolutes here and plenty of room for exceptions. Given this, focus on those years of the catalogs and try to match characteristics of your snare/drum... lugs, hoops, strainer, etc.
NOTE: For anyone else trying to determine if they have a Cherry Wine or Super Mahogany finish, photos of the 40th anniversary reissue snare drums are probably a better reference than the 80s catalogs. Tama seems to have taken down those web pages from 2014 so images of both are attached below... CW first, SM second.
3. As far as current value, reviewing recent sales on eBay (Sold Items) and Reverb (Sold Listings) are probably your best reference like with other vintage gear. Other forums (e.g. VDF, DFO, etc.) and Facebook may also be helpful.
If you get stuck or need any other info, just let me know. I lived in Japan in the 80s and have some direct experience with Tama (as well as Yamaha and Pearl) during that time that may be helpful.
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Thanks for that post! I greatly appreciate it. Many of these companies, you can email or call up even. They're usually more than happy to help out with some information. I can't seem to find much contact info on Tama's site. Anyway, thanks again. Very helpful.