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1980s Tama Superstar 8x14 - Roller strainer??

Posts: 158 Threads: 52

Hello! I've had an 80's Tama Superstar snare (8x14 birch shell) for a while now and it has been an extremely fickle and stubborn snare drum. Sometimes it sounds great, but 80% of the time I'm tweaking on it and just messing around with it. What I want from the drum is a fat, quick sound. Slightly thuddy/muddy without a lot of ringing. A medium amount of resonance.

The biggest problem I have with the drum is that it often has a gnarly, extremely long lasting buzz after its struck. It sounds like the snare wires buzzing. I've counted and sometimes the buzz will last 7-8 (long) seconds. Depending on the head, the drum can produce some bad overtones and just generally ring more than is necessary for a snare drum.

The reso head is a Remo hazy ambassador. The batter heads I switch between are a Remo vintage emperor and an Aquarian hi-energy. With the vintage emperor, I can get a good sound out of it with a Remo gel cut in half and stuck at 10 and 2 on the head close to the hoop. Still has decent resonance, but its a little flat. Any less muffling and the buzzing and overtones come back. With the Aquarian hi-energy head it sounds pretty good without muffling, but it still takes a lot of tweaking to get the buzz out.

The shell and edges and hardware are fine. No damage or anything. The only thing I can think of is that I may need to find the original roller strainer and butt-plate. The throw off and butt plate I have on the drum now are nice and in the same position as the original, so I'm not sure this would have much if any affect on the sound.

Questions!

1. Does anyone have experience with these snares? Or, any experience with 8x14 birch snares in general? Shed some light please.

2. What is the goal of the Tama roller strainer system? Would installing one of these change the sound of the drum?

Posted on 3 years ago
#1
Posts: 404 Threads: 23

The roller throw off and butt are designed to work with extended snare wires. The beds are designed to work together with the rollers and extended snare wires. Any shortcuts and you are just gambling with the sound.

John/Levelpebble

Tama Superstar 81 Aqua bop
Rogers Cleveland BDP (x2), Silver bop, Champagne, Black/Gold Duco, WMP, Blue sparkle; Dayton Red Onyx;
Camco Oaklawn 12 14 20 5x14 Tuxedo WMP
LW 59 SC Blue Sparkle, WMP
WFL Gold Sparkle SC, WMP Compacto
Gretsch 49/50 Broadkaster WMP
Fibes Copper Forte
Remo MasterEdge Bop, Gold Crown, Mondo
Slingerland Conway Black Satin
70's MIJ Del Ray, my first and fav ok I'm lying here
Way Too Many Snares, She Says
Posted on 3 years ago
#2
Posts: 579 Threads: 10

The roller strainer and butt were the same units that were used on the non roller version. The rollers were mounted on a bracket that was installed directly below the butt and strainer. The only reason having a different strainer or just the original strainer and butt minus the rollers would be if the snare beds are different on the roller version. This very well could be since it used the extended snares but it also might have the exact same snare beds.

Have you taken the bottom hoop off and checked it on a flat surface to see how deep the snare beds are?

Posted on 3 years ago
#3
Posts: 158 Threads: 52

From levelpebble

The roller throw off and butt are designed to work with extended snare wires. The beds are designed to work together with the rollers and extended snare wires. Any shortcuts and you are just gambling with the sound.

Ahh I figured this may be the case, but didn’t have a clue on exactly what the point of that system was. Thank you!

I’ve heard you can use the Pearl “floating” snare wires to fit these Tama roller systems. Know anything about that?

Posted on 3 years ago
#4
Posts: 158 Threads: 52

From thin shell

Have you taken the bottom hoop off and checked it on a flat surface to see how deep the snare beds are?

Yes, the snare beds are extremely shallow. They’re almost unnoticeable.

Posted on 3 years ago
#5
Posts: 404 Threads: 23

Those should serve your purpose here. Essentially any wires that are at least 14" in literal length will help. Key is to get the wires all the way across the bearing edge.

From D-Rum

Ahh I figured this may be the case, but didn’t have a clue on exactly what the point of that system was. Thank you! I’ve heard you can use the Pearl “floating” snare wires to fit these Tama roller systems. Know anything about that?

John/Levelpebble

Tama Superstar 81 Aqua bop
Rogers Cleveland BDP (x2), Silver bop, Champagne, Black/Gold Duco, WMP, Blue sparkle; Dayton Red Onyx;
Camco Oaklawn 12 14 20 5x14 Tuxedo WMP
LW 59 SC Blue Sparkle, WMP
WFL Gold Sparkle SC, WMP Compacto
Gretsch 49/50 Broadkaster WMP
Fibes Copper Forte
Remo MasterEdge Bop, Gold Crown, Mondo
Slingerland Conway Black Satin
70's MIJ Del Ray, my first and fav ok I'm lying here
Way Too Many Snares, She Says
Posted on 3 years ago
#6
Posts: 158 Threads: 52

From levelpebble

Those should serve your purpose here. Essentially any wires that are at least 14" in literal length will help. Key is to get the wires all the way across the bearing edge.

Awesome. I was looking at some pictures of the roller assembly and I see that the plates of the wires are not even touching the head. Wild! Haha. I had no idea. Well I’m on the search for the roller assembly. They don’t seem common, but I’m hoping one will pop up eventually.

As for the goal of this system, I’m still unsure of. What was Tama trying to do here? What sound or convenience were they going for?

Posted on 3 years ago
#7
Posts: 525 Threads: 37

From D-Rum

Awesome. I was looking at some pictures of the roller assembly and I see that the plates of the wires are not even touching the head. Wild! Haha. I had no idea. Well I’m on the search for the roller assembly. They don’t seem common, but I’m hoping one will pop up eventually. As for the goal of this system, I’m still unsure of. What was Tama trying to do here? What sound or convenience were they going for?

Extended snares removed dead spots along the edges when enhanced sensitivity is needed.

Fibes ,Peal ,Ludwig all have their version ,but have fallen out of favor with other drum companies as they can be fickle in dialing the sound in.

I love the extended sensitivity when the design is done right.

There have been a few clunker designs along the route.

The Tama Mastercraft was a pretty good throw.

Not too complicated vs their Kingbeat version which was way too finicky.

Posted on 3 years ago
#8
Posts: 579 Threads: 10

Here is one that sold on Reverb a while back. Looks like they aren't that expensive when you can find them. If you can find just the roller brackets for cheap I would do it and keep an eye out for the correct strainer and butt. As I said earlier, the strainer and butt were used on all of the non roller snares from around '80 and into the Starclassic years so should be much easier to find. I have an early Starclassic snare with the same exact strainer and butt. Just no roller brackets and standard snares and straps.

https://reverb.com/item/9928439-tama-mastercraft-snare-roller-assembly-1985-ish-chrome

Posted on 3 years ago
#9
Posts: 158 Threads: 52

Ahh thanks for the info everyone! I feel a bit relieved as I’ve been wondering why this drum was is so hard to get a good sound from given that it’s got a good rep and is in great condition.

I saw that reverb listing. Was super pumped before I saw that it had sold. Can’t wait to find one and try it out. Hopefully this is the answer!

Posted on 3 years ago
#10
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