...and the badge...

Hi Fayray,

I recently disassembled and reassembled a Tama King Beat for cleaning. It was not that difficult to take apart and put back together but I would look at it very carefully first to get a good mental picture of how it operates and then take a lot of photos from all sides as a reference. Take pics of each part and the associated screws or bolts as you disassemble. It might help to place screws or bolts with their associated parts into individual plastic bags to keep it all clear.

Barry

I know I have a couple of those plastic switches, mikey777 may have some also. Look around locally first. The shipping would make the cost insane.

I really like those muffle switches, I just wish they would have made them out of metal!

Nice snare! I've got the Tama version.

Welcome to the club of King Beat owners and congrats.

No worries, the shell will clean up very nicely and you may think it is brand new. The 2nd of my two pieces had the same pitting at the chrome hoops. There may remain some points of it after the cleaning.

Be sensible while demounting. The white plastic parts are strong enough for the ON/OFF handling, but remember that these plastic parts are nearly 40 years old and therefor no longer that flexible.

I have taken apart several of them until now and the most tricky part always was the reassembling of the hexagonal plastic 'screw with the hole inside', through which the bar goes: it is a very fine thread onto which the hexagonal metal nut goes from inside of the shell: Metal nut onto plastic thread! Take care that you do not demolish the plastic thread. Stay patient while doing that thing. (I have some of the plastic screws as a replacement, if you need, after the tlc.)

The lever at yours has been bended by 90° upside, somehow, for what reason ever. Normally it's just straight.

And I am eager to learn, who wins the sound competition: your King Beat or the Dynasonic. Let me know, please!

Ralf

NB: you will need a cap nut with a metric thread (M6) for the end at the 'parallel bar'.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I got impatient and dismantled it yesterday. The strainer system is simpler than i thought and well made. However, despite reading about how brittle the plastic hex nuts are that go into the shell, and despite being really careful, the edge came away on one of them in my hand. superglue will fix it I'm sure. And I take your point Ralf, the thread is delicate and the metal nut doesn't easily go back on. i'll be careful.

The wires are original but they are missing 3 strands and are pretty worn out. I know Puresound do a replacement but i read somewhere that they may not fit the early Star versions. Is this right?

@Fishwaltz - Why oh why, having made such a quality, heavy duty piece of kit, did they put one of those plastic damper switches on it? I like the design of them too but they are soooo weak!

Concerning Puresound: I don't know, 'cause I never had to buy one.

But there should/ will be no difference in the dimensions between the earlier Star and the first Tama King Beat snare drums, for which the Puresound snares are dedicated to: the collet for the snares at Tama's snare drum still even were engraved with 'Star'. So if you order one and those snares don't fit, it's a good reason for a real claim (although that doesn't solve your prob then ...).

Make sure that the slide in the collet can move freely to get a good tension at the snares. If not (like at mine, 'cause the snare drum may have fallen down before and bendedthe collet slightly together), you may widen the collet back a very little bit with a heavy screwdriver.

Again: be careful ...

Ralf

Thanks Ralf. Unfortunately the snare wires on mine are a bit worse for wear and the local supplier of Puresound are no longer selling them - apparently the market is too small here. I'll have to get one in from o'seas.

Anyway, today is going to be spent cleaning and polishing I think.

OK, here is the Kingbeat cleaned up. I have installed the original wires for now but i'll have to hunt down some new ones. Fortunately i found a damper switch handle amongst my spares - didn't know I still had it. I haven't played it in anger yet, maybe later this week.

Did I mention how heavy these are? To give those of you that haven't lifted one of these some perspective, they weight 11lbs - my Acrolite weighs 6lbs. I'll need a roadie for this one.

Thanks to Ralf for his invaluable help.

Yeah, aren't those things sweet!

And what you said previously about the muffle switch... No kidding! Why in the world would you build a really quality drum and put a piece of plastic on it. It is baffling. Yeah, it may have cost a couple bucks (Yen) more for a cast metal part, but heck...