Actually- the Japanese Tamas are quite nice!!! The kick drum hardware looks quite good. Steel kick drum hoops generally denote a lower-end kit, but Tama made pretty good kits across their entire line.

Tamas always sound good from the Japanese factory!!!

I would gig them- hell yes, I would!!!! Why gig your Camcos when you could end up with rash, spilt beer, or worse!!!

Good find.

No reason to laugh.Those drums sound really good with the right heads and tuning,and the hardware stands up just fine.Those drums used to get consistantly great reviews.Good choice.

Steve B

Those are good kits,period,and I have heard them go to tape very nicely.I have played a few of those kits form that era and helped some novices set theirs up,both had problems with their kicks,both had pinstripes,replaced with an evans collared BD head,and the kicks transformed to being huge sounding.They were made to be gigged,and hold up very well.They are not going to sound like a vintage U.S.A kit,but weren't meant to,but are capable of a good modern sound with good heads and tuning.

Well, there ya go then...

Thanks for the input folks. I really appreciate it. That I know of, I've never played an off shore kit built after '69. These were an enigma of sorts, to me anyway.

Yeah, I can tell they do have some potential. The heads on 'em are kind of old and stretched so they'll all be coming off soon. The batter head on the kick is an older Aquarian Super Kick that makes the drum sound pretty huge now.

Any suggestions for the heads on the toms? I won't use the COS snare that matches it. I'll pair the kit with either my deep dish Black Beauty or an old Slingerland Concert King.

Excellent point as well, and something that I had to think about. These will not sound like the kits I normally play. It ain't no Camco, but then it wasn't designed to be. I agree completely.

The gig I need this for is an annual Halloween night thing, when they drag us ole' geezers out and try to make us play rock and roll... frightening. Anyway I will have time to tweak the beast, and it will be so nice not to have to have either I or my wife run interference when the drunks would get too close to the Camco's!

Besides, even though odd wraps are my fav... I like this one.

Oh yeah... bunnyman: Would you be related to Harvey? Hmmmm

Thanks again for the input, and do please give me your thoughts on heads for these 'modern' drums.

I don't know ANYBODY who likes the COS snares that come with lower-end Tama kits. After all- Peart NEVER played Tama snares (always an old, trusty Slingerland snare).

Pinstripes usually sound great on '80s and newer Japanese built (or designed) kits. I would imagine this to be the case today; however, I have become really chummy with Evans G2 coated heads. But I am thinking Pinstripes on these bad boys. But if you like the kick sound, just get a new Aquarian head to replace the current one.

I know Harvey; but I am related to Bugs- he's my great great great great great great great great great great uncle. :D

Ifine on these drums that YES P/s on tops and assb. on bottoms...I do have a 5 pc set of these and take them out went iam playing top 40 songs...Drums sound ok iam with you if someone drops them ete i don't care...Mikey

I have a very similar set,maybe a few years earlier,that I did extensive rehab work on-it's now my main practice set.I did not like the tom mounts-leg brackets as they are a screw pressing directly on the leg or L-arm,so I replaced them with Sound Percussion units with an eye bolt/wing nut (easy replacement).Wood bass hoops and a shave on the 13" to 10" deep and now I'm very satisfied with the results.EC 2's on top,coated Ambassadors on the bottom.

I am now playing on a smaller Dx right now. I tore down the monster and am now on a 5 piece I rack 2 sides and am likg the cxhange.

A Tama Rockstar DX kit (same year range as yours) was my first real kit when I was 14. Mine was in a more "purple-ish" blue color 22/12/13/16. They sounded great and I played them up through early college when I got into vintage drums. Stupidly I sold them to get some money to fix up a crappy Slingerland kit. Little did I know at the time that the Slingerland kit was WAY beyond help (at least for my skill level at the time). I sold the TAMA for a measly $225.

I do have a video of me at 14 playing it at my first show ever....so thats pretty cool. Im sure we all feel the same about our first kits...but man I wish I had it back! Violin

-Adam