A double whammy; A new kit and your 1000th post. Congratulations! That is a sweet looking wrap. Looking forward to hearing what it sounds like.
**For those of you who don't like long stories, skip to the pics!**
Well, it's not quite new, but you get what I mean!
As some of you may remember, a few months ago (around last November) I was searching for a new kit. I was a bit lean in the way of spending any cash on more drums, so I looked for some kits through GC used. I originally debated between Renowns, Saturns, and Starclassics (or any other kit of that tier), but eventually decided on a Black Lacquer Starclassic 5 piece kit for $550.
Late November I went in and put down some cash for that kit. To make a pretty long story short: The guys at the store that had the kit screwed up big time and ended up selling it (when it should have been on layaway), so I was essentially back to square 1.
Thankfully the manager at my store was really cool and promised to help me get a deal as close as possible to the kit I had intended to buy. So I searched on GC used for a kit that looked similar, and eventually he was able to get a deal (which came out to $450 total including shipping and tax) on a Starclassic 4 piece, which he then put on layaway for me. This deal left me some cash to go and buy a snare (I ended up purchasing a Black Panther for only $128!).
After I finally sold my (then) current kit, I wanted to go right in and pay for the kit. Unfortunately, the weather was not permitting, so I asked for an extension on the layaway. So less than a week later (last Friday), I went in and put the rest down for the kit.
This Wednesday I called in to get a tracking number for the kit, to which I was informed that that store had not received the money transfer from the store I payed at. The manager at that store (another cool guy), got that situation taken care of, and had the kit sent via 1 Day shipping! How cool is that?!
So yesterday afternoon I finally received the kit! Somehow, those ingenious and efficient shipping guys over there managed to fit a 4 piece kit in only 2 boxes (1 small, 1 big). The floor tom came in a separate box, while the mid-tom and hi-tom were placed inside the kick! From all of this, I was provided with a near lifetime supply of bubble wrap.
I spent around 3 hours cleaning and polishing all of the lugs, shells, hoops, and inspecting every square inch of the kit (After that, I spent the rest of the day re-arranging the placement of the mics, the room layout, etc).
So after setting up the kit, I finally got a chance to test it out. And man, the sound of this kit is amazing!!! It tunes up really nice, the tone is great, I'm diggin' the finish! Overall on a scale of 1-10 this kit rates at a 9. The only reason it's not a 10 is because of the minor imperfections on the wrap, and some small scrapes in the shells.
I feel very blessed and humbled to have the privilege of owning a kit like this. I also can't say it enough how I appreciated the advice, opinions, and helpfulness of the DC community. You guys really helped me out!
Specs of the Tama Starclassic 100% Birch MIJ kit in a "Black Magic" wrap:
Sizes:
*18"x22" Kick
*8"x10" Hi-tom
*9"x12" Mid-tom
*11"x14" Floor tom
Heads:
Clear Remo Emperor batter heads and stock resonates on the toms, stock batter (Evans EQ1, the inner edge ring is a bit torn, nothing major but I still would like to replace it) and a ported Fiberskyn on the resonate of the kick.
Total:
$450 for the Starclassics
$128 for the Black Panther
= $578 for all the drums!
I'll definitely try to post up a sound sample of this kit as well. Let me know your thoughts, comments, questions, or anything about this. I'm open to suggestions for the heads (but I'm keepin' the Fiberskyn ), or anything else!
I hope you all enjoy the pics, and besides: What better way is there to celebrate my 1000th post other than sharing a new drum kit with you all?
Thanks again everyone!!
-DR
The main box that housed the kick, hi-tom, and mid-tom (floor tom box not shown). This bad boy was heavy!
The kick fresh out of the box
Last edited by DrumRookie; 02-16-2013 at 04:12 PM. Reason: Fixing pics
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
A double whammy; A new kit and your 1000th post. Congratulations! That is a sweet looking wrap. Looking forward to hearing what it sounds like.
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
The outside of the kick
The kick setup
The hi and mid toms
The toms after being cleaned and mounted
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
The floor tom after being mounted
The beautiful Starclassic badge!
A brighter and more defined look at the finish of the drums. After quite a bit of searching online, I discovered that the name of this finish is "Black Magic".
A poorly lit photo of the reso head
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
The Black Panther peeking through!
The stock batter head
The batter heads for the toms: Remo Emperors
A low drivers side view
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
Very nice! Congrats. Made in Japan too.
My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/ccashdrums
The birdseye view
Now pics of the full kit!
Low shot
The beauty shot
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
Of course, I don't wanna leave my Black Panther out of the fun!
Thanks caribou and Sparrow!
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
This is a pic of something that I discovered from inspecting the bass drum hoops, which looks to be a stress fracture of some sort. This really saddened me, and while it does not seem to be in any harm while on the kit, it certainly feels a bit wobbly and bendable when the hoop is on it's own. If anyone has any tips on how I can fix this, it would be greatly appreciated!
A closer look at the crack
Another close look. It is still holding together, but it looks to be cracked about 80% through.
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
DAYUM!! Black Panther and Starclassics?? You lucky man! Awesome kit, mate! Congrats.
Call the store and tell them. I wouldnt take a kit with a broken hoop.
Definately contact the shop re. your hoop. Like the finish though, pretty eye catching.
New drum day, SWEET! I'm sure you will get that hoop rectified.
Well, being as though it's a used kit sold as is. You probably will never know if they sold it to you cracked, or it happened during transit. Bummer, man. But that is almost exactly what happened to me. I bought a Pearl Maple Vision 5 piece with a Pearl snare, boom, and straight stand for $600.00. After unpacking and inspecting everything, I found that the bass drum was cracked in 2 places about half way through. I contacted the seller, which was a store on E-Bay. He must have had a very good connection with the Pearl dealer because he sent me a brand spanking new bass drum straight from the factory, which was awesome because they don't make this line anymore. Maybe you will get lucky at some level as well. Because no way do they have a hoop laying around to replace yours in the same color scheme, right? But it can be repaired by injecting wood glue with a syringe into the cracks, then clamping it down real good. Don't know if they make a bendable clamp which could follow the curvature. But 4 or 5 straight clamps for the area would work. Nice kit. Bummer about the hoop. See what the seller says. After that, good luck.
Custom Classic Pro Maple 6
8",10",12",13" Mounted Toms
(2)14",16" Floor Toms
22" x 18" Kick
6",8",10" Roto Toms
14" x 6.5" Mapex Black Panther Snare
13" x 3" Pearl Piccolo Snare
Sabian: 13" Paragon Hats
14" HH X Hats
22" Paragon Ride
(2) 16" Paragon Crashes
20" Paragon Crash
18" Paragon Crash
20" Paragon Small Flange China
19" Paragon China
Wuhan:20"with gingles
8",10" Splash
Roc N Soc Lunar
DW 8002B Pedals
Tambourine
Cowbell
Sabian Squad
C C Militia
Nice looking kit DR. It's too bad there is a problem with the hoop, but I'm sure it can be repaired. It's possible that you could take it to a guitar luthier to get the repair. That was suggested to me when I was dealing with the plies of my wood bass hoop separating.
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Nice looking kit.I picked up a used Starclassic but mine are made of B/B wood and it sound pretty darn nice. Sorry to hear there was a problem with the hoop and hopefully they will fix the problem or order a hoop to replace it with.
I am not a big fan of the 10,12,14 set up and I have another kit sitting around with a 16" FT and 8" and 15" Mounted toms and I am thinking about using them and re wrapping them to match the kit. Been busy and no time to do anything.The kit I would be taking them from is a Maple kit so it should mix well with the B/B kit.
8pc Tama Superstar Classic Maple
Sabian and Zildjian Cymbals
Obviously there's no replacing the hoop on this kit, so I'd try and get some kind of discount because of the damage if possible.
So on to what you can do it fix it - Not a whole lot I'm afraid. You can get a bit of veneer and reinforce the area by gluing a few layers of veneer over the cracked area. Or you can sand down a small block of wood to reinforce the hoop in that area. This may prevent further cracking and will strengthen the area greatly.
Then you can put that area between 2 lugs, likely on the top side of the drum so that it's not visible to you or anyone unless they're really inspecting the drum.
The only two constants I have are DW and Zildjian.
Beautiful! Congrats (tad bit jealous as mine are still months off)!
I just had a thought in regards to your dodgy hoop: get one of these:
http://www.drumchat.com/showthread.p...ass-27390.html
Might hold it together alright, as well as hide the area?
Very interesting, thanks for sharing! That looks useful for my batter side hoop, but for aesthetic reasons I may pass on putting one on the reso hoop crack. I'll definitely have to try em' though!
Thanks!! Haha, well you'll definitely have a lot to look forward to, these kits sound amazing!! (Sorry, I'm really being a tease) :p
Can't wait to see your kit once it arrives though!
I called up the manager and told him about it and I was told to bring in the hoop so they can see what they can do about it. I'll post an update on what happens as far as that.
I'm sure that a reasonable conclusion can be worked out with them, but I'll have to resort to fixing it somehow if not.
Thanks for the tips, I really appreciate it!
Thanks! I tried out a B/B in-store once, they sounded killer! Re-wrapping the toms from your other kit sounds like a really cool idea, I'd be really interested in hearing how it turns out if you decide to do it!
It's also going to take some getting used for me dealing with 10", 12", 14" sizes, but they do sound really nice. However, I'm going to be on the lookout for a matching 16", hopefully one will popup some day.
Thanks! I'll see what the store can do for me, but the guitar luthier option came to mind when I thought about getting it repaired. There are some great local luthiers nearby me, so if the store can't do anything about the hoop, I'll take it to a luthier or self-repair it.
Thanks! And I'm happy to hear that the seller took care of you like that! I thought about putting a syringe full of glue into the crack, and it seems like it might work. Thanks for the tips on the clamping, if I end up having to repair it myself, I'll definitely use your advice.
Yep, I have a good feeling that this will have a really positive outcome
Thanks! And I did call them up and they said to bring in the hoop so they can find a solution for this.
Yeah, I contacted them and I'm pretty sure that they will get this resolved. I'll post an update after I bring in the hoop to them.
Thanks! Yeah man, it was really cool that I could find a snare that I didn't even dream of getting, and a beautiful kit to go with it!
Last edited by DrumRookie; 02-18-2013 at 01:07 PM.
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
might be a noob moment here but on my CB kit i swear the two hoops are the same, now either a) my kit is just the same for money saving, or b) you could swap them over and use the thing drumstix suggested
having said that i'd want to try and repair it as well as possible first, but then it might work as a double-fix maybe
Its not what your playing, its what your playing
I looked up prices for a 16" floor tom for my kit.$739 If I remember right. More then I would spend on 1 drum. I'd sell these and buy a different SC kit cheaper.
I do like the sound of B/B also,just wish I had more shells to it. It's hard going from the Yamaha kit to the Tama kit.Going to take time to get used to.The Tama kit has a deeper sound to it then my Yamaha kit. I need to get a hold of a friend who knows a place that will custom make drum shells to see if I can get a few extra toms in B/B
8pc Tama Superstar Classic Maple
Sabian and Zildjian Cymbals
Cool idea! I think it would work, but not in my instance unfortunately. The batter side hoop has a good amount of pedal rash but if it didn't, it probably would work out nicely.
Wow, thats a ridiculous price for just the floor tom. Sounds like getting some extra toms custom made would be the better choice.
-DrumRookie
-Gear-Birch Tama Starclassic 22", 14", 12", 10" - 14"x5" Black Panther Steel Snare - Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand - Zildjian 20" A Vintage ride - Sabian HH 16" Crash - Sabian AAX 18" Studio Crash - Agazarian 10" Splash - Sabian XS20 14" Medium Hats - ProMark Shira Kashi Oak 5A - Various sticks & percussion - CP Bongos
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