My new (to me) MIJ Tama Starclassic Birch

[dirtysticks]

I walk into Guitar Center to buy a new snare stand and when I get to the drum shop, I see this guy trying to sell his kit so that he can upgrade and get the Tama Starclassic Birch/Bubinga. His current kit was a Tama Starclassic Birch (Made in Japan version with 10 lug kick and newer hardware). It was in great condition and sounded so good. I tuned it up for him and it actually sounded pretty similar to the B/B but didn't have as much low end because of the lack of bubinga. They offered him $400 bucks for his kit which he was going to take and put towards the purchase of the B/B kit minus 15% for the trade in bonus. I noticed that he was also trading in an Artwood snare, so I offered to give him the $400 myself since he'd still get the 15% from the Artwood. He ended up paying the same either way and I walked out with a beautiful looking and sounding kit for $400!!!! A great case of being in the right place at the right time!

I used to have a Starclassic birch, but it was in scratched up condition, missing the bass drum tom mount, had the old black mounts, eight lug kick and it had the thicker 8ply all birch shell. When I found an amazing deal on my Pearl Masters Studio Birch, I sold the Tama to fund he purchase of the Pearl which was in excellent condition. The Pearl has 10" and 14" toms with a 22" kick and the Tama has 10", 12" and 14" toms with a 22" kick. I'm a birch drum guy through and through and these thin 6ply shells sound so good! I'm now going to sell the Pearl to fund this purchase.

Here are some quick shots I took of the kit. That snare is a shot of a super rare WorldMax Brass 6.5x14 with brass die-cast hoops which also sounds ridiculously good!

[CB700]

Nice kit. I love the snare.

[MDK]

Great find, especially for the money.

[markthechuck]

$400 for a starclassic!! Nice.

[Dodeska]

Wow, definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time. Congrats on the kit, it looks great.

[inthpktplayer]

Nice pick up. Great finish.

[Ricardo]

$400 for a starclassic!! Nice.

+ 1

In fact, unbelievable score.

My double Speed Cobra was $400.

[marko138]

Man you did better than I did on my Starclassics! NICE SCORE! Those look fantastic. I paid 500 for mine with 4 toms (10, 12, 14, 16) snare and kick.

[Bish]

Ummm in case you didn't know, all TAMA purchases have to go past me to ensure quality and satisfaction to the new owner. Send me a PM and let me know when you will be ready to ship them here for inspection. I'll PM you the shipping address at that time.

Thanks for buying that great kit. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it once we make sure it's safe to play.

Have a great weekend.

[dirtysticks]

Nice pick up. Great finish.

Thanks! I love the finish too!

Nice kit. I love the snare.

That snare is insane, and super rare. There isn't any info or pictures of at all online!

Great find, especially for the money.

I have the greatest luck and favor when it comes finding great gear for low prices!

$400 for a starclassic!! Nice.

Especially for the condition and for this model that is made in Japan, has the new hardware and mounts instead of the old black versions and the ten lug kick and standing floor tom! #winning

Wow, definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time. Congrats on the kit, it looks great.

Definitely... I was so thrilled that I walked in on that!

Man you did better than I did on my Starclassics! NICE SCORE! Those look fantastic. I paid 500 for mine with 4 toms (10, 12, 14, 16) snare and kick.

Yeah, this was a sick deal!

Ummm in case you didn't know, all TAMA purchases have to go past me to ensure quality and satisfaction to the new owner. Send me a PM and let me know when you will be ready to ship them here for inspection. I'll PM you the shipping address at that time.

Thanks for buying that great kit. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it once we make sure it's safe to play.

Have a great weekend.

I just sent them off but I just realized that I put my address in both places lol

[signia fan]

OK, let's hear 'em. That is a super deal on a nice set of drums. Some music stores would not have been so gracious to have a deal scooped from underneath them, but I guess guitar center has less than loyal employees who could care less.

That World Max is a new addition too? I dont remember seeing it in your 7 snare thread. Or maybe it was lost in the mix to me.

[dirtysticks]

OK, let's hear 'em. That is a super deal on a nice set of drums. Some music stores would not have been so gracious to have a deal scooped from underneath them, but I guess guitar center has less than loyal employees who could care less.

That World Max is a new addition too? I dont remember seeing it in your 7 snare thread. Or maybe it was lost in the mix to me.

I bought that World Max the day before I got that Starclassic and that is a special piece too that I got for a pretty inexpensive price.

[rmandelbaum]

I have played that same kit at a gig, they sound awesome. Congrats!

[weezy]

Man, you've been getting some real steals lately. I guess that Houston is the place for scoring high end gear on the cheap.

[signia fan]

sounds like home to poverty stricken drummers losing their drums to put food on the table.

[dirtysticks]

I have played that same kit at a gig, they sound awesome. Congrats!

Yeah, I got these drums sounding amazing with Coated Emperors! Thanks!

Man, you've been getting some real steals lately. I guess that Houston is the place for scoring high end gear on the cheap.

Yeah, I've been on an amazing stroke of luck lately! and how amazing that my luck picked up around the same time that my ex and I divorced!

sounds like home to poverty stricken drummers losing their drums to put food on the table.

In this case it was a slightly spoiled 18 year old kid who wanted to upgrade from his Tama Birch Starclassic Performer to a Tama Birch/Bubinga Starclassic Performer at any cost (IMHO, the kits sound pretty much the same except that the B/B has a slightly lower fundamental note). I did my part to help him upgrade, while also allowing myself to upgrade as well lol.

[Drumbledore]

Nice score there! I can't believe the prices you guys can get there for some gear....way cheaper than us. The best deal I'd seen for a second hand Starclassic around these parts so far had been AU$800-900 or so. And I think a Starclassic snare by itself was around AU$350 or so, again second-hand.

[8beat]

Those are great looking drums.

[pastor_bob]

Wow! Congrats on the sweet deal dirtysticks!

[crispycritters]

Great deal! Last Starclassic Birch set I saw in the UK sold for £540 (about 800 USD) it had loads of scuffs and chips to the finish, the heads looked like they had been played with a shotgun and I would have had to make a 700 mile round trip to collect it as the guy wouldn't send by courier. I ran out of cash at £500 (an eBay sale) and I was gutted. I would still have to find a good snare as my starter kit one probably wouldn't cut it

Drum gear costs a lot more here than the US.

[PeterBowman]

just curious....besides the hardware and finish, what is the difference between the Starclassic birch and the Silverstars?

[MDK]

just curious....besides the hardware and finish, what is the difference between the Starclassic birch and the Silverstars?

Good question, I doubt the Star Classic's look like this, A SS I bought and returned 3 days later

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[PeterBowman]

Good question, I doubt the Star Classic's look like this, A SS I bought and returned 3 days later

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

I would sincerely hope not that's for sure

[jdizzle0209]

[QUOTE=MDK;584421]Good question, I doubt the Star Classic's look like this, A SS I bought and returned 3 days later

The rubber grommet issues have been resolved and Tama has cut the slit in the shell for the wraps for as long as I can remeber. I have a 2006 Starclassic all bubinga kit I bought new and last year I bought a new Silverstar kit. The Silverstar kit I bought is a wrap. These Silverstars rival if not beat many other high end birch kits that I've played through out my life. The sound is pretty mind blowing especially for the price. Don't mean to argue or anything I just have had a overwhelmingly great experience with this kit. My starclassic kit is the boobs and is very nice, but my Silverstar kit is a pretty exceptional kit in it's own right. I did buy some heavier hoops and added nylon washers to my kit. Tama also sent me some free newer versions of the rubber grommets which was cool. Sorry for the rant.

Awesome new kit Dirtysticks. I've been playing Tama kits for a long time and they've all been rediculously awesome. Congrats brother.

[MDK]

[QUOTE=jdizzle0209;584432]

Good question, I doubt the Star Classic's look like this, A SS I bought and returned 3 days later

Tama also sent me some free newer versions of the rubber grommets which was cool. Sorry for the rant.

Congrats brother.

Thats impressive that they sent you new grommets that actually work, when I had my issue with a brand new SS last year I could not even find a contact in the USA? Who did you contact for that?

I don't doubt they probably sound good but I never found out 1st hand what they sound like with good rims, and good heads that did not touch the grommets.