The Tama Starclassic is one of Tama’s best-selling drum kits. It’s a hugely popular option in the professional music world, as it offers all the good features that drummers look for when playing gigs and doing studio recordings.
In this review, we’ll mention all the features that come with the kit. We’ll also give our opinion on how it sounds, how it feels to play, and we’ll mention whether it’s worth its price.
The key feature of this shell pack are the thin maple shells. They’re equipped with premium die-cast hoops, and each drum has rubber-based claw hooks to ensure maximum vibration.
The floor tom comes with Tama’s Air Pocket rubber feet, while each shell also has Tama’s Hold Tight washers to keep them secure.
The final thing to mention is that this is a 4-piece shell pack with the following dimensions:
10” x 7” rack tom
12” x 8” rack tom
16” x 16” floor tom
22” x 16” bass drum
The tonal quality of the Tama Starclassic Maple is outstanding. Each tom sings with vigor when you play it, and the bass drum sounds very deep and punchy.
These drums sound amazing in both stage and studio settings, with the toms having quite a diverse tuning range.
While they sound round and open, they’re also quite controlled due to having heavier die-cast hoops.
Each hardware feature contributes drastically to the overall quality of this kit. The die-cast hoops, Air Pocket rubber feet, Hold Tight washers, and rubber-based claw hooks all make this feel like a premium drum kit when you play it.
They ensure that the kit remains durable, and we’ve seen plenty of Starclassic Maple kits that are decades old and still in top condition.
The kit is a little more expensive than many other pro drum kits, but all of these hardware features contribute to that boosted price.
On both the stage and in the studio, the Tama Starclassic is a true workhorse. It sounds good in every environment you play it in, reacting appropriately to the instruments around it.
We also love how solid the toms feel when you strike them. Toms that mount to cymbal sands often wobble irritatingly, but the Star mounts ensure that these stay rigidly in place.
It definitely feels like a premium kit when you play.
The kit costs just under $4000 for a 4-piece shell pack. That’s quite a high price for a single drum set, but we think it’s more than worth it.
It’s one of those drum kits that you can buy once and know that you won’t need another drum kit again. Everything will last on the shells, ensuring that it’s always in pristine condition.
It’s also just such an amazing sounding drum kit that the high price seems completely justified.
However, there are plenty of other pro kits that cost less than most drummers would be happy with. You can even opt for a Tama Starclassic Performer, which is a much more affordable kit with a few similar build features. It just doesn’t naturally sound as good.
All maple drum sets work brilliantly for studio recording, so we highly recommend using this as a studio kit.
The toms translate musically through microphones, and they’re versatile enough to work well within any style of music.
The Tama Starclassic Maple is a great gigging kit. In fact, it’s one of the most asked for drum sets when bands send through gear tech riders.
It’s just widely known as a reliable stage kit, sounding fantastic on stage and when played together with a band.
If you can afford to get the Tama Starclassic Maple drum kit, we highly recommend that you do. It’s one of the best drum sets on the market, having immaculate build quality and top-tier sounds.
We also love the unique finish options that are offered. They’re distinctly Tama designs, making the kit easily recognizable.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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