I Built My Friend A 1980s Tama Imperialstar Metallic White Snare Drum!
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Made this video about my building a 1980s-style, mahogany shell Tama Imperialstar snare drum in Metallic White wrap (a drum Tama never actually made) using a 1980s concert tom shell with Powerline model snare drum hardware.
Lots of audio of the finished drum starting at 8 min 20 sec.
Please note: All content used to produce this video, both audio and video, is original content, created by me using no one else's work. I retain all the original audio and video files used in the creation of this video.
Man is lucky to have friends of such a caliber and the drum sounds awesome... Hats off to you brother...
I watched to the end to see your friend's reaction.
Your friend won't need anymore Tama Bellbrass. Your DIY Impstar snare sounds like one. Awesome job, awesome sound. 👌
Awesome! I’m a huuuuge fan of 80’s Imperialstars. I have 15 in different sizes of the Royal Pewter wrap (darker than the metallic white). Love them.
What a great friend you are! He’s lucky to have such a generous friend. Nice job man.
Sounds amazing and that was a legitimately great idea! You're a hell of a friend and a hell of a drummer.
Thank you! I wish I had video of his response when he opened it... he was a kid again (and he's a few years older than I am! ;) So fun!
Joel,
I discovered your videos in the last year or so and I just want to say how much I enjoyed your series on mixing drums and how much I learned, even after working every day in Nashville for the last 10 years. Really hope you get inspired to make some more videos, but if not, just wanted to say thank you for what you've put out into the world.
Thanks so much, Justin! I am actually making videos again with the goal of releasing one per week, so hopefully you'll find them helpful (or at least interesting ;)
Joel, you are an excellent drummer and a man of many talents. Awesome job on this drum, it looks and sounds super. It's very cool of you to do that for a friend. I'd love to know what his reaction was. I used to own one of those Tama Imperial Star kits in that finish back in the late 70's kept them through the 80's, I really loved it to. I eventually grew out of the concert tom limitation. Mine wasn't paint though it was a wrap. The best thing about that finish was under the lights, they really turned the color of the jell paper on the par can. Thank you, I'm inspired.
Sounds incredible man! i wish we were friends after watching this haha
Nice job! I love doing drum builds like this.. Sounds great!
Dude, that thing sounds bonkers!
Thanks so much! I loved the way it played and sounded.... my wife was concerned I was going to keep it! I didn't, of course, but I am gonna build myself an 8x14 version (I already have the early 80's Imperialstar tom I'm using for it! ;) Thanks again for the kind words, James!
@@recordingdotpizzawould love to see a video of that one!! Currently building a 7.25x14 swingstar version myself. Found your video when I was already started on the project and was assured that the end result is going to sound fantastic.
Frigg me!! Sounds beautiful,so much body too. Love it!! And that internal muffler is genius,TAMA should have them on all their snares. Superb job man!!
I love the Metallic White ‘Imps’. That’s an awesome gift and an awesome Snare. I’m trying to assemble a ‘Bonham Sized’ Kit. I recently acquired a VERY rare, ‘81 26”x14” VIRGIN Bass Drum. And I’ve got the 13” Rack Tom, so now I’m looking for the 16” & 18” Floor Times! If ANYONE has one or both sizes, please let me know. Thanks.
I just picked up a 13-14-15-16-18-24 hairline chrome Imperialstar kit a couple of months ago. I had the same idea although I only have a 24 not a 26, close enough for me. The first 4 toms were concert toms, so I converted the 14 and 16 to dual heads. Running the 14 as the rack tom and the 16 and 18 as floors. Thinking about converting the 15 to double heads and running that as the rack. Before anyone has a problem with me converting the concert toms, the wrap wasn't in very good shape and I paid $50 for the whole kit.
This is really cool man
Hello, I just found your channel and I got to say this video you making this snare drum for your friend is absolutely awesome you're a great friend with that said I can't help but ask if you would consider wanting to make another one. I actually have a 1980s imperial star Eight piece kit I've had since I was 13 I have the imperial star metal snare but always wanted one just like what you made the metal snare I have has the badges and everything on it to have one to match. My kit would be insane. My kit is the Aspen white.
Turned out nice! Also good to know what works to touch up the inside of these drums. Thanks for that!
Happy to see you again buddy!!! Cheers from Venezuela. 🤓👍🏻
sounds as good as anything.
Good idea and sounds!
I want one!! Seriously, what did you do in regards to the former tom's mounting bracket and why did you need to imitate the "Zola coat" if it was taken from an Imperialstar to begin with? I would love to do the same, but would have to find someone with the proper skills. Thanks for sharing, you made my day.
Thanks so much for your kind words! Regarding the tom mounting bracket the very bottom of the bottom hole for mounting that bracket to the shell was right at about 5.25" from the bottom, so I had plenty of depth to cut everything from that hole up and use just the 'virgin' bottom portion of the shell to make this drum
As for the Zola coat I needed to mimic that, because Tama coated the bearing edges of Imperialstar drums with Zola coat (it was applied after the edges were cut), so, since we had cut the shell we needed to cut edges as well (and this was a concert tom, so the bottom edge, which didn't have a head, had no bearing edge, but was simply squared off. So we cut both edges, which left exposed wood (the wrong look), so I mimicked the Zola coat appearance with grey primer and the stone-look paint, but had to sand that stone paint down, because it actually had a really strong texture. I cut it down (smooth) with mild sandpaper, and the final look was exactly like something that would have come from the Tama factory in the 80s.
I recommend you do this! I think tinkering with building drums is something every drummer should do at some point for the better understanding of the instrument you gain from doing it (and you can build some pretty cool drums for not too much money too!).
BTW, I have another RUclips channel now, dedicated solely to drums, called DrumDotPizza. If you like these kinds of videos (and lots of other things all drum related) I think you'd like it and would love to see you over there! Thanks so much for reaching out. Best!
@@recordingdotpizza
Thanks for your reply. I''ve owned a Swingstar since 1980, and Imperialstar (to make it double bass) since '82, all in metallic white. I have a 5.5 x 14" Swingstar as well as a 6.5" Imperialstar snare, and at 56, absolutely love the idea of an Imperialstar snare! I'm legally, but not totally blind, so I don't trust myself with projects like this for obvious reasons. I do own a 14" Imperialstar, but it's a '82 double head and I'm not willing to sacrifice it for a project I'm uncertain of, so I'd have to do like you and find a concert tom, if I were to do this. Metallic white is becoming more and more difficult to find on eBay, especially in 14". In any case, I normally hate to see these drums cut up, but you did a fantastic job, and it sounds great! Thanks so much for sharing - you did a fantastic job.
wow!
Man that thing speaks.
... wow!!!
THIS DRUM SOUNDS LIKE A DAMN RECORD 🤣😍
Hello, do you know if the powerline snare drums from that Era had snare beds? I have a superstar snare and it only works with extended wires. I thought that 80s tama drums didn't have snare beds
All Tama snares from the early 80s (and up to today, as far as I know) had snare beds. I own several Mastercraft and Powerline models, steel and wood, and all have snare beds. The only drums I have seen that lack snare beds (or have VERY minute beds) are Rogers Dyna-Sonics (most of which had beds, just super minute) and a Ludwig classic wood snare that had the P87/P34 strainer/butt combo that had no perceivable beds (but that might have been a mistake in production?). The beds on Tama's steel shell drums (same exact shell, same exact beds for both Mastercraft and Powerline models) are wide and shallow. The beds on their wood drums of the same time are narrower and just a touch deeper. All had beds though. Hope that helps!
You still have the metal imperialstar shell?
I do, in fact! Had originally intended to repopulate it with compatible hardware (they're great shells, and there's an identical strainer (without the 'TAMA' logo embossed) that you can get from Jammin Sam (.com)), but I don't really have the time or need. I'm gonna list it along with a bunch of other drums and bits on Reverb in the next couple of days, so if you're interested keep checking there, and you'll see it. Thanks!