Hey Jeff, this specific TAMA Starclassic B/B finish ("Ruby Fade Figured") was an exclusive for Guitar Center back in the early 2010s. The sound of this kit is the best from where I reside and tuning stability is amazing! Nothing comes close. Thanks for your work on this. Now unto our final project with my initial Tama Imperialstar. I messaged on on IG & SMS. Looking forward to your response. Thanks!
I have a set of Tama Granstar ‘87 w/ power toms(8,10,12,13,16). Long time ago I was thinking of getting another kit to replace it and someone convinced me to recut the edges to 45° (tops and bottoms). It took some risk to do it and I was very nervous but they came out great. It was like a new kit sharper sound, better tuning and range(especially with thinner heads). It made them a lot better imo. I didn’t cut the bass drum edges I left that alone was happy w/ the sound. I’m glad I got the toms recut and still have them.
I'm a custom drums builder/ vintage drum restorer ( copper city custom drums rome ny ) .... the bearing edges make a huge difference in tuning n full round tone of the shells to get the maximum tone outta the drum Yes the edges doesn't have to be totally flat to get a good sound ...BUT ....WHY NOT ?! .....why have a really good shell n soo ok decent edges ? Why not have it perform to the max ? Are you gonna put a lil 2 barrel carburetor on a bored out big block drag motor ? Ive redone edges on high end kits , mid to low end kits and vintage kits .....every time it makes a huge difference and I stand by that outta experience As far as the 5, 6 7 thousand dollar drumsets made today I think it's totally wrong to send it outta the factory with not totally flat edges, just shows how much marketing they throw in ur face but yet at the end of the day a guy in his garage with a router n a flat glass n a good eye makes it sound better I think it's very important to educate people on the importance of the bearing edges , ive proved to people over n over again when they bring me drums they get in tune and then tune them up after I edge them ....instantly they become a believer
I recently had bearing edges redone on a high-end kit, and tuning became so much easier, and like you said, I could go lower. It is a little disappointing to buy a 5K kit and realize that things aren’t perfect. Is the unleveled edge issue a thing with all manufacturers? Or are there some better than others?
Ive done edges on every drum manufacturer, they do them quick just get them out the door becuz not everybody is educated about edges , they just throw some tape or moongel on it n boom oh it's OK, even though they just spend 6-7 grand , pretty sad actually and I'm not tryin to bash other drum companies cuz they do build nice drums but I feel they focus more on looks and finishes and marketing I rewrapped a 2007 mexican made pdp cx maple kit for a guy the other day and that had better flatter edges on it than a dw collectors kit I recut edges on a month ago !
Pretty much every brand and price range need edge work. They just don't have time or the people for detailed hand work. Or they don't have a good designer choosing the edge shape. But this is well understood and perfectly accepted in the guitar world. Even if you're spending $5k to $10k on a factory guitar, you've got $200 put aside for a setup. I think this is because a guitar is almost unusable without detail work but drums still kinda work and we drummers are accustomed to struggling.
The 45 degree works for snare drums, but Tom's and bass drums need more contact with the head . Fully rounded on the Gretch broadcaster sounds like a thump. Pearl reference kind of gets it right.
I bought a Tama Starclassic Maple (made in Japan...) in 2004. The 12" tom is more difficult to tune than the other toms. The best way I can describe it, is that it sounds like it has a Moongel on it. The tuning range is lousy. I have tried different heads, hoops, and even changed the tom suspension to no avail. I have often wanted to break this stupid tom. Today I pressed on the head all around the bearing edge and noticed that in some (many) places the head didn't rest on the bearing edge... I think I finally found the problem... I was going to sell it and buy a Ludwig Classic Maple, but now I think I'll have all the bearing edges recut. At least then I'll know everything is perfect. The Ludwig might have the same problem, who knows... 🤪
The bearing edges are a mess, i have examined different high end drums from multiple brands. They all have defects, sometime covered up with wood putty if u look close. When you take off the mounting screws you can see badly they were drilled. This has become a rubbish world full of marketing madness... !!
Bearing edges dont even need to be that flat. Too much attention these days on laser flatness.its not neccesary. You think they had em flat in the 50s,6070s? Ppl where smoking cigs in the factory with more kn their mind than flat bearing edges, yet vintage is all the rage, and they sounded great. It doesnt need to hold water like a fish tank. Were talking about a maliable drumhead place on an edge and air moves thriugh it. If they needed to be perfect and flat and geometric and squared we wouldnt put an air vent in them. If sustain is the ultimate goal nobody would ever use concert toms. Ppl got all this stuff ass backwards
Dude, you clearly do not get it. Apparently your exposure to vintage Drums is fairly limited. I can tell you from first hand experience that there is as much vintage garbage out there as there is vintage gold. Bearing edges do matter, that’s why there’s so many people trying to crack the code or come up with a new formula. When Slingerland and Ludwig started manufacturing drums, heads were made of calf skin which is extremely malleable… mylar (plastic, ‘modern’) arent. They’re very rigid. Yet, Drum design did not evolve in a parallel manner. I feel like I’m wasting my breath here…you’re just a contrarian, and are going to disagree no matter what I or anyone else says… Romanticizing the days when crappy drums were muffled to death. Yes it’s Vibey and hip, but most drummers are seeking resonance and tone. Maybe you need to do a little studying. Believe me brother I am not a troll, or trying to pick a fight. I’m trying to educate. Just like our video poster here. If you’d like to you can resist, and you’ll get a bunch of thumbs up. But I know and the poster here knows what the real deal is. ✌🏼
Actually, it's the companies that got it backwards. In the original drums of nearly every major brand, you'll find detailed edge work. Ludwig and Slingerland original hand filed humps out of edges until the mid/late 60s when they just didn't have time anymore. Original Yamaha recording customs had amazingly designed and flawlessly executed edges until going to an easier to manufacture edge. Same with tama of the era. Many brands lost their precision for speed. Just like guitars. When it comes to heads, edge shape never really mattered why we were using hide. Animal skins can take any shape and tune. Heat and pressure molded plastic is definitely not as malleable. Squeeze a 2liter bottle and pops right back in shape. Builders at the time were all adapting their bearing edges and adding a lot of precision. Some even directly copied the molds that formed the heads, into the end of the drum. Don't be quick to judge the past. Bearing edges were far more precise when companies had time and the original designer at the company.
In the 50s they tensioned drums tighter & modern tunings in rock were looser!!! You can compensate bad bearing edges by tighter tension like snares, but a low tension must be flat!!! 💯
hey bro's/guys/drummers there , i am a new sub for ya and i am a oldschool 80's drummer here and i love talking drums n music n such + i am looking for a cheap project kit/set , please message me or email me asap , i am in central pa though , thanks n we'll talk soon > tom !
Learned a ton about bearing edge production!
Spot on, simplified + showing the obvious edge defects on a flat surface.
Hey Jeff, this specific TAMA Starclassic B/B finish ("Ruby Fade Figured") was an exclusive for Guitar Center back in the early 2010s. The sound of this kit is the best from where I reside and tuning stability is amazing! Nothing comes close. Thanks for your work on this.
Now unto our final project with my initial Tama Imperialstar. I messaged on on IG & SMS. Looking forward to your response. Thanks!
I have a set of Tama Granstar ‘87 w/ power toms(8,10,12,13,16). Long time ago I was thinking of getting another kit to replace it and someone convinced me to recut the edges to 45° (tops and bottoms). It took some risk to do it and I was very nervous but they came out great. It was like a new kit sharper sound, better tuning and range(especially with thinner heads). It made them a lot better imo. I didn’t cut the bass drum edges I left that alone was happy w/ the sound. I’m glad I got the toms recut and still have them.
I'm a custom drums builder/ vintage drum restorer ( copper city custom drums rome ny ) .... the bearing edges make a huge difference in tuning n full round tone of the shells to get the maximum tone outta the drum
Yes the edges doesn't have to be totally flat to get a good sound ...BUT ....WHY NOT ?! .....why have a really good shell n soo ok decent edges ? Why not have it perform to the max ? Are you gonna put a lil 2 barrel carburetor on a bored out big block drag motor ?
Ive redone edges on high end kits , mid to low end kits and vintage kits .....every time it makes a huge difference and I stand by that outta experience
As far as the 5, 6 7 thousand dollar drumsets made today I think it's totally wrong to send it outta the factory with not totally flat edges, just shows how much marketing they throw in ur face but yet at the end of the day a guy in his garage with a router n a flat glass n a good eye makes it sound better
I think it's very important to educate people on the importance of the bearing edges , ive proved to people over n over again when they bring me drums they get in tune and then tune them up after I edge them ....instantly they become a believer
My Starclassic maple made in japan didn't do that. I could tune them almost however.
I recently had bearing edges redone on a high-end kit, and tuning became so much easier, and like you said, I could go lower. It is a little disappointing to buy a 5K kit and realize that things aren’t perfect.
Is the unleveled edge issue a thing with all manufacturers? Or are there some better than others?
Ive done edges on every drum manufacturer, they do them quick just get them out the door becuz not everybody is educated about edges , they just throw some tape or moongel on it n boom oh it's OK, even though they just spend 6-7 grand , pretty sad actually and I'm not tryin to bash other drum companies cuz they do build nice drums but I feel they focus more on looks and finishes and marketing
I rewrapped a 2007 mexican made pdp cx maple kit for a guy the other day and that had better flatter edges on it than a dw collectors kit I recut edges on a month ago !
Pretty much every brand and price range need edge work. They just don't have time or the people for detailed hand work. Or they don't have a good designer choosing the edge shape. But this is well understood and perfectly accepted in the guitar world. Even if you're spending $5k to $10k on a factory guitar, you've got $200 put aside for a setup. I think this is because a guitar is almost unusable without detail work but drums still kinda work and we drummers are accustomed to struggling.
The 45 degree works for snare drums, but Tom's and bass drums need more contact with the head . Fully rounded on the Gretch broadcaster sounds like a thump. Pearl reference kind of gets it right.
I bought a Tama Starclassic Maple (made in Japan...) in 2004. The 12" tom is more difficult to tune than the other toms. The best way I can describe it, is that it sounds like it has a Moongel on it. The tuning range is lousy. I have tried different heads, hoops, and even changed the tom suspension to no avail. I have often wanted to break this stupid tom.
Today I pressed on the head all around the bearing edge and noticed that in some (many) places the head didn't rest on the bearing edge... I think I finally found the problem...
I was going to sell it and buy a Ludwig Classic Maple, but now I think I'll have all the bearing edges recut. At least then I'll know everything is perfect. The Ludwig might have the same problem, who knows... 🤪
Dw puts two different edges on there shells
sup Jeff!
The bearing edges are a mess, i have examined different high end drums from multiple brands. They all have defects, sometime covered up with wood putty if u look close. When you take off the mounting screws you can see badly they were drilled. This has become a rubbish world full of marketing madness... !!
Bearing edges dont even need to be that flat. Too much attention these days on laser flatness.its not neccesary. You think they had em flat in the 50s,6070s? Ppl where smoking cigs in the factory with more kn their mind than flat bearing edges, yet vintage is all the rage, and they sounded great. It doesnt need to hold water like a fish tank. Were talking about a maliable drumhead place on an edge and air moves thriugh it. If they needed to be perfect and flat and geometric and squared we wouldnt put an air vent in them. If sustain is the ultimate goal nobody would ever use concert toms. Ppl got all this stuff ass backwards
Dude, you clearly do not get it. Apparently your exposure to vintage Drums is fairly limited. I can tell you from first hand experience that there is as much vintage garbage out there as there is vintage gold. Bearing edges do matter, that’s why there’s so many people trying to crack the code or come up with a new formula. When Slingerland and Ludwig started manufacturing drums, heads were made of calf skin which is extremely malleable… mylar (plastic, ‘modern’) arent. They’re very rigid. Yet, Drum design did not evolve in a parallel manner.
I feel like I’m wasting my breath here…you’re just a contrarian, and are going to disagree no matter what I or anyone else says… Romanticizing the days when crappy drums were muffled to death. Yes it’s Vibey and hip, but most drummers are seeking resonance and tone. Maybe you need to do a little studying. Believe me brother I am not a troll, or trying to pick a fight. I’m trying to educate. Just like our video poster here.
If you’d like to you can resist, and you’ll get a bunch of thumbs up. But I know and the poster here knows what the real deal is. ✌🏼
Never new this so interesting what would you do to a brand new guitar ? thanks looking forward to the next video
You would definitely still want an air vent in it regardless..😂
Actually, it's the companies that got it backwards. In the original drums of nearly every major brand, you'll find detailed edge work. Ludwig and Slingerland original hand filed humps out of edges until the mid/late 60s when they just didn't have time anymore. Original Yamaha recording customs had amazingly designed and flawlessly executed edges until going to an easier to manufacture edge. Same with tama of the era. Many brands lost their precision for speed. Just like guitars.
When it comes to heads, edge shape never really mattered why we were using hide. Animal skins can take any shape and tune. Heat and pressure molded plastic is definitely not as malleable. Squeeze a 2liter bottle and pops right back in shape. Builders at the time were all adapting their bearing edges and adding a lot of precision. Some even directly copied the molds that formed the heads, into the end of the drum. Don't be quick to judge the past. Bearing edges were far more precise when companies had time and the original designer at the company.
In the 50s they tensioned drums tighter & modern tunings in rock were looser!!! You can compensate bad bearing edges by tighter tension like snares, but a low tension must be flat!!! 💯
hey bro's/guys/drummers there , i am a new sub for ya and i am a oldschool 80's drummer here and i love talking drums n music n such + i am looking for a cheap project kit/set , please message me or email me asap , i am in central pa though , thanks n we'll talk soon > tom !
This isnt how the youtube comment sections works, this isn't your local craigslist.