TAMA Imperialstar Review: Best Intermediate Kit?
As you may know, drums usually sound like, well, drums. And even with the inclusion of Poplar shells, it’s really tough to tell this is an entry-level kit. In my experience, it’s been a drummers ear, tuning ability, and choice of heads that bring the most out of a drum. Still, these drums sing.
Since the kit comes packaged with basic hardware and cymbals, it’s easy to write this kit off as a higher budget beginner kit. But the drum shells stand on their own, making this a top choice for drummers wanting to upgrade their cymbals and stands in the future.
I got a wonderful overall feeling when I played the kit at NAMM. It sounds amazing for such an affordable drum kit. Fortunately, the TAMA booth was far away from most of the other drum vendors, so hearing the kit was a lot easier.
This drum set is by no means low-end. You could easily make this a touring kit if you had a more expensive one sitting at home. If you’re a first-time player, the TAMA Imperialstar is a perfect first drum set.
TAMA Imperialstar
Colors, Finishes, and Configurations
Tama offers the Imperialstar drum set in a variety of different finishes and colors. The kit is sold in a 5-piece (single bass drum), 6-piece (single bass drum), and 8-piece (double bass drum) configurations.
What’s in the box?
The TAMA Imperialstar is the most affordable set to include so many high-end features. Included in the box is everything you need to get playing, minus drumsticks. You get the drum shells, hardware, Meinl HCS cymbals, and a kick pedal.
Drums
- An 18 x 22″ bass drum with mounted 8 x 10″ and 9 x 12″ toms
- A 14 x 16″ floor tom
- A 5 x 14″ snare drum
Cymbals
- Meinl HCS 14″ HiHat cymbals
- Meinl HCS 16″ crash cymbal
- Meinl HCS 20″ ride cymbal
- Additional FREE Meinl HCS 10″ splash cymbal (dependent on retailer)
Hardware
- HP200P Iron Cobra bass drum pedal
- Boom cymbal stand
- Straight cymbal stand
- Hi-hat stand
- Snare drum stand
- Drum throne
Despite what people say, Poplar shells are not bad sounding. TAMA Imperialstar comes standard with poplar. It offers a full and warm tone with a medium attack. A poorly cut bearing edge can make a world of difference when it comes to drum tone. TAMA uses extreme precision to ensure a high quality bearing edge.
Finishes and Shell Quality
Some drum makers will glue the drum wraps solely at the point of contact, letting the wrap buzz and eventually come apart. TAMA glues the entire wrap to the shell.
The smaller lugs on the shells allow for more resonance and much better tone. They’re 10% smaller than the Swingstar series and, instead of using traditional claw hooks and T-rods, TAMA developed a special hi-tech material that offers faster and more stable tuning of your bass drum.
TAMA’s strong spur brackets provide excellent durability and stability. Your bass drum won’t be sliding forward with these spurs.
Tama’s TAMA L-Rod and OmniSphere tom holder have received positive appraise over the years. The Imperialstar comes with the same awesome hardware. The tom brackets are rock solid and will keep your drums in place for all your gigs.
Extras
Included with your Imperialstar kit is the Iron Cobra HP200P kick pedal. This pedal was made with the same design principals as the high-end Iron Cobra 900 series pedal.
It’s a very smooth-feeling pedal and definitely is a perfect first kick pedal. It features a metal plate on the bottom for added stability when playing.
Sound
This is the perfect drum set for a beginner or for an experienced professional. TAMA is able to make an affordable drum kit that is both high-quality and durable. When you hear these drums in a room, they really sing.
The poplar shells aren’t quite as beautiful-sounding as a maple or birch kit, but they still resonate and have a great attack. The toms have a very warm sound and, depending on the drum heads you use, will either be brighter or deeper in tone.
The drum that sticks out the most? The snare drum. It’s very bright in nature but still has a nice thud when tuned low. This snare drum will stay in your collection even if you upgrade to another drum kit.
If you’re unhappy with the sound of the kit out of the box, you’ll want to learn how to tune each drum and potentially change drum heads, since sometimes stock drum heads can be junk.
