AcousticDRUMS.com

[Namzrik]

I'm looking to buy a higher end Maple kit. My two top choices in my price range are either a Tama Starclassic Maple kit, or a DW collectors series. I play all kinds of rock, from soft almost poppy stuff to some pretty heavy stuff (which is my favorite). I've played a little on both brands, but I'm curious if there is anyone out there who has had either kits for a long period of time. When I played them I'm not sure if the people that had the DW had tuned them correctly because I wasn't that impressed, but the Tama sounded very nice. Everyone raves about DW, but I want to know what someone that's not getting payed to say good things says.

[El Matt]

My buddy has had his DW collectors series since about '95, or '96. Now granted, he's a DW guy all the way (throne, pedals, stands, dob-bones etc...) but he's already said, next kit will be another DW. I've played on it more times than I can remember, and I love it. If I didn't want to make my own kit, I would seriously consider a DW kit.

Now, about TAMA...I have a steel-shell snare, and an Iron Cobra double pedal (hopefully soon an Iron Cobra 'hat stand). I am very pleased with both.

When I was deciding on my pedal, it was between TAMA Iron Cobra, and DW Delta 5000. I looked at price, features, and who plays them (not as in my drumming 'heros', but the abuse they recieve). I decided with the TAMA, because basically, they are both quality high-end pedals, and the TAMA was about $100 cheaper.

I realize you are asking about whole kits as opposed to a single piece, but the concept is the same. Collectors series and Starclassic, are both high end kits, and should give you the same amount of enjoyment.

Hope that helps...

El Matt

Oh, yeah, one thing to look at, is customer service. My friends throw-off broke about a year or two ago. He sent it off, and 2 weeks later, there was a brand new one at his house, only cost him shipping to SoCal (remember, his kit was well over 5 years old).

[gadgetcoder]

Matt, et al -

Like you, I preferred the Iron Cobras to the DW's - MY reasons (in addition to the price difference) were:
The Cobras have more and better adjustments;
The Cobras come with a very nice hard case (at that $100 less), You pay extra for the
not-as-nice DW case.
The DW's felt too heavy for my style of playing (more jazz-rock than heavy rock/metal),
and I ralize this is merely taste and not about quality.
And basically, some of the exotic woods aside, the Tamas look nicer as a kit.

That said, I almost always use DW hardware (Snare, Cymbal and Toy stands. I am forced to use the drum mounts of whichever kit I am playing on. I own 7 sets, 2 Peavey kits (I HATE Pearl hardware, which the Peavys use. These are (or were) the best sounding drums made, I believe. They resonate forever!!!) 2 Yamaha kits (a Stage Custom Nouveau -great for the price - easy to tune, and they stay tuned; and a Custom Absolute Oak set, an INCREDBILE looking set); A Tama StarClassic Maple set (again good-looking and easy to tune); A Roland TD-10 electronic set; and of course a DW set I bought on eBay. I love them, but I am always afraid they're going to get scratched, so I never gig them. The kit I play on depends on the gig mainly, but I ususally take the Tama's or the Custom Absolutes (both 6-piece kits). If it's a big stage, I'll take the Peavey's (a 7-piec kit which I alsways set up with my Timbales and Djembe). I practice on the Stag Custom Nouveaus (6-piec with an extras snare). I also own three Axis Pedals and a pair of Yamaha Direct-Drive Pedals, which like the Cobras are extremely adjustable, (and inexpensive compared to DW's).

Currently, I am building my own snare out of segmented/layered KOA wood...