TAMA DRUM KITS

Tama Started in 1974 though Hoshino Gakki began manufacturing drums in 1965 under the name 'Star Drums'. Hoshino, the family name of the founder, translates to 'star field,' thus the selection of the 'Star Drums' brand name and the model ranges 'Star' which feature in many Tama model range titles. In the 1970's Tama had acquired the other half of the Camco purchase (DW bought the tools)  which gave them rights to the Camco name and designs, Tama integrated Camco engineering into their production process and the overall level of quality of their drums increased rapidly.

Tama has produced some incredible professional line drum kits over the years such as the Granstar, Crestar & Artstar. The company has always offered great value kits for the entry and semi pro markets too such as the Rockstar and Superstar. One of the kits that firmly put Tama on the map was the introduction of the Starclassic in 1990's At the time it offered the revolutionary Starcast Mount, Starcast Hoops and super thin Maple shells. Over the years the range has come in different shell options such as Bubinga, Birch and Birch Bubinga. In 2009 production of the Starclassic was moved from Japan to China and the new Star Series drums were launched as the new Japanese flagship.

Over the years many of the worlds greatest drummers have selected Tama, possibly the most iconic being Simon Phillips famous for his many monster set ups that includes Tama's unique invention - 'the octobans' and 'the gong drum' Other notable players include Dave Grohl who played an Artstar during his drumming years with Nirvana, Lars Ulrich, Billy Cobham, Peter Erskine, Mike Portnoy and Stewart Copeland.