TAMA Club-JAM 4-Piece Shell Pack Satin Blonde

What initially attracted me to the Tama Club Jam was the blonde satin shells with dark brown bass drum hoops and the vintage look. I was also intrigued by the unique sizes and favorable reviews of other users. I upgraded the tom batter heads to Evans EC2 SST and bass drum batterhead to Aquarian Superkick II. I put Evans e-rings on all the heads, including the snare drum head. I was pleasantly surprised with the strong expressive sound. The 13" snare drum sounds great. The floor tom and bass drums even sound good despite their shallow depths. Having played 5-piece kits with a 20" bass drum for the past 10 years, I thought I might miss that configuration and drum sizes but very happy with this kit's smaller footprint and transportability. I am partial to Zildjian A cymbals and am always able to find them used on Guitar Center or elsewhere for a fraction of the new price. A little Groove Juice cymbal cleaner and they sparkle and play just as nice as their new $300 counterparts. I tried out a Zildjian A 18" Crash/Ride, thinking it would be a perfect cymbal for that bass mounted cymbal arm. Didn't like the sound, so sold it on eBay and ordered a Zildjian A 20" Ping ride. Going to see if that will work on that cymbal arm. If not, will stand mount it and put a Zildjian medium thin crash on the arm. I also bought the lightweight Yamaha Crosstown hardware pack. Super light and comes with a carry bag. Will review that separately, but I will say here that I am very happy with that purchase as well. I am not a working drummer. I spend most of my time playing and rehearsing home- aside from the occasional get together with friends, so a lot of emphasis on portability, quick set up and break down.

This is definitely a great buy for the price. First because of the lower price and that it includes a snare, I am sure most drummers would question the quality of the kit. I have had this kit for over a year now and I can tell you the quality is great, it is keeping with Tama's high standard. Probably what sold me on this kit more than anything (besides being Tama) is the small footprint. I needed a kit for practice and like most I only have a small utility room for the drums. The sound is great, I was really surprised with the quality of sound coming from the bass drum. I have never played a bass drum that small. At first I was not impressed with the snare. Usually with these lower price kits the snare is junk. But after experimenting with different tunings I love the snare. The toms have great sound, very versitile to different tunings. All in all the kit is a great buy for anyone needing a small kit or someone starting out.

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