Tama Seisakusho

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Tama Seisakusho is a division of Hoshino Gakki MFG. Co. Ltd. that manufactures drums in Nagoya, Japan. Tama's motto is "The Strongest Name in Drums."

1 History
2 Drumset Lineup
3 Notable Drummers
4 Links

[edit] History

The Hoshino Gakki company began in 1908 as a musical instrument sales division of the Hoshino Shoten bookstore company. In 1935 they began manufacturing their own stringed instruments. The company had little presence in the Western world until the mid-1960s.

In 1962 the Tama Seisakusho company was established by the Hoshino Gakki group to manufacture electric guitars and amplifiers. Tama produced a line of guitars that included clones of several popular guitars, including the Martin Dreadnought. At the time they were also manufacturing Star Drums, available in either the Imperial or Royal models.

The Hoshino Gakki Group acquired a small Spanish guitar company named Ibañez in 1965. At that point, they rebranded the guitars in the foreign market under the Ibanez name and continued to produce the Star Drums.

In 1974 Hoshino introduced the Tama brand. They were successful in marketing lower cost Philippine mahogany shelled drums at a much lower price point than the more expensive maple shelled drums offered by Rogers, Ludwig and Slingerland.

Tama was producing kits known in the industry as stencil kits, but this changed in 1978. Tama and Drum Workshop (DW) jointly bought the bankrupt Camco Drum Company. As part of the deal, DW received the Camco tooling and manufacturing equipment while Tama received the Camco name, designs, engineering and patent rights.

At the time, Camco was producing what was thought to be the best drum pedal on the market. DW continued production of the pedal using the original tooling, rebadging it as the DW5000. Tama began production of the same pedal under the Camco name. The Tama version of the Camco pedal is commonly referred to as the Tamco pedal to distinguish it from an original Camco pedal. Tama integrated all the engineering from Camco into their production process and the overall level of quality of their drums increased virtually overnight. The original plan was to market the low end Tama drums to beginners and use the Camco brand to sell high end drums to professional musicians. Unfortunately, even the professionals were starting to use the Tama drums because the low cost of the Asian made drums with the (now) high quality of hardware was a great combination.

Tama discontinued the Camco line, and started producing high end drumsets under the Tama name. The Tamco pedal was eventually rebadged as the Iron Cobra and is still available today. The Iron Cobra has the same configuration options as the original Camco pedal and the current DW5000 pedal. These are Power Glide, Rolling Glide and Flexi Glide. Power Glide pedals have an offset cam chain drive. This causes the beater to accelerate faster towards the end of the pedal stroke. This drive system is identical to the DW Accelerator pedals (DW5000AD or DW5000AX models) or the Camco Deluxe model bass drum pedals. The Rolling Glide pedals maintain a fixed ratio of footboard speed to beater speed and the drive system is identical to the DW Turbo pedals (DW5000TD3 or DW5000CX). Finally, the Flexi Glide pedals are a nylon strap driven pedal that has the exact same drive system that was found on the Camco pedals in the 50s. Again, DW makes a pedal with this same drive system under the DW5000ND3 and DW5000NX model names.

Tama is always designing new concepts and ideas for drummers. Recent innovations include:

Tama's Star Cast hoop mounting system is a suspension tom mounting system which allows the drum to ring out and vibrate naturally.
The Lever Glide Hi-Hat system.
The Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Clutch pedal.
The Tama Power Tower Rack System.
Tama Octobans.
The Tama air-ride snare mounting system.
Omniball tom mounts.
Omnitune lugs

[edit] Drumset Lineup

Professional Level

Starclassic Bubinga Omni-Tune (African bubinga shells; lacquer finish with abalone inlays and special Omni-Tune lugs)
Starclassic Bubinga (African bubinga shells; Starclassic-type lugs; lacquer finish)
Starclassic Mirage (Acrylic Shells)
Starclassic EXOTIX (Special order only custom shells made of various exotic woods, such as Scandinavian birch, African bubinga, koa, ebony, Chestnut or Oak; lacquer finish with abalone inlays)
Starclassic Maple Reserve (Curly Maple/Maple Shell, Abalone Inlays, Brushed Nickel Hardware)
Starclassic Maple EFX (Maple shells; Silk wrap)
Starclassic Maple (Maple shells; lacquer finish)
Starclassic Performer B/B EFX (Birch/African bubinga shells; Glitter Wrap)
Starclassic Performer B/B (Birch/African bubinga shells; lacquer finish)
Starclassic Performer EFX (Birch shells; Glitter Wrap, Liquid Metal Wrap, Black/White Silk Wrap)
Starclassic Performer (Birch shells; lacquer finish)

Semi-professional Level

Superstar Custom (Birch shells, for sound, with Basswood exterior and interior plies, for aesthetics; lacquer finish)
Superstar EFX (Birch shells, for sound, with Basswood interior plies, for aesthetics; Satin wrap)
Superstar (Birch shells, for sound, with Basswood interior plies, for aesthetics; solid color wrap)

Beginner Level

Imperialstar (Poplar shells; solid color wrap)
Swingstar (Discontinued Shortly) (Philippine mahogany shells; solid color wrap)
Stagestar (Philippine mahogany shells; solid color wrap)

Tama Drums are hand made. On the Starclassic drums, the inside of each shell is signed by the person who crafted the drum. The Silk wraps look identical to the vintage 'Onyx' finish found on '50s era Rogers drums. The Glitter wraps look identical to the 'Flakes' finish found on the '30s era Ludwig drums. The Vintage wraps look identical to the vintage 'Marine Pearl' finish found on '50s era Slingerland and Ludwig drums. The Satin wraps look identical to the 'Satin Flame Pearl' finish found on late '60s era Slingerland and Camco drums.

Most Starclassic drums are also available in Neo-Retro, Hyper-Drive, Flashback and Warlord styles. Neo-Retro configurations have deeper than normal shells, and a sparkle fade laquer finish. Hyper-Drive configurations have shallow shells with a glitter wrap and black hardware. Flashback kits have marine pearl wraps and nickel hardware. Warlord drums have ornate badges and lugs that feature Swarovski crystals. Not all drums are available in all markets, and some drums have a 'limited release' along with a numbered certificate of authenticity. For example, the Koa Starclassic EXOTIX series is limited to 50 drum kits released in North America.