Now THIS was a much-needed video! And, I don't mind saying that I am in shock. I thought we had really lost something with the B/B that couldn't be replaced. Well, not only was it replaced, it was surpassed! They still have that "fat birch" tone that the Bubinga imparted to the sound, but the sound is so much more focused and direct. And these are the first set of drums I've seen in a demo vid where both the overhead and room mics were just LOVING the sound of these drums! This is a FANTASTIC series of drums for the $$$. Shane, thank you again for all of the hard work!
After watching the beginning, I was about to head over to find a good video on the B/B, but then you beautiful bastards went and added the comparison at the end. You rock. Full Mix Walnut/Birch: 6:18 Full Mix Birch/Bubinga: 10:39 Head to Head: 11:31
I love them both. The B/B version is deeper and has a short sound. And the W/B version resonates more has a deep and fuller sound. I can definitely tell the difference. I'd choose the Walnut/Birch.
W/B over the B/B for me. People will have their nostalgia for the latter, but Tama really knocked it out of the park with this wood combination. Great video as always.
This is super late, but I just wanted to say thanks to DCP for this high quality video. I bought the Starclassic W/B in January 2020, and this video was one of the main reasons why. I wasn’t disappointed. I kept the stock heads on them for a while but then replaced them with clear pinstripes on the batters and clear ambassadors for the resos.
Thanks DCP ,another wonderful review. In this price range I feel Tama KNOCKED it out of the park.Im so happy to see the drum manufacturers continue to put out these great kits at a great price for the person whom can't afford the more expensive kits. There getting a great kit that they can be proud of.
@@dressedtosmellgood For starters,2 weekend players in my area have ordered them.Im sure there will be a lot of other players purchasing them as well.Very good drums at this price point Mark.
The DCP Drum Highlight of the Week! To all my young Drum Brothers out there, your Drumming options are endless and you have so much more available, so enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Can't go wrong with either of these two Tama kits!
Got a 14x6.5" W/B snare with a cordia outer-ply and its absolutely amazing. Threw some Evans heads and copper Puresound wires on it, tuned it up high and couldn't be happier. First high-end drum I've ever owned.
I think the Walnut/Birch would sound best outside live and the Birch/Bubinga for studio. Either way they both sounds great i would use them in any application thank you Shane!!!
Wow. The essence of the B/B sound but with some different spice. Both sound great. The birch is speaking the loudest in each case I think. I have a B/B kit and with single ply heads they open up more.
Is that a clear or coated? I've been using Black Suede Emps on my BB for 2 years and I'm tempted to try Black Suede Ambassadors (and also replace the resos with clear ambassadors)
The B/B sounds to me like is been EQ to fit on a busy miix with great attack and a fast decay (almost gated) to get out of the way as quickly as possible. Both sound awesome. I would buy the older one because is the most practical for my needs, but the tone of the B/W is awesome. GREAT VIDEO!!!!
BBs all day but I thought tama was gonna be in some trouble after bubinga wood was put on the endangered wood list which is the reason why they couldn’t use bubinga would is mass production anymore and save it just for Tama star custom drums. But man Tama really nailed it coming up with a replacement, I thought bbs were irreplaceable and imo they still are but the walnut birch is still a great hybrid shell to take the bbs spot
Thank you for all the time you put into making this video, it's extremely informative. I agree on the heads, and would love it if you did a short video with swapped heads. I'm a REMO fan, but top line heads either way. You're great people, thank you, and a big help for the drumming community, thank you!!!!!
Both my B/B kits sound better to me with coated heads. My Bubinga Elites LOOK better with clear heads but I still prefer coated heads. But we "hear" the head not the drum. The drum shell is simply a carrier for the head. Many of us drummers like our fancy drums but in the end it's the heads that we play and that truely matter.
I felt the same way about that Phantasm Oyster finish at first but I dig it now and if I were to get a b/w kit my wife said I have to get that finish lol!
This was the first well made video I've seen about the W/B's and the fact you did a comparison to go along with it? Fantastic. Always thought I liked the B/B's more but this video changed my mind. Incredible work guys, y'all should be proud of the work you put out.
really appreciate yall taking the time to make these videos, and at the incredibly high quality that your making them, keep it up! also birch/walnut wins my vote! cheers!
The polyphonic ride is my favorite ride of all time. I have the bb’s and i absolutely love them to death and will adore them for the rest of my life. Was sad to hear the bb being discontinued but this is a great replacement. Definitly wanna get a set of these as well but I prefer the bb’s overall but can’t go wrong with either. I seriously thought Tama was gonna take a hit since the bb’s are one of their best selling drums of all time but man they totally came strong and it’s just as good as the bbs it just comes down to slight preferences but both kits mirror each other in a lot of ways which was tama’s goal. Walnut was the perfect wood to replace bubinga with to match the birch. It’s crazy the quality of drums and hardware you get for this price. Tama and meinl all day!
This is a do anything kit don't be fooled by marketing, I'm 55 and been playing professionally for 37 years was an all styles drummer since the navy at 18. So I know a thing or 2 about a thing or 2'.... Love TAMA and love this set , I'm glad they changed the formula!!!!
Thanks for made this awesome review , you guys always raise the bar on the game!!! I have a B/B set and love it , I try the W/B at Namm and I find more bottom end on the toms/floors . A winner!! 🇵🇷🍻
Wow 😲 You folks are a class act!!!. Although I would only consider purchasing the STAR drums from Tama, this video was done excellently! Great 👍🏻 job guys!.
These tom mounts are the best in the industry in my opinion. Tama's hardware are so clever and solid. And i also remember how horrible were Pearl's tom mounts, i guess those are the worst ive ever seen.
I think you would be disappointed with maple after playing something as punchy and loud as b/b. That’s at least how I felt when I went from my tama starclassic birch to a maple dw collectors series kit. Maple just didn’t cut though in a live setting and got kinda lost in the mix. Depending on what kind of music you’re playing of course.
Birch/Walnut definitely has a more high frequency attack with a longer decay. The Birch/Bubinga has a more throaty darkness and quicker decay. Tough choice!
I liked the walnut/birch combo better. To my ears they had a fuller & stronger sound than the birch/bubinga. For $1,699.00, the walnut/birch kits will fly off the shelves.
My buddy had the bubinga birch kit in his studio and I hit them expecting a generic sound honestly but was really kind of blown away at the tone but with snap that they had. They felt good on the hands when hitting them as well. I just hit a couple toms on the walnut birch and I am thinking they might not have enough of the birch snap I wanted to hear. Overall I am a fusion drummer and I am afraid they just might ring a bit to much for me. To bad you don’t see B/B kits around for sale anymore.
I was wondering if I would find a video like that, and there it is.. you guys delivered (as usual).. another great informative and entertaining clip. Love it. As for the drums, I haven't had the chance to play w/b kit, but I have a b/b one, and it sounds pretty much as that in the video and what I hear there, comparing the two, is what Shane already described, so basically yeah, what he said, lol... Anyway, thank you for your effort DCP, for putting out those clips, wishing you success and all best!
Definitely would’ve like to have heard some coated ambassadors on there just as you said they would’ve supported that low walnut rumble a bit better. In future reviews it’d be cool to see head swapping for a sound comparison on the same kits
We thought about it, but it takes SO much time to swap all the heads and get the tuning right. If we didn't also have the world's biggest drum store to run, we would be all over it! ;)
Drum Center of Portsmouth I’d be more than happy to come in and help y’all! I’m right around the corner and would love a reason to visit the worlds best drum shop on a regular basis haha
I was thinking of getting the B/B now that the price has dropped but after watching this the Birch/walnut sounds much fuller IMO, especially the 10" and floor toms? Although I do not really like any of the current B/W finishes. I wish more companies would make a nice black sparkle.
The difference is very sutle, both kits are good because of birch.. i wish they make a hybrid star.. birch is such an awsome wood when combined with dark woods
I like the way you've started the videos with-OUT the full mix, but end with it now .... gives a better appreciation to the kit. And, I wasn't aware how clean the Byzance Vintage Medium Sand Crash was! Those 2 crashes went great together, the hats sounded fat too! I prefer a heavier ride, but it all sounded good. I can feel just a touch more warmth w/ the Walnut. I too and a Walnut fan, love the rumble!
Thanks for the comparison video. Great idea!. I think (maybe) I can hear a little more rumble and resonance on the WB kit, but I'm not sure. I've got a BB kit. My biggest problem with the WB is the 16" deep kick. I'm not ready to go back to a shallower kick yet. You're also getting one less ply of "exotic wood" (subbed with another birch ply) on the WB kit, vs the BB. Don't know if that makes much of a difference though
Shane’s description of full vs. quick was spot on, as evident by the drum-to-drum comparison at the end of the video. I’m not attributing the difference in tone to wood type differences though. Wood type differences in ply drum construction won’t influence the tone that much for such a distinct difference. This is more of a resonance thing. Wonder if the bearing edge cut is just a bit different in the new w/b kit? Did the B/B kit have the same bush league reso heads? Both terrific kits.
I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m ultimately liking the W/B more than the B/B. I’ve always been biased towards fuller sounding shells, so I’m excited to make this kit the first ever high end kit I’ll purchase
Ditto. Mine should arrive in a week or two. Super stoked!! ...glad to finally have a decent comparison video since it's nearly impossible to find these kits to try out locally.
That bubinga set just has more presence, if that’s the best word. The first set just seemed a bit restricted. But, every ear is different. Once again, a great comparison !
Most that purchases these awesome kits usually buy their favorite heads anyway. I know anytime I’ve purchased a kit I’ve always had two different batters and 2 different reso heads. My go to clear EC2 batters with clear ec reso... and my favorite Remo black w/ white pinstripe batter and clear ambassadors. For bass drums it’s always the clear EMAD2’s and I’ll ususally leave the factory reso bass drum head on unless I’m going for a old school look then it’s the evans calftone fiberskyn head. Never tried porting a fiberskyn to be honest but I’d love to hear this walnut/birch with the ec2 clear batters and ec clear reso’s. I do want either this kit or the Mapex Saturn V or black panther kit... either way I need 2 up, 2 down... and a nice 20in or 22in bass drum. Drums have come such a LONG way from the days of a simple 3 piece... now most don’t even come with a snare, seat, hardware, cymbals, etc... you MIGHT get a pair of sticks lol I love the in-depth review though! Thank you gents so much!
I own a Yamaha PHX kit and a DW Collectors . . . so high end drums are instruments I enjoy . . . that being said, I've believed for many years that IMO "dollar for dollar" the Tama Birch Bubinga was the best drum set you could buy.
Starclassic Birch/Walnut drums have vertical grain shells Birch Bubingas drums are horizontal grain .. Uusually only see the vertical grain shells in the higher end Sonor & DW drums.... I'd have to roll w/the Walnut Birch kit/ more body little more lower end, not as dry & brittle sounding as the B/B shells imo....
I'm here because I have been coveting the BB kit for years and just never bought one. Now the darn things can't be found anywhere easily. But I must say this new rendition of the hardwood birch combo is sounds incredible. As for the comparison to BB kit, there is such a wide range of tunnings you can get out of each of these kits and as he said in the demo he would prefer a different head combo for the WB's. In this particular video demo I do like the WB floor tom sound a lot. I just wish there was a better selection of colors for these kit's. I'm not a fan of that stripe in the middle of the drum on some of the choices. If I come across a used BB kit that I like I probably wouldn't hesitate to get them now just because of the rarity factor. Those that got the BB's while they could did well and I see no reason to switch. For those of us that missed that opportunity, the new WB kit is similar enough and maybe even better is some respects. Love the TAMA product line.
We've got blowout deals on the last few B/B kits anywhere! www.drumcenternh.com/drum-sets-add-ons/tama-drum-sets/l/att-drums-series:starclassic. Just sayin'.
Awesome video!!! I prefer the B/B minus the snare and floor tom. That walnut floor tom is thunder! There’s something odd about the SLP Bubinga snares. They have a bite to them that I find piercing.
It's funny but from behind the drums I always find too much ring, so I muffle for focused sound. From in front, I found the walnut sustain more pleasurable than the bubinga. Note to self......stop muffling drums!!!
Having owned a full Bubinga and a Maple Starclassic, I got to go with the Walnut. I thought it complimented the Birch better, personally, it came down to the kick drum. the Walnut kick sounded better to me
@@jamesjackson5418 First time I heard the Str8 about 10/12 years ago I wanted them!!!!!! Then I walked around the other side of the kit to check the price.....the sale price of 7k was a bit out of reach. STILL my fave tho. Damn!
I'm not a fan of the pure bubingas, but the bubinga/birch composition shells are maybe my favorite ever. Bubinga or birch alone imo are too extreme and always missing something tonally, but combined they have all the qualities of maple but with some added heft.
I would have chosen the W/B option, would have been really interesting to listen to them live. And since I allready have a full bubinga kit I would love to have something different. I love this candy looks! This will be my second drum kit.
