SPOTLIGHT ON THE "BE-BOP"

Now it is time to spotlight another addition to my collection which barely got a mention here on the blog.  This selection comes from way back, not only in time but also in position in my storage unit, meaning I had to dig extensively and move a lot of kits around in order to get this one out.

This is a Tama Imperialstar kit with a Midnight Blue finish that I bought on a whim, just because I was interested in a small, compact drum set as opposed to the offensively grandiose "Fortress" kit I had been building.  It had indeed become a disgusting display of hugeness to a ridiculous degree and I thought, Wouldn't it be nice to have a small kit in the corner instead of this monstrosity that takes up the whole room and blocks the door to the bathroom?  Seeing this little down-sized kit for less than 300 bucks on Ebay, I casually bid on it and to my surprise, actually won.

That was the good news.  The bad news was, I lost the auction for the matching snare drum.  However some time later I was able to track one down without much trouble and for less money.

KIT SPECIFICATIONS:

• 7 x 10" Tom
• 8 x 12" Tom
• 11 x 14" Floor Tom
• 5 x 14" Snare Drum
• 14 x 18" Bass Drum

At the time this configuration was being called a "Be-Bop" kit, though they later changed it to "Ready-to-Rock."  Nowadays they have dropped the gimmicky names altogether and just refer to it as an "IE58C," which means "Imperialstar Kit with 18" Bass Drum" although the Floor Tom is now 13 x 14."  I re-measured mine to make sure and yes, it is a smaller 11" depth.

This "Midnight Blue" finish which is no longer being offered almost looks black in these photos but.....

YIKES!!!!  DANG THESE DRUMS ARE DIRTY!!

Sorry about that.  I guess this kit has indeed been stuffed away in storage for way too long.  Anyway, the blue tint is more noticeable up close under brighter light and would probably look much nicer if there wasn't so much yellow pollen in the air.  In fact, the wrap was a much prettier blue in the photo from the auction in my earlier post so maybe I just have a crappy camera or the lighting conditions were not optimal.  Either way  these photos are good enough and I'm not doing them over.  Murky bluish-black will have to do.

I have now set this kit up in the house and have enjoyed playing it for the past few days.  Having so many vintage restoration projects going on, I didn't focus nearly enough on this quality modern kit before.  At last I am taking time to appreciate it.

My final assessment is: It sounds great, is fun to play and sets up easily with the steady and efficient Tama hardware with which it is equipped.  Plenty of "memory locks" and smooth-tightening wing screws make it simple even for an old guy with arthritis to quickly plop it in place.  It takes a little longer to set up the cymbals.

I give this kit an A+.

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By the way, Tama now has a new line called the "Club-JAM" series which features these smaller kits.  The one I have my eye on is the "Club-JAM Flyer" which comes in a snazzy "Candy Apple Mist" finish that is absolutely gorgeous!  It has a teeny-weeny 10 x 14" Bass Drum, a cute little 6 x 8" Tom, an adorable 9 x 10" Floor Tom and a precious little 5 x 10" Snare Drum.  Imagine that!  It's like my Star Junior Kit, only I would actually be able to sit down and play it!

Oh, that does it.  As soon as this virus crap is over and I get back to work, I'm snaggin' one of these babies.  I just can't resist.  Maybe I can find a used one for less than 3 C's.....