Tama Superstar EFX Hyper-Drive

Even from a passing glance, it is immediately obvious there are physical differences between this and the more 'standard' approach to drum sizes. The suspended tom looks rather flat and snare-like in comparison to most, but it has been designed to produce a short and sharp attack. Of course there are rather more subtle features too, such as the shell construction and the material used for the drum rims. One really neat design feature is the Tama Sound Bridge lugs. These look like 'ordinary' high-tension lugs, stretching across the length of each shell, but instead of the whole chunk of metal being in contact with the shell surface (which could potentially impede shell vibration), only the very ends of each lug are actually bolted down onto the shell itself. And, rather than allowing the lug ends to gouge into the laminate, rubber gaskets are employed at each and every point of contact.

As with much of Tama's drums and hardware, there is a wide choice of available options, which includes the selection of shell wraps and finishes. With the Superstar EFX kits, the Liquid Metal finish (as on the review example) is one of two Duracover wraps available, with the other wrap option of the EFX models being a rather lush Vintage Nickel Sparkle. For the Superstar Custom range, there is a choice of lacquer finishes that includes Dark Desert Burst, Gray Pewter and Custom Titanium Fade. Furthermore, there are three additional Unicolor wrap finishes to choose from, and these are Brushed Burgundy Metallic, Sugar White and Brushed Metallic Black.

A set of 10 tuning lugs aside will ensure the best possible tuning results from the recessed, standard, square tuning bolts. These unobtrusive bolts are set back into each of the individual claws, which should help avoid a variety of possible snagging situations with leads, vocalists' chiffon or spandex attire and, of course, when placing this chunky kick into a case at the end of a gig. When sat neatly wrapped up in its packaging, the shiny ebony front head doesn't quite give away its full size — it wasn't until I had it completely out of all the bubble wrap and sitting upright that the sheer bulk of this 24 x 18-inch model became apparent — it is a monster!

With the exterior of this 14 x 6.5-inch model dressed in an array of stout, nickel-plated hardware, it gives a chunky and robust appearance, while to the interior the clean, unobtrusive grain of the birch ply slice is only just visually broken up by a thin and precise scarf joint and a label showing 'Superstar' and 'Hand Crafted by Hoshino Gakki in China'. A black, nylon ribbon holds the 20-strand steel snare strainer accurately and squarely in position, and is attached at the butt end by a clamp, together with two standard, square tuning bolts. To the opposite end there is a well-engineered snare throw-off and fine adjuster, both of which are extremely smooth to operate.

This suspended tom is a Hyper-Drive model and was designed to give more space and flexibility to the kit set up. One of the benefits is that it is able to produce a short, sharp attack, which should mean that it is well balanced with the other drums in the kit. This tom is basically a shallower depth drum, which looks almost out of proportion in comparison to standard toms and, indeed, the rest of the drums in this Superstar kit. The Hyper-Drive suspended toms are mounted on a chunky steel bracket via special holes in the die-cast rims. They are fixed into position via three rubber bolts that provide maximum possible isolation from the shell and are entirely independent of the tuning lugs.

As I mentioned earlier, only a very basic set of stands and mounting hardware arrived to test out the kit with. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning a word or two about the various items. I have stands for snare, one cymbal, a single resin ball-type tom mount and a Tama multi-clamp. This model is the Tama MC61 FastClamp, which features a unique sprung-jaw design that will fit onto any chosen vertical tube of a stand. The sprung jaw allows one hand free to tighten things up — even for dextrous drummers this will prove valuable.

Quite surprisingly, the floor tom arrived with both heads cranked up to such an extent that it could actually do a grand job of mimicking a timbale! However, a handy drum key came to the rescue, and as the head tension began to reduce, I heard those nice cracking noises as the head slid tightly across the bearing edge. Fortunately, the pitch came down sufficiently to allow this drum to become a real floor tom once more. In fact, it took less than two anti-clockwise turns to reduce the pitch significantly, and with just a touch of fine-tuning it was ready to go. I had to drop the pitch of the bass drum only very slightly, but raise the tension on the snare to quite some extent in order to bring this up to an acceptable level. Fortunately, the suspended tom only took a couple of tweaks and the whole tensioning process was a breeze, taking only a few minutes to complete. The overall feel and response of the tuning lugs and the way the heads react to each twist of the key is exceptionally smooth and very precise.

We are all subject to some very clever marketing hype and a host of manufacturer's individual delights to tempt us into buying their wares, but even if you are not the type of drummer to bother about how many plies of exotic swamp wood it took to build the shells or whether the kit was assembled under laboratory conditions by robots (or otherwise), we have to ask ourselves some fundamental questions here — is this up to the job of handling the pummelling and punishment from the well-aimed but brutal stick strikes? Does it sound as good as the manufacturer may lead us to believe? Does this kit offer good value for money? I can give a resounding 'yes' to all of these questions. The Superstar Hyper-Drive is a great-sounding kit.