Tama Star Walnut 12 X 08 Tom Grand Aqua Blue

The Tama Star Walnut 12x8 Tom Grand Aqua Blue features 100% walnut shells to deliver superb durability and beautifully balanced tone. Part of the flagship STAR series, this shell pack features astonishing attention to detail to ensure a high-quality drum kit with unparalleled resonance, lusciously full tone and practical functionality.

Tama STAR Walnut Drums

The Tama STAR range of drums are Tama’s flagship line and it’s instantly clear to see why.

Tama have painstakingly built upon the knowledge and research used in the making of their Starclassic series to take their STAR drums to the next level.

They’ve gone over every detail, re-examining every aspect of the drum kit with the aim of enhancing the shell resonance and tone.

The result is a drum kit with innovatively designed hardware, thoroughly considered bearing edge design and clever features to ensure your drum set up, playing and pack down experience is as enjoyable as possible.

Tama Star Walnut Grand Aqua Blue Tom

• Size: 12x8

Favoured by the furniture building industry for its beauty and durability, Walnut delivers a drum tone filled with a well-balanced response across the frequencies.

From clear cutting highs, to a rounded mid-range and full, warm lows, Walnut serves up a stunning kit sound.

The toms are constructed from 6 plies of Walnut for a shell thickness of 5mm, while the bass drum is slightly thicker at 7 ply / 6mm.

Thick enough to provide durability and strength but not so thick to impede resonance, these shell sizes have been created to deliver optimum tone and a distinctive, warm fat sound.

The naturally “EQ’d” response of the Tama Star Walnut makes it ideal for both live and studio performance situations.

Providing the cut needed for the stage and the full tone ideal for the studio, this is a versatile kit for the diverse modern drummer who plays many genres.

Rounded Peak Bearing Edges

One of the most important aspects of a drum’s sound is the bearing edge. If this is imperfect, the whole shell sound will be undesirable.

The vibrations produced when you strike the drum transfer from the drumhead to the shell through the bearing edge contact point. The bearing edge is the middle man!

Tama have designed the bearing edges of the Tama Star Walnut to have a rounder peak than that found on their other kits.

This rounded peak is 3.5mm from the shell's outer surface to provide more contact between the drumhead and the shell to allow the vibrations to travel from head to shell more efficiently.

The result is a responsive drum sound that delivers unimpeded resonant tone.

Die-Cast Hoops

All the toms of the Tama Star Walnut kit are fitted with Die-Cast Zinc hoops to provide a durable hold and easier tuning

Offering a more consistent shape than triple flanged hoops, die-cast hoops are manufactured by injecting molten metal into moulds to ensure an even build.

In comparison, triple flanged hoops are constructed from metal plates which are bent into shape which can result in inconsistency of shape, which has a detrimental impact on the tuning response.

Having a more consistent hoop shape results in a more accurate and reliable tuning response providing drums that are easier to tune and that stay in tune longer.

In this instance, the die-cast hoops create a crisper attack, with drums that deliver greater projection and a more focused, powerful tone.

Super Resonant Mounting System

Tama Star drums feature a brand-new mounting concept specifically designed to minimise strain on the toms when mounted.

When a tom is mounted in place it instantly comes under pressure, stress and strain which results in impedance of the shell’s natural resonance.

That’s why Tama have spent a lot of time and effort researching and designing their tom mounting system to ensure minimum stress on the shell and hoops to maximise natural shell resonance.

Their patented Super Resonant Mounting System consists of 3 contact points; 2 on the batter hoop and 1 on the bottom hoop.

The contact points have been calculated to create the largest possible theoretical triangle on the drums to ensure a supportive distribution of weight to minimise stress on the shell.

The top contact points support the weight of the drum, while the third point supports the horizontal weight harnessed when the tom is put into position.

These three points dramatically reduce the stress and strain on the shell which increases the natural resonance of the drum.

Each of the contact points are also fitted with a rubber stopper to prevent vibration transfer between the shell and the mounting system.

Again, this serves to preserve the natural resonance of the shell and provides a strong tom mounting placement that doesn’t impeded the drum tone.

Quick-Lock Tom Brackets

Another impressive, ingenious, patented feature of the Tama Walnut kit are the quick lock tom brackets.

Part of the Star-Cast mounting system on floor and rack tom brackets, this innovative feature allows quick and easy setup and pack down of the drum kit.

The quick lock and the tom bracket are one complete device on the drum. This means that once your drums are set up in your desired position there’s no need to add extra locks or components to your kit.

All you have to do is simply slide the switch on the tom bracket to set the memory lock in position.

When the switch is slid the tom bracket then separates into two parts, with the lower “memory lock” portion remaining on the tom stand or floor leg.

No need for drum keys or extra components, a quick slide of the switch locks your positioning in place, allowing you to set and forget your ideal placement.

Then, the next time you come to set up your kit you achieve consistent positioning with speed and ease.

Another positive aspect of this innovative design are the hidden acoustic benefits.

Much like the Super Resonance Mounting System, the quick-lock tom brackets feature a rubber lining which serves to reduce vibration transfer from the shell to the tom mount / tom legs, which isolates the drums and enhances the shell resonance.

Hold Tight Washers

Created to prevent tension rods loosening as you play, the Tama hold tight washers feature a patented C-shaped design which is fitted with a rubber ring.

Over time, as you play your drums, the vibration from the drumhead can cause tension rods to loosen.

The rubber rings within the hold tight washers help to absorb the impact of the vibration and hence keep the tension rods in constant contact with the hoops to prevent loosening.

The result is a drum kit with more consistent, longer lasting tuning which means you can spend less time tuning and more time playing!

Minimum Shell Contact

Every component of well thought out hardware on the Tama Star Walnut shell pack has been created to ensure minimal impedance of the shell sound.

The newly designed lugs not only provide a sophisticated aesthetic, they also feature an extremely low mass bridge construction to ensure minimal contact with the shell.

Similarly, the bass drum claw hooks utilise the same principle by “floating” on the surface of the bass drum hoop.

The raised design of the hooks ensures the claws only have a minimal contact with the hoop allowing it to resonant as openly and freely as possible.

Instead of using separate badges that are drilled onto the drum, causing further disruption to the shell’s natural response, Tama have opted to use a stunning imprinted Tama Star winged badge.

The air vents have also been kept to a small size to further reduce the weight of the materials on the shell.

Grand Aqua Blue

This Tama Star shell pack is finished in a striking Grand Aqua Blue colour for an aesthetic that is as stunning as the kits tone.

Offering a lusciously creamy pop of aqua marine colour, this Tama drum kit is an absolute beauty.

The shimmering lacquer finish offers a shinning appearance that is complemented perfectly by the sleek chrome hardware.

Providing a head turning look, the beautiful finish of this drum kit serves to highlight the high quality tone it produces and the incredible attention to detail that has gone into the building of this instrument.