Tama Imperialstar King-Beat snare: Replacement Lugs

Far left = lugs prone to crack

It's a well-known fact that early-80's Tama Imperialstar "King-Beat" snares and some Superstar (Mastercraft) models have lugs that are prone to crack under extreme pressure.

Drum sites are full of guys lamenting a busted lug on their beloved old 80's Tama.

Looking for replacement lugs?

Well, you've just found 'em.

I'm gonna keep this post short and to the point:

• Do not try lugs with 2" (51mm) spacing for your old Tama snare!!!
• You need 1-15/16 inches (49mm)
• You can get 1 15/16" lugs in Europe from ST Drums
• UPDATE: I checked the ST Drums page and they seem to have changed this lug to 51mm, not 49. Please be careful before buying. Sorry for any trouble!
• This one is listed as 49mm: https://stdrums.com/en/p/st352sn 
• This baby right here: ST-LUGSNDO80

They will work perfectly for your Tama snare. I also heard they may work for Rogers Dynasonic, which apparently also has 1 15/16" spacing center-to-center.

My snare with ST Drums lugs, model ST-LUGSNDO80

This is a 2" lug. It won't work.



You want this. From ST Drums. Model ST-LUGSNDO80.
As noted above, they changed the hole spacing on this model! Be careful when buying anything! This one is listed as 49mm: https://stdrums.com/en/p/st352sn

(Pardon my cats)

OTHER OPTIONS

• Another option with 1 15/16" spacing seems to be from the Premier Elite line (formerly available at Drum Factory Direct in the States)
• A forum member over at Vintage Drum Forum (latzanimal) says he had luck with lugs from Allstar Drum Co in the USA.

Short Stack? Yes!

Perfect Positioning

I'm loving the short stack toms on my new Natal Maple kit. I'm a small guy (5' 7" / 170cm) and the short stack toms are like a dream. I'm thinking "why didn't I make this move earlier?" because I've simply never been more comfortable behind a drum kit. I'm able to get totally perfect positioning. If you're small, you might want to try short stack.


Sound sample. Rough mix, unmastered....

Natal Maple "US Fusion X" short stack kit - rough mix - unmastered by aaronburrconspiracy

But are they loud enough?

When I first unpacked the kit, I admit I was thinking "look at the eeny weeny little baby drums" (cutesy voice optional). But when I gave the ten inch a solid whack, my fears were put to rest. True these toms are not as loud as "normal" sized toms, that's almost certain. For example, when I put my 1983 Tama Imperialstar monster steel snare with the kit it does somewhat overpower the toms. But "not as loud" does not mean "not loud enough". During a very loud rehearsal the cute little toms came through with a nice punch that one of the guys called "focused", which I think is a perfect adjective in this case. 

The stock snare that came with the kit blends best in terms of volume, but I haven't made really found a characteristic sound for it yet. It's my first 5.5" maple snare, and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it. More on that in another post.

In early August we'll head into the studio, so soon I'll be able to post some audio samples. Stay tuned.... errr... update: see above!