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Tama Club Jam Mini Drum Kit - Charcoal Mist | *Cymbals sold separately
The simple and sweet TAMA Club-JAM Mini kit is just a kick and snare. Its clear yet deep sound from the Mersawa / Poplar hybrid shell is just right for those small and intimate gigs. While its compact size and configuration fit comfortably at any small venue or street show. The Drum Bag Set for this kit allows for smooth transportation (sold separately).
If you are looking for kit you can easily take anywhere, or if you want to get something for a younger player, this is a solid choice. I purchased this kit over a year ago to use as a kit to play in front of the TV following instructional videos and to have as an option to use in smaller venues like cafes. I like to tune the bass drum wide open, the front head is low-medium and the batter side is medium. I get a nice punchy sound with a Remo Falam Slam Patch and a wooden beater - just don't expect it to sound like a bigger bass drum. The snare drum, I tune medium-high snare side and medium batter side - and for the snare wires, I turn them a half turn more when they touch the snare side without sagging - so not too tight. It's a really nice snare, picks up ghost and grace notes and the rimshots are great.
You get a nice tone out of these poplar drums with the right tuning and drum head combinations. I can recommend Coated Remo Emperors on both the snare and bass drum batter heads, and an Ambassador Hazy on the snare side. The stock resonant bass drum head seems sufficient still now. In smaller venues where noise could be an issue, or maybe you are in a unit or want something more quiet to play on, you could use double-ply mesh heads and lower volume cymbals - even Gen16 cymbals without the triggers - and go for that cafe vibe without deafening patrons or going to war with your neighbours.
Having the cymbal arm add-on accessory attached to the bass drum means even less gear to carry, especially with a hi-hat and crash/ride only setup. I have found the cymbal arm solid enough to support an 18" medium crash/ride with some fairly energetic playing. The pedals, both for the bass drum and the hi-hat, are actually really good - I can happily leave my DW pedals on my primary kit.
Being upfront, there are a few short comings with the kit which Tama could easily fix. The snare stand is not great, so I stopped using that. I now use the mount point on the side of the snare to mount it with a Tama clamp to the hi-hat stand, which is much more sturdy and gave a bonus of even less hardware to carry. The snare throw-off isn't great either if you play a lot of rimshots - Tama could have easily gone with a MUS30A/B setup here, and I will probably replace my throw-off at some point. The throne is not going to suit any player who is tall and/or heavier than 80kg either, and as I am both fairly tall (6 foot) and heavier than 80kg, I had to use a different throne.
Those few issues aside, overall, I think this is a great little kit which can work for you portable and lower volume needs.
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