Yup, another Tama kit. This thing came out CLEAAAN 😬 The other Imperialstar is for sale on my Reverb page. reverb.com/shop/rdavidr

Can we take a minute to appreciate how much David's drumming has improved over the past few years?

I’m so inspired! I have a 1974 Imperialstar kit just like this that I basically destroyed when I was a kid. I want to restore them to look like yours.

man, i saw that big kick and i thought this was finally gonna be the first time we hear a 24 on this channel ;). I know the big drums aren't your speed, but im so curious as to what they would sound like in your studio, man.

David! Where you been man? I miss you posting videos more than once a month!

WHY DIDN'T YOU KEEP THE 24 BRUUUHHHH

I still have my 22/13/16 Imperialstar kit from 1983, and still use it, original hardware and all. Good drums that are overlooked by most who shop used drums.

For sticker removal, use zippo lighter fluid. Its strong enough to remove adhesive, but won't damage the finish.

VINTAGE TAMA PLAYERS UNITED

As a tama fan this kit is beautiful it sounds great, looks great, David you did a great job

I have the 1982 Imperialstar kit ,24,13,14 and the 18. Had them since 2013 . Love that warm sound. Awesome Video...

geeze... no love for the 13/24? this makes me a bit sad...

My first brand new drum kit was the TAMA Imperialstar in Royal Pewter, like one of the shell kits in this video! It served me well for over 25 years. I always thought that I'd be buried with that kit! It was my baby! But in the last few years of having it before I decided to sell it, I had to keep it in a basement, where it collected rust. The rust was heavy on some pieces. I also had the King Beat 6.5 X 14 snare! I miss that thing! Sometimes, when it was tensioned just right, I swear that it could almost play itself! Sweet drum it was! It was my first kit! I had the stands, hydra bass pedals, each for double bass, and Avedis Zildjian cymbals. The New Beat hi hats were awesome, piercing and heavy! They just don't make heavy cymbals anymore unless you pay out the wazoo for them! After I sold the kit about 10 years ago, I bought a Mapex Black Panther Velvetone kit. Definitely a different animal, but gets the job done. Sabians now instead of Zildjians. I still have 2 of my original cymbals from my TAMA kit that never sold in ebay. I'll keep them for personal reasons.

This is my favorite sounding kit you've done! Well done!!!

Those Tama's sound AMAZING.. You got Skills Distro

Man you spittin the phrases to rush was pure supreme

Glad to see u uploading more again

Hey, I really appreciate your videos. You really brought those old Imperialstars back to life. They look and sound great!

Man I love Tama, you did an amazing job with bringing that kit to life.

WD40 bath in a small glass bottle to soak all tension rods/washers/nuts/bolts screws works great for removing rust, crud and grime. Also, one drop of TRIFLOW liquid Teflon on tip of tension rods will make sure tension rods slide into threaded lug inserts effortlessly. Nice vintage TAMA Imperialstar restoration David! Happy New Year 2020!!

Hi key, I'm so proud of Dave for how much he's improved over the years. Like being on freaking Drumeo dude. Big Congrats man!!! Much love from North Carolina!!

Just ordered an '84 Tama Imperialstar with 22x14, 12x8, 14x10, and a 16x16. Jet black. Coming in the mail soon. Looks a bit grimy in the photos - this vid has inspired me to really take them apart and give them the soapy massage they deserve after all these years.

Very Nice TAMA kit & Good Drumming David

Sweet kit. Nice clean up job

I have that same kit from the early 80's. Mine is a 12, 13, 18 toms and 24 bass drum. The wrap cracked about 10 years ago so I pulled it off and wrapped it in auto vinyl and it looks great. Still play these drums at church regularly. This is even the same color as mine originally.

Them older imperial stars are getting hard to come by like the kit your keeping. Liberty Devito played those with Billy Joel back in the day. Good find. I would put the 12 and 13 on a stand between both bases and have the super kit. But I'm 80s. Lol

Fantastic job and beautiful kit. I had one of those in Champagne finish, brings back memories!

Greetings from germany. I'm speechless, this was pure beauty. Really interesting und informative project und and work, plus you nailed it with the music. I love the vintage imperialstars, the "wood" looks crappy and many think they sound dead but I love it. Easily your best video this year.

Great job, they look and sound fantastic!

I recently finished my restoration of an 81 Imperialstar in white metallic. Octo kit, 22 and 24 with all concert toms. Hours of cleaning. Best cleaner was a 70/30 mix of white vinegar to water. Kills the corrosion and helps neutralize the rust. Aluminum foil and the mix to remove bad rust. Then polish and buff using simichrime polish. Just like new.

Such an awesome sounding kit !

That kit sounds badass. Love it.

I love this channel sooo much!

Absolutely love this. Gonna restore my vistalite with my dad and were gonna refer to this video for how not to mess it up. THANK YOU

Holy crap! Amazing kit

that kit looks amazing!

beautiful end product, drums and mix

This set sounds and looks amazing

Here's a tip- get a vibrating tumbler on amazon or harbor freight and use crushed corn media. It will remove all rust and makes chromed pieces very shiny. Imperialstars look great, but the sound is wanting.

Man they sound great!

Damn that drum set sounds good , love the boomy bass drum sound and crisp toms

You inspired me Dave. I picked up a set of 1979 Imperialstars from Kijiji here in Canada. It's like Craigslist. I got two 24 inch kick drums, 13, 14, 15 and 16 inch concert toms along with 16 and 18 floor toms. The snare was some piece of crap that I through in the garbage. Picked them all up along with the original kingbeat kick pedal for 125 bucks. The wraps were toast since the previous owner had painted them green, so I peeled all the wrap and I'm in the process of sanding, staining and clearing them.

Kit sound really good

You got that kit looking sick. Good job!

dude, that kit sounds great

Bass drum sounds huge. Nice!

Dope workshop/drum room. 👍 Very cool.

The vintage Tama kits you have been playing have a much bigger vibe the the newer Tama drums you had prior! drums like these that i was drooling over in catalogs as a teen are now vintage instruments... Guess that makes me vintage too. Nice sounding kit!

It's interesting to see the old school Rogers gray spray on the interiors. Great Sound and great work.

Dave, beautiful job on that kit 👍

This is Awesome!...I played on that exact same color ImperialStar for several years!:) Still got 2- of the toms I stripped wrap off of up in mu garage from that kit.

Going straight Breaking Bad on this hardware man.

Perfect! Good job.

Wow! Nicely done!😊

For mine i stripped off that old wrap and stained the mohagany a dark red. Added wood hoops to the bass drum. Looks amazing.

Looks good...sounds good as well!

As we say in Boston, That kit sounds PISSAH!! The 12” is one of the sweetest 12’s I’ve ever heard! Nice job!

Great job on the Tampa drum kit

Bruuuuh why would you NOT keep the 24??

I have seen this video so many times and it’s great every time i wach it

"It's pretty badass." Understatement of the year. It's awesome!

Love your stack, sound great!!!

Sick! Sounds killer

When I restored my 1976 swingstar I only used water. Boiled all skrews I boiled and allt the other hardware I put in the dishwasher on the hottest program.. I was quick after to dry everything of to avoid water stains. Stripped all the plastic of and replaced it with anther self adhesive plastic wrap.. Not as durable as original but It looks hella good. :) great vid as always!

David, the snare sounds great bro- great score!

That was my 1st kit in 1986. Same color. Awesome.

This Tama kit SLAMS.

great work! i love your restore videos! keep on!

Another great video! Just bought a Ludwig Element kit myself - it's in good nick but quite dirty, planning on cleaning it up and this vid (and a lot of your others) is a big inspiration to get going and get playing (I really like your vids and your drumming). Just wish I had a buffer cos the chrome bits on mine could really do with some more TLC than just soapy water.

Wow that groove at the end was heavy!

DAVID.... LOVE THAT SOUND!!!!

Next time you go to clean up any hoops or hardware check out 0000 Brillo pad. I worked at Memphis Drum Shop for 3 1/2 years and we used that all the time to clean up lugs.

I am beyond envious of this kit. And my heart breaks every time I hear you didn’t keep the 24”

I went on reverb to buy this kit. It was gone. Do another Tama restore. I'm a huge fan of your videos and Tama drums.

Amazing job

Love the groove

Dude, amazing job!!!! 👍👍👍

Love the kit

Nice kit👍

Such patience, fantastic job

So clean

wow. great job. sounds great too.

Sweet kit

Dude your info is five star, but your background music is the real reason I watch. Good info, dope music.

Love this, dude! Had an 88 Ludwig Classic Maple kit for a long time that had power toms (11x12, 12x13). Always wanted to cut em down to 8 and 9" depths but would've had the same problem with the lugs

This is my favourite restoration you've done yet, that kit is so sexy, there's no other word for it.

Great job!!!

We miss more videos like this!

New rdavidr vid lets gooooo

I have a 1971 Tama Imperial Star with a Viking Boom stand, Pearl boom stand and a Roger high hat. The only issue I have is my Tama strainer is busted at the handle and the darn thing is impossible to find in my area. I will take your advice and switch to wing nuts for my toms and floor tom. Thanks for your video on how the clean them.

What a great snare sound!!! danm it!

Sounds nice man

Beautiful, man just beautiful

Love the videos, I want more please :)

Wow, nice job. The old Silver Beast - RIP. Twas my 1st kit in the 80s, rusted to ruin by a warm sea breeze.

This is tough. I’ve been waiting for u to do a vintage tama kit

I have an Imperialstar with 2 24 inch bass drums wasting away in the garage,10,12,13,14,16,18 toms puter blue finish,the same colour as that spare kick you have. Used it in a band ,Hobb’s Angel Of Death.

you are fun to watch. awesome job

Handheld steamer with distilled water works incredible for chrome. Time consuming but thorough. Also recently discovered a speed wax called Lucas Slick Mist that works great on all materials even cymbals and reduces fingerprints. Has a cool bubblegum scent and leaves the finish showroom clean. Goof off is harsh and reeks. Ronsonol lighter fluid in the yellow bottle is slightly less harsh and scent free.

That screw you found goes to a Camco/Tama pedal. This pedals used two screws to hold the beater, sometimes one of the two wold come loose, and fall out.