During the 1970’s Tama was known as Star drums but changed the name in
1974 to Tama in order to forge a new identity for the drums that would be produced
under the new name. Tama innovated in the mid 70’s by offering improvements
in hardware such as memory locks, boomstands, cymbals mates, offset tilters
and multiclamps for the drums. These items are taken for granted now but were
innovations back in the 1970’s.Tama also offered the first double-braced
hardware for kits back in the 1970’s when stands were thin and often unstable.
The first drums under the Tama name wre the Imperialstar drums. It was in 1977
however that Tama establiished itself as one of the top drum companies with
the introduction of the Tama superstar drums. This was Tama’s first lacquered
kit and the drums were highly expensive. Prices eventually came down and the
Superstar set was available to any drummer at a reasonable price. Tama released
its Artstar series in 1983 as the new line of drum kits and is still popular
to this day.