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Bubinga is 50 percent harder than birch or maple so the drums are distinctly heavy

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At the end of last year Tama transferred the production of its Starclassic Bubinga and Starclassic Maple kits to China. With Starclassic Performer Bubinga/Birch already being made in China, only the series-topping Starclassic Bubinga Omni-Tune and Starclassic Bubinga Elite lines remain Japanese-manufactured.

The five-piece shell pack sent for review was the first Chinese-made Starclassic Bubinga kit to enter the UK.

Tama has built its reputation on engineering prowess, design innovation and high quality end products. While China has become a destination of choice for countless manufacturers at lower price levels, production of high-end pro ranges such as the is less common. What lies behind the switch is the perennial need to keep costs down, and the price difference between this new Chinese-manufactured Starclassic Bubinga and an equivalent made-in-Japan Starclassic Elite tops £1200.

The new Bubinga kit is also over £500 cheaper than the Japanese kit it replaces.

With Starclassic Bubinga kits now being supplied as snareless shell packs, the five-piece review kit is made up of an undrilled 22"x20" bass drum, 10"x8" and 12"x9" rack toms and 14"x12" and 16"x14" floor toms. Two alternative shell packs are also available, while kits can be built from individual drums. With a single exception (the 18" floor tom), each diameter of drum can be supplied in at least two and as many as four different depths, including Tama's super-short Hyperdrive sizes.

Immediately noticeable is the striking finish, one of nine new lacquer finishes for 2010. The Silver Snow Racing Stripe is absolutely stunning. Only one finish, Piano Black, has been kept on from the previous finish options.

The shells are all-bubinga and are nine plies thick with the toms and floor toms coming in at 6mm while the bass drum is 7mm. Bubinga is an extremely dense wood - over 50 percent harder than maple and birch and so the drums are distinctly, although not uncomfortably, heavy.

The bearing edges are cut at 45 degrees with a tiny amount of rounding off. One of bubinga's defining characteristics is precise attack so the rounding off is probably intended to add smoothness to the sound. Inside the shells the rich, tobacco-dark hues of the bubinga are complemented by black nuts and washers.