Top 10 Metal Drummers Playing Tama Kits | MetalForge

The metal drummers with verified Tama drum kit setups, ranked. Lars Ulrich's Starclassic Maple, Dave Lombardo, Mike Portnoy, Charlie Benante, Mario Duplantier, Eloy Casagrande, Gene Hoglan, Hannes Grossmann, Jay Weinberg, and Vinnie Paul — sourced from MetalForge's own gear guides, not guesswork.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which metal drummers play Tama drum kits?

Lars Ulrich (Metallica) has run Tama Starclassic kits since the mid-1980s, Dave Lombardo (Slayer) plays a Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch kit, and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) has run Tama continuously since 1985, one of the longest-running Tama endorsements in metal. Charlie Benante (Anthrax), Mario Duplantier (Gojira), Eloy Casagrande (Slipknot), Gene Hoglan (a formative Tama chapter with Dark Angel and Death before Pearl), Hannes Grossmann (a Tama chapter through Obscura before his current DW kit), Jay Weinberg (former Slipknot), and Vinnie Paul (Pantera) round out MetalForge's most extensively documented Tama artists.

What is the Tama Starclassic Series?

Starclassic is Tama's flagship professional drum line, produced in finishes like Maple, Bubinga, and Walnut/Birch that change the kit's tonal character. Lars Ulrich and Charlie Benante run Maple shells for a balanced, articulate attack, while Mario Duplantier and Eloy Casagrande run Bubinga for a darker, more focused low end suited to Gojira's and Slipknot's down-tuned material.

Do any drummers on this list play both Tama and DW?

Hannes Grossmann is the clearest example: he built a Tama Starclassic Maple kit in 2001 that carried through Obscura's 2009 breakthrough "Cosmogenesis," then moved to a DW Collector's Series kit in 2014 for his current work with Alkaloid. Mike Portnoy, by contrast, has no DW chapter at all — he's been a continuous Tama endorser since 1985, one of the longest-running endorsements in metal.

Gear Deep Dives & Articles

1. Lars Ulrich — Tama Starclassic Maple — metal's defining kit since the mid-1980s. Lars Ulrich has been a Tama endorser since the mid-1980s, running a Tama Starclassic Maple kit in custom black finish alongside his signature Tama LU1465 14"x6.5" steel snare, engineered specifically to cut through Metallica's wall of guitars. Paired with a Tama Iron Cobra 900 Power Glide double pedal, it's the exact setup that has anchored Metallica's sound from "Master of Puppets" through "72 Seasons." Ulrich earns rank #1 as the most recognizable and longest-documented Tama artist in metal, having played the brand exclusively for over three decades.
2. Dave Lombardo — Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch — Slayer's founding drummer's modern rig. Dave Lombardo has been a Tama endorser for most of his career, running a Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch kit with a Tama S.L.P. 14"x6.5" G-Maple snare and Tama Iron Cobra 900 double pedal in his current work, including his time in Pantera's reunion lineup. Lombardo earns rank #2 as one of thrash metal's most influential drummers and a documented Tama artist across multiple bands and decades.
3. Mike Portnoy — Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch — one of metal's longest-running Tama endorsements. Mike Portnoy has been a Tama endorser continuously since Dream Theater's earliest years in 1985 — one of the longest-running Tama endorsements in metal — starting on a Tama Artstar II 8-piece custom kit for 1992's "Images and Words" and carrying the same Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch kit, paired with his signature Tama Mike Portnoy Melody Master 14"x5.5" snare and Tama Iron Cobra Power Glide double pedal, through his 2023 return to Dream Theater after thirteen years away. Portnoy earns rank #3 for the longest continuously documented Tama relationship on this list.
4. Charlie Benante — Tama Starclassic Maple — Anthrax's Big Four foundation. Charlie Benante has endorsed Tama drums and hardware since Anthrax's late-1980s rise, running a Tama Artstar II for 1987's "Among the Living" before settling into his current Tama Starclassic Maple kit with a Tama Charlie Benante signature snare. He also switched from a vintage Camco-style pedal to the Tama Speed Cobra in 2010, one of the longest single-pedal tenures documented in MetalForge's gear data. Benante earns rank #4 as one of the Big Four's two Tama-endorsing drummers.
5. Mario Duplantier — Tama Starclassic Bubinga — Gojira's dual-kick attack. Mario Duplantier is a Tama Drums and Zildjian Cymbals endorser, running dual 22"x18" Tama Starclassic Bubinga bass drums for visual impact and tonal reasons rather than a single kick with a double pedal, paired with a Tama S.L.P. 14"x6.5" G-Maple snare and Tama Iron Cobra 900 Power Glide double pedal. Duplantier earns rank #5 for one of progressive death metal's most recognizable dual-bass-drum Tama setups, built behind Gojira's "From Mars to Sirius" and "Magma."
6. Eloy Casagrande — Tama Starclassic Bubinga — Slipknot's new drum chair. Eloy Casagrande is a Tama Drums and Paiste Cymbals endorser, running a dual-bass Tama Starclassic Bubinga kit (22"x16" and 24"x14") with a Tama Bell Brass 14"x5.5" snare and Tama Iron Cobra double pedal, a setup built across his Sepultura years and carried into his move to Slipknot's drum chair. Casagrande earns rank #6 for bringing a fully-documented Tama rig into one of metal's highest-profile touring bands.
7. Gene Hoglan — Tama Superstar Classic — a formative decade before Pearl. Gene Hoglan played a Tama Superstar Classic kit through his early Dark Angel and Death years from 1983 to 1993, years before he became the long-time Pearl Reference Pure endorser known as "The Atomic Clock." Hoglan earns rank #7 for a well-documented early Tama chapter that predates one of extreme metal's most recognizable drumming careers.
8. Hannes Grossmann — Tama Starclassic Maple — a 13-year chapter through Obscura's "Cosmogenesis" before DW. Hannes Grossmann built a Tama Starclassic Maple kit with a Tama S.L.P. 14"x6" G-Maple snare and Tama Iron Cobra 900 Power Glide double pedal from 2001, the setup he played on Obscura's 2009 breakthrough "Cosmogenesis," before moving to a DW Collector's Series kit in 2014 for his current work with Alkaloid. Grossmann earns rank #8 for a documented thirteen-year Tama chapter behind one of technical death metal's most acclaimed albums.
9. Jay Weinberg — Tama STAR Classic Maple — a decade in Slipknot's drum chair. Jay Weinberg played a Tama STAR Classic Maple kit (22"x18" bass, 10"x8", 12"x9", 14"x12" toms) as an official Tama endorsee throughout his 2014-2023 tenure in Slipknot, before moving on to SJC Custom Drums after his departure from the band. Weinberg earns rank #9 for a fully documented, decade-long Tama chapter in one of metal's most visible drum chairs.
10. Vinnie Paul — A brief but real Tama chapter during Pantera's breakthrough. Vinnie Paul played Tama drums during Pantera's 1990-1992 "Cowboys from Hell" era, an early chapter in an equipment evolution that later moved through Remo and Pearl before he settled on ddrum for the rest of his career, including his own ddrum Vinnie Paul Signature Series. Paul earns rank #10 for a well-documented, time-bounded Tama stint at the start of groove metal's most influential band.

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