TAMA Imperialstar Metallic Blue kit

The TAMA Imperialstar Metallic Blue kit (a.k.a the Light Blue kit) is best known for being Stewart Copeland's first TAMA kit, which he purchased back in 1976 whilst a member of Curved Air.

Previously he used to play Ludwig Vistalite perspex drums, but then discovered TAMA drums and he hit it off immediately with them: "I was one of the first to spot [TAMA drums as a company], luckily. It was when they first started making drums and I saw them in a shop and really liked them. I was playing with Curved Air at the time, so I rang TAMA up and asked if they'd send me a set. They didn't want money or anything - all they wanted was a picture of me playing them. I didn't actually have to play them, but once I did, that was it." He even remarked that his sound engineer with Curved Air pleaded with him to get rid of the Ludwig drums as the TAMA drums "automatically" sounded a lot better.

The original TAMA kit helped Stewart develop his own unique sound as a drummer, adding further depth to his sound especially with his kind of drum tuning: "I like a really fast action so I tune the drums really tight, which gives them a fast response. But usually to get a really heavy sound you have to take your [drum tunings] down, which loses that bounce. But with TAMA drums you can tune them really tight but still get a very deep sound." It was his go-to kit for recording work and live performances during that period. He played this kit on the Outlandos D'Amour and Reggatta De Blanc albums. In addition to that, he played it on a lot of his early Klark Kent work, such as singles "Don't Care" and "Too Kool To Kalypso".

However, in mid-1979 the kit became a bit dirty and started showing signs of wear. So he instead replaced it with a newer TAMA dark blue kit. The Light Blue kit remained at his Buckinghamshire home studio (known as "The Worried Rabbit") for the rest of the 70s and 80s. Stewart by that point was using it on his solo projects such as The Rhythmatist and recording music for The Equalizer, as well as demos.

In 1990 this kit went in storage, and in 2017 was auctioned off.

The Blue kit setup
Information taken from auction.

Drums:
 * 22" x 14" Bass Drum, serial number 55474
 * 12" x 7" Rack Tom 1, serial number 55672
 * 13" x 8" Rack Tom 2, serial number 52753
 * 16" x 15" Floor Tom 1, serial number 55407
 * 14" x 5" Snare drum, serial number 62500

Cymbals: (These varied over the years, but here's the setup as given by the auction)
 * 10" Paiste 2002 Splash, serial number 313565
 * 20" Paiste ‘Sound Creation’ Bell Ride, serial number 9261(or 7)84
 * 24" Paiste Rude Ride/Crash, serial number 122031
 * 18" Paiste Signature Series Fast Crash, serial number C6066359
 * 14" Paiste 2002 Top Sound Edge Hi-Hat, serial number 122039
 * 14" Paiste Rude Hi-Hat (bottom), serial number 122038