i bought these tymps at my local music store and when i got home they souded great right out of the box even with the stock heads.althogh i claim to replace them for some remo coated ambassadors. and i'm probably going to get a new tama drum kit soon too,

I love these things! You can tune them low to sound like toms, or you can crank them, and they'll really cut through the mix. They have a sound reminiscent of rototoms. They are very shiny and look great on any kit. However, the mounting bracket can be a pain. It causes the timbales to stick out too far off the stand. It takes a bit of fiddling, but I managed to get them set up perfectly. The mounting clamp is very sturdy, but it's cumbersome. Other than that, the actual drums are amazing.

I bought these to add to my set to play Rush songs without needing to place Moongels on my Pulse Pro Roto Toms (which works like a charm but requires me to be quick between songs during gigs...which I typically am not :) ). They were almost perfectly tuned right out of the box (I think I gave each lug 1/8 or 1/4 turn) and the heads are quite responsive and musical. I placed Moongels permanently on these to make them have that sharp tonal bark you hear in most Rush songs. Because they have steel shells (Roto toms have NO shells), they project a bit more for me. I mounted them above my 10" tom which allows for easy access. The clamp that comes with these is the standard Tama clamp so you can separate them if you wish. The thing I like best about the mounting is that the 6"'s mount is upside down compared to the 8" so stacking them evenly is a no-brainer.

I wouldn't use these as a substitute for "real latin flavor" but they definitely can fake it. I was very impressed with the looks, I was expecting something that looked relatively cheap, but they look great. The 8" does have more tone than the 6" but I haven't replaced the heads or messed with the tuning that much either. One of the better buys I've made.

My new mini tymps have enabled me to obtain an interesting professional latin sound which I could not get with my tom toms and rim shots off of my snare. I have them mounted between my high hat and left tom on a new tama stand with a steeply angled 20" medium ride for easy accesibility for either hand. They look terrific and the price was right. Feel very comfortable using them for both short and medium fills. I'm having fun.