Gaddabout Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 I am so happy I ditched my old kit and started researching for a new one. All of you who have helped me on or off the board have given me an education I could never repay. Things happened quickly today, and it looks like I have my new kit: a used 5-piece DW Collector's Series with mounts that a friend of mine is offering me at a ridiculously low price. I'll still need a snare, but I think that may be my custom project. Now that I'm done shopping, I wanted to recap some of the things I've learned. I think I'm going to create a webpage for drummers looking to buy a kit because of it, with links to the wealth of information that's hiding on the web. I've been inspired! Here's an off-the-cuff, first-person recap (apologies if I don't quite have my facts straight ... I'm still working on it): Maple and birch are the two most desired wood acoustic kits, and for mostly good reasons. While maple tends to be "warmer" because of the soft wood's ability to resonate lower registers, the "brighter" birch can achieve a more even sharing of lows, mids and highs by utilizing a thin shell. Also, the number of plys may not determine the width, because some companies cut their plys wider than others, so much so that one's 6-ply shell may actually be thicker than another's 8-ply. Personal opinion: I was down on birch until I played a thin-ply custom birch kit. It even had more warmth than most of the manufactured maples I played, without distorting like a thin-ply maple. I was excited, because birch costs cost less, although I see the industry is catching on to the wood's growing popularity by raising prices. However, my appreciation for snare and bass drums seemed to increase the thicker they got, all the way up to 20-ply, which is where the atomic "crack" in the snare because annoying to me. Not all mahogany is bad. Luaun (sp?) is the crappy stuff they use on the lowest of low. African mahogany, on the other hand, is quite desirable, if only more difficult to come by than North American maple for us in the U.S. Pearl makes a kit out of this stuff that is impressive. I'll be interested to see how this goes. Maybe someone can grow this stuff state-side? Metallic and "space age" shells are more than novelties. I played a Rocket Shells kit in LA. If I had the money, I'd be playing that carbon-fiber wonder. It sounds *gorgeous*. The bass drum alone made me wonder if I should plunk down $1,300 for a single drum. Wow! I've got an acquaintance here in town, Dom Moio, who endorses Trick alumnium drums. He plays jazz with them. They also sound incredible, although I think the snare is just too ringy for many applications. I almost want to buy one just because it'd give me more opportunity to talk with one of the most engaging drummers and teachers in the biz. =) There are many theories to bearing edges, and all of them seem to have their place and time. The three most dominant seem to be: one-sided 45 degrees; double-sided 45 degrees; and one-sided 65 degrees. My ear preferred the latter of the three, which Pork Pie utilizes, but it's not for everyone. It think it might be impossible to wash the "fusion" sound out of a kit with that deployment. Lots of tone and great highs and lows. The lot of us drummers don't give enough credit to the subtle wonders that make a good kit. I've had my nose in books, spent a hundred hours researching the web, called knowledgeable people, asked smart guys on this list ... I am intimidated by the engineering of drums! That's all for now. Thanks to everyone who took time to answer my questions, good and bad. I am forever indebted. [ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: Gaddabout ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidereal Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Congrats Gaddabout! Looks like you made an excellent choice. let us know what snare you finally decide on. I get a lot of compliments on my Tama Artstar, but I'd prefer a Noble & Cooley. some day. Don't forget how much of a difference head choice makes when trying out drums. It's probably the most important variable when testing kits. Just for the record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaddabout Posted December 4, 2001 Author Share Posted December 4, 2001 Originally posted by sidereal: Don't forget how much of a difference head choice makes when trying out drums. It's probably the most important variable when testing kits. This is especially true when trying out Yamahas at a retail store. For whatever reason they ship those things with awful heads. I also discuss mounting toms on bass drum vs. independent suspension. Surprisingly, I didn't notice a big difference in sound on the high-end kits, although there was a big difference in positioning with side mounts. There's a definate difference in sound when a floor tom is suspended -- much more tone and bottom end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidereal Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Originally posted by Gaddabout: This is especially true when trying out Yamahas at a retail store. For whatever reason they ship those things with awful heads. You'd think it would be easy for a major drum manufacturer to strike a marketing deal with a major drum head maker to ship all floor models with good heads. I know there are a wide variety of heads available, but they could actually match up, like deep drums with thicker heads and jazz drums with thinner, more resonant heads. This would be a win-win: the drum kit manufacturer would have good sounding heads on a kit so when someone tries them out, they sound good. At the same time, the drum head manufacturer would get a new customer accustomed to the idea of getting used to their brand of heads right from the start. I wouldn't be surprised if one drum head company doing this would create a competitive war with other head companies to strike up similar deals. And customers would end up with better sounding drums from the start. I also discuss mounting toms on bass drum vs. independent suspension. Surprisingly, I didn't notice a big difference in sound on the high-end kits, although there was a big difference in positioning with side mounts. There's a definate difference in sound when a floor tom is suspended -- much more tone and bottom end. Yeah, not too long ago I made the decision to take my toms off the kick and onto a separate stand. I was amazed what a difference it made. I also refuse to use a floor tom. It seems so 80s to me. Just for the record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaddabout Posted December 4, 2001 Author Share Posted December 4, 2001 I almost forgot ... since everyone else posted pics of their kit, here's the one that will be in my possession very soon: http://home.earthlink.net/~mself14430/dwset1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix stein Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Congrats...I have to admit my newest crush is a set of ice birch finished dw's What sizes did you end up with? felix's band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzman Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Looks real nice and clean, have many hours of fun drumming Gaddabout. Jazzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix stein Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Oh I see now, a 10, 12 and 14....what was I thinking I'd hang that black ambassador dw logo skin in my studio if I were you. felix's band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaddabout Posted December 4, 2001 Author Share Posted December 4, 2001 Originally posted by felix stein: Oh I see now, a 10, 12 and 14....what was I thinking The sizes are: The sizes are 9x10, 10x12, 14x15, 18x22. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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