ahpek1
New member
Came across this post abit late but managed to copy my recent message at SDC:
"from my experience of nightly gig, repairing drums, setting etc, I'll break down the list below k, but this is thru my experiences and my opinion, others might differ..
Phillipine/Asian Mahogany Shell drums: Mahogany shell produce lots of lows but less on mid and hi range making it sound abit boomy and dry. The volume projection of mahogany is also low. To get that attacking tone, i always use single ply coated or clear skin on mahogany shell drum. One thing bad about asian mahogany is that it tend to warp easily and the bearing edge will become rounder(suppose to be abit sharp to get attacking tone). Yamaha stage custom uses a ply of birch wood outerply and falkalta wood-ply to make it stronger and last longer.
African Mahogany shell drums: African mahogany produce more deeper and richer tone that asian mahogany and it's drier, jazz drummer will love these wood for its dry and deep tone and a single ply coated head will add more attack to it's deep and dry tone. Still the density is the same as asian mahogany. For Pearl, they use maple reinforcement plies to strengthened the shell and to keep the shell round.
Basswood Shell Drums: Basswood shell character is the same as asian mahogany but it's louder than asian Mahogany.
Beech wood shell drums: Beech wood have a good balance of highs mid and lows and beech is stronger and last longer than asian mahogany. The only thing is that it doesn't project that much volume, basically the same as asian mahogany. For beech wood(i've used Yamaha Beech Custom for my club gig for 9 months), the best is to use double ply heads like Evans G2 or Remo Pinstripe. It's gives a beautiful attacking tone and it resonate well.
Birch wood shell drums: Birch wood produce the best attacking tone for drums, lots of bright attack but less on resonant. Sound engineers loves birch shell drums cos they're easy to eq due to their highs(treble) projection. Usually, drum companies produce deeper shell for birch to get that deeper tone and resonant(look at Yamaha Recording Custom). Personally for me, Birch drumset is good for close miking situation like in a recording studio or small to medium enclosed venue. 2-ply heads like pinstripe or g2 are good on them to add warmness to the already lots of attack tone from the birch shell.
Maple wood shell drums: As we all know, maple wood are the best for drums. All major drum companies produce their high-end drums with maple(with the exceptional of some exotic woods in their line of custom drums). Maple drumshell produce a very good balance of highs and lows and slightly lower on the mids which gives a good attacking tone and warmness. The big plus is, maple projects well and it sustain and resonate very well. And also, the older the maple kits get, the better it sounds.. For maple kit, you can either use single or double ply heads to suit your need as the maple shell kit don't choke or get muddy. The resonant these wood produce are nice to the ears.
And lastly, there's stronger and higher density wood that are used for drumkits like Jarrah, Bubinga etc.. i've tried playing on some of these kits but i couldn't give any reviews cos i didn't get to play it regularly..
Anyways, thats my opinion on the different type of wood-shell kit, remember, this is just my personal opinion and others might differ..
Keep the Faith
"from my experience of nightly gig, repairing drums, setting etc, I'll break down the list below k, but this is thru my experiences and my opinion, others might differ..
Phillipine/Asian Mahogany Shell drums: Mahogany shell produce lots of lows but less on mid and hi range making it sound abit boomy and dry. The volume projection of mahogany is also low. To get that attacking tone, i always use single ply coated or clear skin on mahogany shell drum. One thing bad about asian mahogany is that it tend to warp easily and the bearing edge will become rounder(suppose to be abit sharp to get attacking tone). Yamaha stage custom uses a ply of birch wood outerply and falkalta wood-ply to make it stronger and last longer.
African Mahogany shell drums: African mahogany produce more deeper and richer tone that asian mahogany and it's drier, jazz drummer will love these wood for its dry and deep tone and a single ply coated head will add more attack to it's deep and dry tone. Still the density is the same as asian mahogany. For Pearl, they use maple reinforcement plies to strengthened the shell and to keep the shell round.
Basswood Shell Drums: Basswood shell character is the same as asian mahogany but it's louder than asian Mahogany.
Beech wood shell drums: Beech wood have a good balance of highs mid and lows and beech is stronger and last longer than asian mahogany. The only thing is that it doesn't project that much volume, basically the same as asian mahogany. For beech wood(i've used Yamaha Beech Custom for my club gig for 9 months), the best is to use double ply heads like Evans G2 or Remo Pinstripe. It's gives a beautiful attacking tone and it resonate well.
Birch wood shell drums: Birch wood produce the best attacking tone for drums, lots of bright attack but less on resonant. Sound engineers loves birch shell drums cos they're easy to eq due to their highs(treble) projection. Usually, drum companies produce deeper shell for birch to get that deeper tone and resonant(look at Yamaha Recording Custom). Personally for me, Birch drumset is good for close miking situation like in a recording studio or small to medium enclosed venue. 2-ply heads like pinstripe or g2 are good on them to add warmness to the already lots of attack tone from the birch shell.
Maple wood shell drums: As we all know, maple wood are the best for drums. All major drum companies produce their high-end drums with maple(with the exceptional of some exotic woods in their line of custom drums). Maple drumshell produce a very good balance of highs and lows and slightly lower on the mids which gives a good attacking tone and warmness. The big plus is, maple projects well and it sustain and resonate very well. And also, the older the maple kits get, the better it sounds.. For maple kit, you can either use single or double ply heads to suit your need as the maple shell kit don't choke or get muddy. The resonant these wood produce are nice to the ears.
And lastly, there's stronger and higher density wood that are used for drumkits like Jarrah, Bubinga etc.. i've tried playing on some of these kits but i couldn't give any reviews cos i didn't get to play it regularly..
Anyways, thats my opinion on the different type of wood-shell kit, remember, this is just my personal opinion and others might differ..
Keep the Faith
