Which Drumkit for my small live room?

[HiRaX]

Hey everyone, I've been playing for about 12 years or so and work in a fairly small studio here in NYC. I've been searching around for different types of kits (5 piece) to put in our very small, dry live room. I do a lot of Metal/Rock/Pop stuff (A lot of dbl bass too) and am looking for a kit with a nice tone, nice attack but has bottom end to it. Yea I know everyone says get a birch kit for tracking because of the attack and tone, but latley I've really been digging the GMS special edition series North Amercian Hard White Ash kits. Everytime I watch the videos with Nathaniel Townsley playing I swear the kit sounds sooo amazing. (Hes playing in a live type situation though)
I'm looking to drop no more than $2500 on a shell pack.
Any suggestions DrumSlutz? Obviously I'm not gonna buy anything without playing/hearing it first, but I'd love to hear what you guys are playing on.
Keep in mind our room is very small and treated with many panels (DRY!)
I'm thinking a Maple kit might be best in such a small dry room, because anything thats not boomy or round sounding might get the life sucked out of it in our room.

Thanks guys!

[ArnieInTheSky]

Man, this is a tricky one. Metal-Pop huh? Maple Custom Absolute. I think you're sizes will be just as crucial as the shells thoug. You can always tune a small drum to sound big, but to get a big drum to sound poppy never works. 10x9, 13x11, 16x14 mounted, maybe a 20 x 18 kick to get deffinition outta the faster 20" head and 18" depth for sub frequency. 14 x 6.5. That's what I'd suggest. Okay everyone else, cut this up.

jl

[chrisso]

Originally Posted by HiRaX

am looking for a kit with a nice tone, nice attack but has bottom end to it.

The best kits for that kind of wish list are old IMO.
Ludwig (1960's), Camco (Oaklawn or LA era) and Gretsch (70's and 80's).
Those are often what the top studio drummers use. You can pick up a 'shell pack' for much less than $2500 and use the loose change to buy some stellar recording cymbals.

Yea I know everyone says get a birch kit for tracking because of the attack and tone,

I've never heard anyone say that.....been in the industry 25 years.
Most just say, get a nice sounding kit, but the drummer is the key element.
Most modern kits are good, GMS, Yamaha etc, but the older ones I've mentioned sound the warmest (nice tone/bottom end) in my opinion.
I wouldn't go with a 20" bass drum if you do a lot of dbl pedal work either.