New Sonor force set - Bass drum woes..

[manthe]

I bought a second kit for the studio. I love Sonors and I wanted a birch kit. I got the studio fusion kit, I believe. It is the small kit, as follows:

snare - 14"
HT - 10"
MT - 12"
FTT - 14"
kick - 20"

My other kit is a larger Pearl Export that I've loved and tweaked to perfection. It sounds so big and tough...very rock & roll

This new set has a beautiful tone and ring. I love it. I wanted something higher pitched on the toms, so it works well there.

The kick, though sounds so weak and dead to me. I bet the heads need swapping. I know the front one does, because the previous owner cut a hole well over 6" in it - which means there might as well be no head. Even still, I'm worried that with new heads, the kick will still sound wimpy.

Does any one else have a Sonor kit like this, with 20" kick? Is there potential?

[lowfreq33]

A 20" kick can sound great when tuned and miked properly, and with the right heads. Your choice of beater material makes a big difference too. I wish I could give you some specific advice, but without knowing what you're looking for it's kind of hard to say.

[Kiwiburger]

Have you tried tuning it? Your taste is probably completely different to mine. I actually prefer deep thuddy kicks, and completely cut out the resonant head for those vintage 60's & 70's tone.

I have a Mapex M-Birch studio kit, with a 22" kick. I've sometimes wondered whether I should have got a 20". Although i've just built a very solid, rubber mounted drum riser, and my kick and toms are so much better coupled to the room - i'm really pleased with the difference.

There is such a huge range in taste for kick drum sounds - I have no doubt you will can get some great sounds out of it. Just buy some new heads and experiment.

[Kadden Heart]

as a drummer who's not the best at tuning i always buy the bigest damn kick i can find.

i had an old 20" yamaha kick, i tuned the beater head as loose as possible while still allowing me to bounce on it, then just amde sure there were no ripples,... the front head had a hole big enough for a d112 to fit in towards the bottom side, i tuned this one down then raised is a few turns at a time while checking it until it just sang.

if you dont have someone to kick it while you raise the front head,.. stick your mouth right up to the head (opposite the hole) and hum into it in a low pitch,..you will be able to hear a beautiful warm, full resonance when it reaches it's optimum tone.

this may not be the biggest kick int he world, but it will surely be the most optimum tuning that allows the kick to boom to the best it can.
with the beater like this you'll surely get a nice "TACK" out of it.
lol

very little to no muffling ont he beater head.

if you are looking for a thuddier, muddier, softer, boomier kick you'll need to tune differently.

[reid]

I've always found 20" bass drums to be a bit weird, both to play and to get a sound out of - it's not hard to get the beater sound, but tone can be elusive. Important to get the drum to sound good for what it is - don't try and force it to behave and sound like a big, powerful 22" or 24". Have you tried the 'tunnel' trick? Build an extension of the drum using carpet / blankets / mic stands and stick a mic at the end. Good for adding oomph.

Definitely get new heads and tune properly - goes without saying.

[manthe]

Originally Posted by reid

I've always found 20" bass drums to be a bit weird, both to play and to get a sound out of - it's not hard to get the beater sound, but tone can be elusive. Important to get the drum to sound good for what it is - don't try and force it to behave and sound like a big, powerful 22" or 24". Have you tried the 'tunnel' trick? Build an extension of the drum using carpet / blankets / mic stands and stick a mic at the end. Good for adding oomph.

Definitely get new heads and tune properly - goes without saying.

Thanks. I'm pretty sure this is the smallest kick I've ever owned/used/dealt with. I think I am just suffering from low-end withdrawal! You're exactly right re: the beater. I get a very nice beater sound, no problem. That is nice, I suppose. I am not a 'click' guy, so I will typically not play that up. But, it is nice to have it there to mix in.

I just really want this kit to work out. My balance is all thrown off. My Pearls are also a lot louder and mix very nicely with the cymbals I have (all great/good/decent Zildjians). Now, the cymbals overpower the kit. I need to instruct some drummers (and myself) to go easy on the metal.

I guess the thing that makes me nervous is that the heads really aren't that bad. They need to be replaced, but they seem to have enjoyed very light use. As such, you'd think I'd be able to get a 'glimpse' of what I'll be able to do with better heads. I hope that isn't true. I have not yet been able to get any tone out of it. It has either been 'thwack' - like hitting the side of a rotting hippo carcase, or 'poof' - like hitting a pile of unfolded bath towels with a whiffle ball bat!

We'll see...