Yamaha all the way!
You can check out my Birch absolutes here: http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30558
However, I do have problems with my Brass Nouveau snare dealing with the lugs. All the tension rods on the resonant side of the drum have cracked through the bottoms of the lugs because of the head being too tight. Come on, if I want the head to be tight I shouldn't be having that problem. Also, the piece which the tension rods screw into...two of them on my batter head, the hex screw permanently attached at the bottom, snapped off. Other than that though the snare sounds phenomenal.
As for the sub-kick. Well....it KICKS. I have done a couple of shows with a certain sound engineer and system (HUGE system by the way). One show he had my kick mic'd up with a 52 and a sub-kick. Result: deep, full sound that totally punches. The next show he forgot the sub-kick and just had the 52 and there was a definite lack in low end. But the next show, you guessed it, he had both the 52 and sub-kick and the kick destroyed...
That would be cool if that Gretsch were mine as it was the headliner's kit. I think I upstaged him there .
I love the birch kick. My band is laying down our next album at the moment (first time recording with this kit) and at the moment I have the resonant with medium tension, the batter (EQ4) at just barely tighter than finger tension, and a blanket coming right up to the bottom of the mic hole (you can see in the pictures).
It sounds great so far on the tracks we have put down, but I do want to experiment with a tighter batter tension for a punchier sound.
Just curious, Did Vinnie Colauita play a YRC before he signed up with GRETSCH? Anybody know?
Danander11, that's the first time I see a Yamaha virgin kick drum. May I ask if you got it like that or did you "virginize" the kick yourself?
Danander11, thanks for answering. When you do those pics, could you please take a nice one of that wooden plate so we can see what that looks like? Seems interesting what you did there.
Oak customs looks really nice.... I'm thinking of buyin one of those myself..
From what i've seen on the internet, they're not as expensive as the Nouveau or the maple custom.. but they look like profesional drumsets...
I wish i could play and listen to good drum kits so i can decide which one to buy, unfortunately i can't because here the stores only get them after you have already bought them.
I would appreciate if you answered these questions
Is it a Pro or Semi Pro drum set..?
what are the qualitiesof the sound of an oak kit...?
any other comments/suggestions.. i dunno, drum styles, colors, etc
Here's Keith Carlocks take on the OAK CUSTOMS....
you can hear him with Sting & Steely Dan
Carlock has been playing a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit and recently got a set of Oak Customs as well. “I fell in love with them—I’m using them for the Steely Dan tour,” he says. “The oak is a harder wood than maple, and there’s so much more sound coming out. They have a nice warm tone like the maples, but with more power, projection, and bite. They really carry in louder live situations. You don’t feel like you have to bash your brains out just to hear it coming back.”
FWIW.. I caught Steely Dan (Keith Carlock) about three weeks ago and he smoked! The drums looked great and his playing was impressive.. Knowing that the drum sounds were processed, it's a bit biased to say they sounded great, it's to be expected.. but it was really good. He reminds me of Krupa.. it's hard to see how anyone can be that smooth whilst playing so stiffly..
Here's Keith Carlocks take on the OAK CUSTOMS....
you can hear him with Sting & Steely Dan
Carlock has been playing a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit and recently got a set of Oak Customs as well. “I fell in love with them—I’m using them for the Steely Dan tour,” he says. “The oak is a harder wood than maple, and there’s so much more sound coming out. They have a nice warm tone like the maples, but with more power, projection, and bite. They really carry in louder live situations. You don’t feel like you have to bash your brains out just to hear it coming back.”