Sonor Safari or Bop

T

tunnelman3

Junior Member
Hello all!

I am excited about purchasing either of these kits. I would appreciate any input in deciding between the Safari or the Bop....

Thanks!
 
Another choice: The Sonor Player 4-Piece Shell Set looks to now be available from some dealers. the 20x12 bass drum makes this really easy to move. The snare is pretty useless but the shell tom and floor tom sound very good.
 
I freaking love my BOP.

both are good, but it depends on what you want.

for me the idea of the 16 is nice.. but mic'd or live it wouldn't be enough... nor would it work with any type of music i play. I also like more boom than a 16 would get me. I used to have an 18 inch floor tom. lol

the 18 kick has a TON of punch and low end with the right skins and tuned right.

if you plan on playing any rock or heaver stuff id go with the bop.
 
If the choice is between those two kits, I'd go for the Bop, no questions asked.
Simply because of the bass drum size.
 
ncc said:
Another choice: The Sonor Player 4-Piece Shell Set looks to now be available from some dealers. the 20x12 bass drum makes this really easy to move. The snare is pretty useless but the shell tom and floor tom sound very good.
Click to expand...

I agree with the Player's kit. That 20x12 kick sounds nice and I can imagine it working in a lot more situations than a 16 or 18.
 
ncc said:
Another choice: The Sonor Player 4-Piece Shell Set looks to now be available from some dealers. the 20x12 bass drum makes this really easy to move. The snare is pretty useless but the shell tom and floor tom sound very good.
Click to expand...

The only place I've seen the Player kit is on EBAY. Which stores are carrying the player kit?
 
Either one should do.

I have the Bop, but I would have been happy with the safari. I prefer a 10" tom to the 12, but I went with the 18" bass. I might add ariser. I don't really like where the beater hits. It sounds fine though. Well built shells, nice hardware, flimsy rims, but they tune up easy.
You can get a good snare sound if you crank the life out of the bottom head.

I use coated g12's over ec reso's.
 
I have a Safari and it is a great little kit for small venues.
 
If your worried about flimsy rims get some wood hoops. they look amazing too. I bought this off a guy on these forms and am very happy with them.

I'd love if they had an option to go with the 18 kick and 10 tom.

you deff need a riser for the 16.. that's one reason I was sure I wanted an 18.




 
I had a Bop kit for a while, and I thought it was pretty impressive for the money (I bought it used, in excellent condition, but I'm referring to the regular street price new). I used it for teaching, because the setup was reachable for fairly young students as well as adults. In general, I had some issues with it that probably were related to keeping manufacturing costs at rock-bottom -- some I was able to correct and some weren't worth doing surgery on it:

Shells -- very nice, but basswood or something equivalent. The tone was good, but the edges were just OK -- mass production in a hurry. I would have preferred that the wood be sealed a little on the inside. I completely recut the edges and beds on the snare, just cleaned up and sanded the other edges.

Hoops -- 1.6mm triple flange. I replaced them with 2.3mm, which was a big improvement in the sound, as well as making tuning easier.

Depth -- the kick drum had a nice punch to it, but physically it was way too deep. In an 18" diameter, it would have been much more responsive (good for jazz) with a 12" or 14" depth. Had I kept the kit for gigging I would have cut the kick drum down.

Hardware -- Mine came with the 100 Series hardware. a little flimsy but serviceable. Non-standard threads on the cymbal stands. A great little kick pedal. Possibly the most overkill-massive tom mount installed on the kick drum I've ever seen -- just huge and ridiculous.

Heads -- upgraded all, of course.

Looked great and sounded pretty good, though. A fun kit, all in all, and that kind of price is practically pocket change as drums go.
 
I think the Players kit would be a better choice. 20" bass drums sound more like bass drums, and the shorter depth of 12" makes it really easy to move around (Ludwig used to rank out 12x20 bass drums years ago too). Diameter doesn't matter so much as depth - you take up a bigger unused footprint with a deep bass drum.
 
tracer said:
Not to redirect your thread, but I would also look ate the (yamaha) stage custom bebop...
Click to expand...

I've got that kit and it's great.

The OP didn't give a lot of info about what he's looking for - just a choice between those two.
The Yamaha is just a 3 drum shell pack - bass, mounted tom and floor tom. No snare, hardware etc.
That's fine for a lot of people - myself included.
 
New Pearl "Roadshow". Comes with all you see in pic for less than $400 I think. 18"x12" kick.

RS584CC707.jpg
 
Another vote for the Players kit. 20 x 12 is a great bass drum size. It seems really small, like a toy set, but it sounds pro. The wrap looks way classier than it's price suggests. I can fit myself and the kit in an area that's only 4 feet x 4 feet. I measured because I needed to know how small I can get. They sound really good. I did buy a suspension mount for the 10" tom.
 
Hi all! First off, what all all-star cast of helpful folks...super appreciative.
I realize I didn't list much info on my needs and skills and playing style.
Here goes:
- My playing style resides somewhere along the borders of dub, electronica, break-beats, post rock, minimalism.....so hard to describe...I love bands like Tortoise, Sea and Cake, Sam Prekop, and a lot of 70's dub. I know this list is a bit esoteric and diverse -- I just tend to copy these drum styles and sounds...not trying to be pretentious :)
- I am an intermediate player who needs a drumset strictly for home playing and maybe home recording.
- I would prefer buy a set that is ready to play. Not saying I need to have all the cymbals and stands, but seeing how I know little of drum heads (and cymbals for that matter), i would prefer a set that sounded at least tolerable right out of the box.
- I travel to Alaska for work, so that is the reason for looking something smaller.

Price limit w/out hardware: $700.

Because of all the great input, I have expanded to these choices:

Sonor Bop,Safari,Players; Ludwig Questlove; Yamaha Custom BeBop; Pearl Vision Bop (haven't heard new Roadshow so no idea how it would stack up); Imperialstar Bop. I realize the variance in price...since I am only playing at home for now, I am willing to pay a little less to sacrifice quality.

To add to my choices, someone else suggested looking at the Pearl Rhythm Traveler...now that is a compact set!

Thanks for putting up with my novella of a post...I'll keep you all posted on my progress.
 
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tunnelman3:

I'd say if at all possible, try to get to a store that has some of those sets to try out.
In particular, try sets with different size bass drums.
The smallest current production kit I know of is the Sonor Martini - that one's got a 14" bass drum.

I was at a Guitar Center store today and tried out a Ludwig Breakbeats kit.
That one has a 16" bass drum.
It sounded really good, but they had it placed directly behind one of those see-through sound barrier things.
I'm sure the sound was reflected back and the set would sound different to anyone who brought it home and used it in an open space.

That said - I've seen a kit with a 16" bass drum used outdoors in a fairly large area and it sounded real good.
It was mic'd up and running through a mixer/PA system though.

Anyways - personally, I like 18 and 20" bass drums.
I've tried smaller and they just don't do it for me.

About the 16" without a riser - the average bass drum beater hits at about 12 or 13" high.
If you use that with a 16" bass drum without a riser, you're hitting much too close to the top of the rim and will lose a lot of the potential sound.
I use a riser with my 18", but not with my 20".
 
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