Sonor-king of the micro kits?

S

StaggerLee

Silver Member
Whenever I ask what mini kit should i get, the answer is alway the same: A sonor. Either the safari or the 3007 jungle. I did digging and found plenty of pictures of these, people use them a lot and i was surprised at just how many of you guys swear by them (mostly the safari) and seen that even a few pros use them for low key events etc (theres a few pictures out there of steve smith owning one and using it both for practice and some very small sessions). So whilst these aren't prolite level german pro made drums, they are obviously very well made to gain the huge following they currently have. I know lately other companies have joined in with the small kits like tama metro jam, gretch club street and the ludwig breakbeats, but even with people asking which to go for they are saying the tried and true sonor is the way forward. I ended up playing around with the new martini, safari and bop kits and am seriously tempted too.... so are sonor the current kings of the micro kit? The only really high end kit ive seen like this is the kumu micro kit which is same sizes as the martini.
 
While I don't personally own one, I routinely play a Sonor Jungle kit at a local open mic jam. The owner uses Evans G2 clears over G1 clears and it always sounds great playing it and out front as well. For the money, it would appear that you get a decent good-sounding product.
 
We did a gig about a week ago and one of the drummers there had a Mapex custom micro kit and it looked badass. Problem was once he started playing it the sound, mainly the bass drum, was very underwhelming and didn't match their style very well. They were primarily a rock and classic rock band. The bass drum was essentially a 16" floor tom turned on its side. The toms were pretty much the same as I use on my Ddrum set, 8, 10, 12, 14, but didn't seem to have the power I get out of mine.
 
To get very small sizes truly delivering full tones requires some pretty special design, skill, & materials. Essentially, you're working with less of everything, & the shells are much more difficult to excite in the lower registers. All the lower priced kits don't really get there, & nor would you expect them to for the money. Anything by Kumu is always worth considering, & will most likely out perform the lower priced Asian sourced generic offerings, as they should, for the price. Those guys really know what they're doing, but you can go another stage up again in tone delivery. Unfortunately, that isn't a cheap option.

For the price, most small kits from the major manufacturers work really well. The bass drum is nearly always the weak link, followed by the floor tom. Cheating physics costs money, but good heads & appropriate tuning can get you a long way. Biggest differences I've found between the major makes of small kits is hardware suitability. From a sound pov, candidly, they all sound pretty similar to me.
 
keep it simple said:
To get very small sizes truly delivering full tones requires some pretty special design, skill, & materials. Essentially, you're working with less of everything, & the shells are much more difficult to excite in the lower registers. All the lower priced kits don't really get there, & nor would you expect them to for the money. Anything by Kumu is always worth considering, & will most likely out perform the lower priced Asian sourced generic offerings, as they should, for the price. Those guys really know what they're doing, but you can go another stage up again in tone delivery. Unfortunately, that isn't a cheap option.

For the price, most small kits from the major manufacturers work really well. The bass drum is nearly always the weak link, followed by the floor tom. Cheating physics costs money, but good heads & appropriate tuning can get you a long way. Biggest differences I've found between the major makes of small kits is hardware suitability. From a sound pov, candidly, they all sound pretty similar to me.
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Id go in not expecting a guru or ludwig level sound. It wont be me paying for it either (bands buying me the kit as both an early birthday present and to make it easier to gig). Im very tempted by the martini....not sold on the shell less traps
 
I'm completely impressed by my Sam Ash Sonor Players kit. It's a great sounding kit, but it's not exactly micro. (20 x 12 kick, 10 and 14 toms) The price was micro though, $399.

Beats the holy crap out of my Yamaha Gigmaster kit, 20 x 16 kick, 10,12,14 toms.

Sonor make great sounding drums, even at their lowest price point. I played a Sonor Force 1007 once and was very impressed with the tom tone for such a "cheap" set of drums.
 
larryace said:
not exactly micro. (20 x 12 kick, 10 and 14 toms)
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Andy's favourite compact kit sizes (especially the 12" deep bass drum). 10" x 8" with 14" x 12" completes my ideal picture. A 20" x 12" takes up less stage real estate than an 18" x 16" or 16" x 16" and is way more versatile/useable than any 18" or 16" bass drum IMHO.
 
StaggerLee said:
steve smith owning one and using it
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That's because he's endorsed by Sonor.​
All depends on what kind of money you wanna spend. The Sonor is a good little kit, for the money. Personally, the Whitney Penguin nesting kit, is my favorite, but it's 5 times the cost of the Sonor.​
 
keep it simple said:
Andy's favourite compact kit sizes (especially the 12" deep bass drum). 10" x 8" with 14" x 12" completes my ideal picture. A 20" x 12" takes up less stage real estate than an 18" x 16" or 16" x 16" and is way more versatile/useable than any 18" or 16" bass drum IMHO.
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You know, there seems to be something about the size of a 20 x 12 BD. My Sonor 20 x 12 beats the snot out of my Yamaha 20 x 16, all around. It's a great little bass drum.The cappuccino kit had a 20 x 12 and that was the only other example of a 20 x 12 I ever heard. Great compact size for a bass drum, that really delivers.
 
I think the bass drum on the Martini is too small. Safari and up is good. I think I sold a bunch of those for Sonor and I'm still waiting for my check. But I also tried the Bop, Gretschs Catalina jazz, and Luddies Breakbeats and have since settled in Pearls Vision Bop. A bit better made with birch shells - 18" is about as small as I'll go on a bass drum. I like the 18x14 size, makes me feel like Tony Williams when he was with Miles ;)
 
Agree with Bo, a 16 doesn't really make real bass drum frequencies. I don't even like 18's. I feel I have to work too hard and they tire me out.
 
larryace said:
Agree with Bo, a 16 doesn't really make real bass drum frequencies. I don't even like 18's. I feel I have to work too hard and they tire me out.
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On the other hand, the 18" is the best compromise when space considerations come into play, and it gets 'in the ballpark' when a bass drum sound is needed, although it sounds more like a 'gut punch' most times. Even Roy Haynes laughed about it in an interview when all these people were coming up with esoteric reasons why the masters like Max Roach were using 18" bass drums. Roy simply said something like "You ever travel around in a station wagon with a full band for a tour?" That's the main reason I like my little bop kit. Right now it's set up right behind in my computer room so I can practice whenever I want and it only takes up a 4'x3' space in the room. The whole thing fits in the cab of my truck, and in the trunk of my wife's Camry, and the sound is quite acceptable.

Of course, I also have two bigger kits and being a drummer is all about having the right tools for the job more often than not.
 
Still lovin my safari. Thought the 18" kick would be pretty unspecial but as long as I don't burry the beater it sounds more than fine. Easy to carry. Inexpensive small footprint sounds good with new heads for the toms.
 
Can we just make it a general rule that anything smaller than 18" is not a bass drum, it is toy. I'm really not keen on 18" bass drums myself but some of those Jazz cats can do wonderful things with them. I think the 20" is the smallest that I'm willing to go.

Agree with Larry, that Sonor kit with the 20x12" bass is a great machine, wonderful value.
 
Bo Eder said:
On the other hand, the 18" is the best compromise when space considerations come into play,
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I genuinely don't believe it is the best compromise Bo. 2" decrease in depth saves more useable space than 2" reduction in diameter, & the 20" x 12" (done correctly) can really get the job done without the "if only" nag in the back of your mind.

StaggerLee said:
A little treat :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA_o5c_v8Bo
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It might be a treat because Steve's playing, but sorry to say this, that bass drum's a joke IMO.
 
I meant it as a treat because of steves playing, its so fluid! I know the bass drum lacks, but when you need a really small kit and all you can get is what your bands willing to spare... it has to do :/ I quite like it... cant really afford anything higher like jungle 3007 etc and i didnt like the safari for some reason.... beggers cant be choosers in my case.
 
StaggerLee said:
beggers cant be choosers in my case.
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Understood, & I don't mean to be negative. Hey, you're getting some new drums!!!!!!! :) My only advice is to go the opposite way to most players trying to get a good low sound out of a small bass drum, & that's to tune it up high - especially the resonant head. Go lightweight on the heads too. Heavy heads will choke what little body there is out of the drum. Absolutely keep a full resonant head, & don't put anything inside the drum. It might not sound pretty from the driver's seat, but that's the best way of getting some tone to the audience.
 
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