Sonor Players Kit from Sam Ash

newoldie

newoldie

Silver Member
Anyone check this new kit out yet at Sam Ash or at NAMM?
The YouTube Video says it is an exclusive from Sam Ash at $449 and its got me seriously considering it now.
I own a used Sonor Safari kit, which I really love, since it delivers great sound in a compact kit, great price, etc. Changing out the stock heads has made the Safari drums sound equal or better to some higher level kits I've played around with at studios and Guitar Center.
The one thing about the Safari that bugs me a little is the bass drum is 16" x 16".
For that size, it delivers quite a punch, and in replacing the batter/reso heads, it sounds much better and cuts through the music I play mic'd up. But a 20" x 12" bass drum like the Sonor Players kit has is tempting since I originally played a 20" x 14" Premier bass drum kit when starting out. I like the shallower depth bass drums and with this size, it sounded on YouTube much richer than the 16" drum I have.
The Players kit is identical to the Safari kit in shell sizes, but it only comes in 1 color, which looks like a dark blue pearl. My Safari is a natural ash color. The Players also has a useful cymbal mount that attaches to the bass drum, which is another space saver and something I miss from the past. The bass drum size of 20" and the cymbal mount are the only "exclusive" things I can see differentiate this from the Safari.
I'm going to check the kit out if they have it on display at Sam Ash but its almost like the Safari kit I wanted in the first place, having the right sized bass drum.
Perhaps some others have tried this already but I didn't notice a post yet so chime in with any opinions or thoughts.
 
I stopped into my local Sam Ash this weekend and saw this lovely little kit there. I was in a hurry, but the look of this kit impressed me enough to stop and give it a quick-and-dirty test. I hit the kick a few times and tapped on the toms a bit with my finger. Not a very lengthy or realistic test, but whatever.

The 20x12 kick was very lively and sweet. It had an immediate punch and I could definitely see playing it unmic'ed on small gigs or mic'ed up on bigger gigs with no problem. I imagine the toms would sound equally pleasing. I like that it comes with a "real" 14" snare instead of a 13" or 12" snare like a lot of the undersized travel kits seem to come with.

Build-wise, I was pretty amazed that this was a sub-$500 kit. The hardware looked solid, and I really liked the dual tom+cymbal mount (the cymbal arm comes with it). I could see throwing this kit, a small hardware bag with flat based cymbal/snare/hi-hat stands, and a cymbal bag into the trunk of a compact car and heading out to pretty much any kind of rehearsal or a local gig with no problems. The finish was pretty nice, too.

If I had $450 in my pocket then the kick alone would almost have sold me on it right then and there. I would love to have a little travel kit that I could pack into my trunk. I am kicking myself for getting rid of my Catalina Jazz kit (18,14,12) kit a couple of years ago.
 
Cool little thing, I am happy about the drum sizes they chose. The finish looks good and everything looks well-constructed.

I do a VERY similar setup with my gigging kit, except I have a 20x17.5 kick. My Saturn kit was a 6-pc so I just take along my 10x8 and 14x14 toms along with whatever snare I'm feeling that weekend. I mount my ride and tom off the kick too, saves the need for extra stands.

The kit I would really invest in was the DW Frequent Flyer but they chose a 12" tom instead of a 10". And if their 14" floor tom was mounted instead of with legs, I would have bought that kit already. I'm not a fan of a 12" tom on such a little kick, it looks and mounts weird, at least to me IMO.
 
I just ordered this kit from Sam Ash. Ill post details about it (if anyone wants) next week after it arrives.
 
wildbill said:
I like it. Especially the 20" bass. I wonder if there's a matching 12" tom available for mix and match:

http://www.samash.com/player-4-piece-shell-set-splayerbg-p

Sonor also makes the Bop kit, which has an 18" bass - bigger than the Safari's 16":
http://www.samash.com/sonor-bop-4-pc-drum-set-shell-pack-in-silver-galaxy-sparkle-sbopsgsxx

A really nice line-up they've got going now.
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They also have the Martini- 14" kick drum. Impressive lineup.

I was really starstruck by the Player when I first saw it, I don't have the money for it but it looks like an incredibly solid deal. Excited to hear your impressions of it!
 
I stopped into my local Sam Ash this last week and they had one of these set up in the cymbal room. I was a slow day and the guy in the department if a buddy of mind so I got to give it a pretty good test drive.

Happy to say I was quite impressed. Toms sounded great, like really good. I wasn't expecting much out of the 10 to 14" spread but I was blown away, I do believe the batter heads had been replaced though. The kick drum was fitted with a set of single ply heads and had no muffling do it was a bit open and boomy sounding, nice projection though. I would just slap a felt strip on the batter side and that baby would be ready for a gig.
 
HI All.

Here are some initial findings on the Sonor Players Kit I received today. Keep in mind that Sonor remains my choice in drums and that this is a sub $450 US kit. These findings are not meant to be negative, but just what I noticed.

The first thing I noticed is that on the packaging it clearly says T.A.R. mount, however it is not a Sonor T.A.R. mount. It is a shell mount attached directly to the drum much like the Ludwigs of the 60s.

The cymbal/tom mount that attaches to the bass drum is of great quality and is very heavy. The floor tom legs are also of great quality. The bass drum spurs are old school detachable and there are no memory locks on them.

Upon assembling the bass drum, I found the hoop claws to look cheap and not of the quality I would expect from Sonor even on a low end kit. The hoops themselves are made of steel, not wood; even though wood bass drum hoops are one of the things Sonor is noted for.

The snare drum is very light weight with very inexpensive snares, and the tuning rods have plastic washers. I am not sure if any of the drums have Sonor’s TuneSafe, but they do not feel like they do.

The cymbal arm that is part of the bass drum mount, though good quality, is too short for players who are tall and like high cymbals.

The finish wrap is very clean, but the overlap is very noticeable on the toms. As would be expected, the heads shipped with the drums are not great and need to be ‘upgraded’.

So far I have only tuned the bass drum (using an Aquarian Super Kick III) and it does sound really good! I’ll post more in the next couple of days on the performance and overall sound of the kit. The 2 toms will get Aquarian Studio-X clears. The snare will have an Aquarian Hi-Velocity. I do not plan on changing any of the reso heads at this time.

Overall, just the 20x12 bass drum, the tom/cymbal holder, and the 14x12 floor tom make the kit worth having. I think this is truly a ‘nitch market’ kit like the Martini and Safari. If I could make one suggestion to Sonor, it would be to market the kit without a snare; the reason being that many players are going to use a different snare anyway. :)
 
Artstar said:
Hi Ncc.

These are made by Mapex. Not Sonor.
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I'm not sure I'd go that far. ;-) I have heard the story that Sonor shares a building but it is more likely that Sonor subs out to the same company that builds Mapex kits and that factory could be owned by Mapex. But any Sonor kits being built are spec'd by Sonor to that factory and have all Sonar hardware, markings, and dating the same as other (German made) Sonors; and sold as Sonor. This is also true of the entire Sonor Force series, for the past several years, as well as the Sonor 200 and 400 series hardware. It is common practice in this day and age to have one company spec out what they want and then have another company build it. It would not surprise me at all if most drums from any manufacture that is tagged 'made in china' , are all made in the same factory. ;-) Again, that does not mean they are the same..... :) Of course if you want the Sonor German craftmanship, you put up the money. ;-)
 
Nah Ncc.. I highly doubt that info.

I have been hearing that little story for many years..


Those are just the 9 ply Mapex shells. Check out the spec on the Mapex website.. and then the Sonor info.

I am a Sonor fan.. by the way.
 
Who really knows for sure. ;-) Seems everything is made in China these days.,,,,,One day Id like to go to China and see just the drum part ;-)

Anyway, The reason for my review was just to share some information on the offering, and since they bear the Sonor logo, regardless of where they are manufactured, there are expectations from high end Sonor users - right or wrong.

I did not expect the quality of ProLites or Sq2s; and I know that for a mere $2000, I could have got a nice addition for what i was looking from our friends in Germany :)


As a side note to the China discussion, from my quick search, K.H.S. Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. looks to the contracted manufacturer in China for a lot of companies. So in reality, Mapex does not make the drums for Sonor, but K.H.S. manufactures drums for both companies. This is what i would expect. I'm sure they share a lot of resources.

As you know, everything you read on the internet is always true. lol. That said, most information has *some* factual benefit.

Here are some quotes i found along the way.

>>>> The Force series is made in China but under Sonor's supervision, on a dedicated assembly line within the same factory where a lot of other off-shore lines are made. A very high quality product that delivers outstanding value for price.

>>>> I own both the SONOR 3007 and the MAPEX Meridian Maple. They are indeed made at the same location (KHS Musical Instruments) but the woods are different and the plies are cut different. The 3007s are 3 plies of Chinese Maple sandwiched between inner (2 plies) and outer (2 plies) of Canadian Maple. The MAPEX are 100% Chinese Maple. The 3007 also have a weird cross laminating process (CLTF - Cross Laminating Tension Free) which results in a seam that is staggered throughout the plies. Each one is a solid choice for a high quality, low cost set of drums.
 
Has that lowered your opinion of the kit? Knowing its somehow connected with mapex?
 
ncc said:
>>>> The Force series is made in China but under Sonor's supervision, on a dedicated assembly line within the same factory where a lot of other off-shore lines are made. A very high quality product that delivers outstanding value for price.
.
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Nah.. Not even close.

There is no reason to do that in the first place.

Mapex does not need supervision from anybody from Sonor... they have their protocol for good q/c on a high volume production line down pat and probably better than majority of high volume mfg's.
 
Artstar, I don't see any kind of evidence or defense on your part. Obviously NCC has at least run through a search about this stuff and reported their findings. I'm more inclined to trust the person that actually backs up their statements.

You can see here that Sonor have been using 9-ply poplar shells for 24 years at least, beginning with the Performer series. Mapex seems to have been born a little after that, though I can't find a hard year.

In addition, both the Gretsch Renegade and Ludwig Element (along with others, I'm sure) have the same 9-ply poplar formula. Same factory? Sure, KHS does the manufacturing, as they do for Mapex- Mapex doesn't make them.

I do doubt that they're made under Sonor's "supervision", though. That is likely a very liberally applied term.
 
I think some of you are missing the point that Mapex is a KHS brand. KHS produce a range of instrument forms in a number of locations, but primary manufacturing is in China. So, of course, KHS manufacture Mapex drums, but also take on numerous sub contracts for other companies, Sonor and Ludwig being amongst many. KHS were producing drums for trader consumption before establishing the Mapex brand. There are many factories producing drums for trader/distribution consumption in Asia, but KHS are one of the longest established & biggest, & of course, have invested in their own brand.
 
Dre25 said:
Has that lowered your opinion of the kit? Knowing its somehow connected with mapex?
Click to expand...

Not at all. I knew manufacturing was sub-contacted out in China to a company that also has contracts to manufacture other brands. That is why the kit has a sub $450 price. There is nothing wrong with Mapex or any other brand. I do think, though, that the only association of one brand with another is that both companies use the same sub-contractor for manufacturing to lower costs. My comments on the kit were based on findings and expectations.
 
I don't think this is a niche kit. Other than the 8x10 tom, the other sizes are exactly what you'd need to cover alot of different bases. 20" bass drums are great, 14" floor toms do what they do, and you get the 14" snare. If they paired it with a 12" tom, it would be in Ludwig Club Date territory. It's not a bad thing that a couple of central factories are cranking out alot of maker's drums, as that helps with costs for good, solid entry-level kits. And admit it, alot of these 'entry-level' kits are getting built very well. I remember seeing some older Ludwig Standard stuff that just had problems (from the 60s, early-70s). In fact, many pro players complained about their Ludwig stuff from that era when they were too busy keeping up with the Ringo-kit demands.

So this Players kit is a very good start for anybody, and some seasoned players looking for a cheap alternative gig kit. Sonor's next step up I guess would be that Studio kit or the Arena kit, and those are quite nice as well.

I try not to complain too much about a sub-1000 kit. When I spend alot of money on something and find flaws, then I start screaming ;)
 
Bo Eder said:
I don't think this is a niche kit.

.....
So this Players kit is a very good start for anybody, and some seasoned players looking for a cheap alternative gig kit ....
Click to expand...

You are right Bo. I was not thinking about entry level (old age I guess), and only thinking about the later.

As I mentioned in my post, I hope folks did not think the post was bashing or complaining, as the overall quality of the kit is good and I would buy it again. The post was more meant as informative for those who are not close to a Sam Ash store (like myself) to look at the kit in person.
 
ncc said:
You are right Bo. I was not thinking about entry level (old age I guess), and only thinking about the later.

As I mentioned in my post, I hope folks did not think the post was bashing or complaining, as the overall quality of the kit is good and would buy it again. The post was more meant as informative for those who are not close to a Sam Ash store (like myself) to look at the kit in person.
Click to expand...

Understood. I saw it as a Safari kit on steroids. It's the same color and same basic construction as the Safari. In fact, if you wanted to add 12" tom, just get the Bop kit in the same color. Then you can combine both and make a double bass kit too. That would actually be pretty cool.
 
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