George Way Aristocrat Maple/Poplar

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incrementalg

Gold Member
Has anyone here played or does anyone own a GW Aristocrat with maple/poplar shells? If so, what are your thoughts?
I owned a Ludwig super classic set with maple/poplar shells and I’ve played Gretsch Brooklyn’s which have maple/poplar shells and loved em both. Yeah, I know there are other factors in how a drum sounds, but I’ve enjoyed my limited maple/poplar experience. I’d like to hear some real world feedback from anyone who has played the Aristocrats.
I get teary eyed whenever I look at pics of the Aristocrats in Billion Dollar Baby Blue.
 

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They are gorgeous drums. I don’t have exactly what you’re asking about however I have the GW WayGold 7x14 Maple Poplar snare and the GW Tuxedo Acacia kit in 12/14/16/20. The maple/poplar snare is now one of my favorites in my collection. It does have warmth while retaining a slightly dry focused tone compared to other wood drums I have. Sorry I can’t help with info on a full maple/poplar kit but I love the GW Acacias I have. That million dollar baby blue is a killer color.

good luck
 
I have an MPM Tuxedo, and it's pretty divine. I 'think' the only differences are the bearing edge and the turret lugs.

I had no idea Ron was making these again outside of the Acacia stuff.
 
@KamaK I had heard the same that the only real differences between Tuxedos and Aristocrats are the double ended lugs vs. the single ended turret lugs, and that Aristocrats have LA Camco style bearing edges (I don't really know what that means exactly) vs a normal bevelled cut bearing edge on the Tuxedos.

I would love to hear a good quality recording of one of the George Way Maple/Poplar/Maple kits. I imagine they have a fairly warm sound.
 
astachelek said:
Aristocrats have LA Camco style bearing edges

I would love to hear a good quality recording of one of the George Way Maple/Poplar/Maple kits. I imagine they have a fairly warm sound.
Click to expand...

The "LA Camco Edge" simply means that Ron found a vintage LA Camco kit and modeled the edge after it, much like the Renown RN2 edges come from some famous Sound City kit.

While I can produce quality audio from my GW, I'm afraid that I cannot yet produce any sort of quality drumming that people find interesting (since I'm a guitarist). My kit sounds like this...


It's pretty much in line with Shane's exposition, with the difference that I'm 13/14/16/24 and a matching 6.5" snare.


The last note is that Ron makes kits in batches, and it's rarely the same each year. The woods change, the models change, etc. So unless you buy a pre-existing kit, you may have to wait a long while. He also (generally) does not do custom orders.
 
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Ever since I saw that color I've been frothing at the mouth. Baby blue has never been my thing, but this is on another level.

Just look at it. LOOK AT IT!

hxOZPqi.jpg
 
Beautiful drums indeed.
 
Exquisite finish! Makes me want a set of GW's! Maple/Poplar, Maple/Mahogany, and Maple/Gum are my fav combinations. For triple-ply the Maple/Poplar/Mahogany of the old Slingerland stuff is great as well.
 
Yamaha Rider said:
Are those DW lugs btw?
Click to expand...

I think the chronology is something like...
George Way made turret lugs in the 50's.
GW and Camco got together in the 60's
DW is descended from Camco
Ron Acquired GW's rights and started making relatively faithful high-quality interpretations of the old drums.

60's Camco
Edit: There was a pic here, not sure how I borked it.
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Pre Camco GW.
1950s-george-way-aristocrat-snare_1_34dc6dd76e8b3fd5d27860023da323eb.jpg
Edit: There was a pic here, not sure how I borked it.

GW is the grandfather of the modern drumset. Inventions/Innovations like the "swivel nut" are his doing, though he was working for Leedy at the time.
 
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astachelek said:
I don’t have exactly what you’re asking about however I have... the GW Tuxedo Acacia kit in 12/14/16/20.

good luck
Click to expand...

Hey, kit twins! I got one of the Maclean 12/14/20 sets and added a 16" as well. I love that set up, though I found myself regularly wishing I had a 22" kick. Just picked up a used set of 13/16/22 G.Way mahoganies. Problem solved.

It really is too bad we aren't getting Carter's amazing recordings of Way drums anymore. I was very confident buying both of my kits without having played them before. Hopefully sound files of the aristocrats pop up a bit more.
 
@AngusWilliams great choice of kit! I ended up purchasing mine back when it was the Carter McLean signature model and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Carter's incredible playing style and great recordings were a factor in me buying that kit. I also bought it sight unseen and have not been disappointed at all by it. It is a bit of a downer that Carter isn't doing GW videos any more (though he did include 2 GW snares in his most recent 23 snare demo video) but I'll take Carter's playing on whatever kit he wants the play on. That guy is an inspiration. That said, Reuben Spyker is a GW artist and he did a truly amazing demo of this kit on YouTube (in an abandoned barn):


Nice move on the GW Mahoganies in bigger sizes. I'd probably like to get a 24 bass some day either in walnut or mahogany. I like the 20 on my GW kit for a tight punchy sound .

Enjoy
 
@AngusWilliams - yes I ordered through my local retailer here in Canada and added a 16" floor tom to what was then the Carter McLean Signature configuration of 12/14/20. The 14" goes pretty low but I figured I'd still be wanting for a 16" at some point. It was suggested to me to order the add-on for this kit at the same time as they could do the whole kit from the same batch of acacia veneers to get some uniformity to the grain patterns across the whole kit. I'm not entirely sure I can tell but it's a gorgeous kit so that's all I care about.

Mine took about a year to come too so you're not alone there, but I agree. It was worth it. There were times when I questioned whether it was worth it, but this is an incredibly special kit and I'm loving the sound of it more every day. I swapped out the Res-O-Tones (which I still have and love but they are a very bright open sound) for Coated over Clear ambassadors and it's got all the warmth yet still retains the punch for the recording that I use them for.
 
astachelek said:
Mine took about a year to come too so you're not alone there, but I agree. It was worth it. There were times when I questioned whether it was worth it, but this is an incredibly special kit and I'm loving the sound of it more every day.
Click to expand...

The last couple months, where you begin to worry, are the worst. I also went through CME, and they were wonderful.

I had purchased boutique guitar gear prior to this, so I knew it was basically... Give a dealer half a pile of money, wait a year, dealer takes delivery, give dealer the other half of the money pile, receive kit.

These things really sing.
 
@KamaK totally! I had a bit of incentive to wait for this one as Ronn Dunnett had put forth a Black Friday deal of sorts in 2018 where he was throwing in a George Way Goldtop Maple/Poplar 7x14 snare with a kit purchase. It was hard to pass up the free snare and that thing sings too. Nice warm crack and it's absolutely gorgeous.
 
I own maple/poplar GW Aristocrat snare 14" x 5.5 and it's fabulous. Very focused, but also warm. I also own GW maple/poplar 14" floor tom with the tuxedo lug. I really like the sound, especially tuned as low as it can go. It has such a character... In general, I am big fan of the GW drums. There something about them that I can't be found anywhere else. That's why I also have a full set GW Mahogany with tuxedo lugs in sizes 12, 13, 16 and 22. Good quality recording of these can be heard here:

 
incrementalg said:
Has anyone here played or does anyone own a GW Aristocrat with maple/poplar shells? If so, what are your thoughts?
I owned a Ludwig super classic set with maple/poplar shells and I’ve played Gretsch Brooklyn’s which have maple/poplar shells and loved em both. Yeah, I know there are other factors in how a drum sounds, but I’ve enjoyed my limited maple/poplar experience. I’d like to hear some real world feedback from anyone who has played the Aristocrats.
I get teary eyed whenever I look at pics of the Aristocrats in Billion Dollar Baby Blue.
Click to expand...
incrementalg said:
Has anyone here played or does anyone own a GW Aristocrat with maple/poplar shells? If so, what are your thoughts?
I owned a Ludwig super classic set with maple/poplar shells and I’ve played Gretsch Brooklyn’s which have maple/poplar shells and loved em both. Yeah, I know there are other factors in how a drum sounds, but I’ve enjoyed my limited maple/poplar experience. I’d like to hear some real world feedback from anyone who has played the Aristocrats.
I get teary eyed whenever I look at pics of the Aristocrats in Billion Dollar Baby Blue.
Click to expand...

I put one on my watchlist just to see the "Million"? Dollar Baby Blue Finish, Love it, I didn't see a description of the bearing edge on the Geo Way Site, I'd like to know as well. The Snares look like 45 degree
 
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