The best of both with the Epic’s birch/maple/birch sandwich shell...

The Ludwig Epic series isn’t brand new, it has been around for a couple of years now. But when Ludwig offered us one of these for a closer look, we couldn’t turn it down. The intermediate semi-pro category features many kits that are either birch or maple, but not many that fuse the benefits of both. The classic looks, the interesting shell hardware, the vintage name … all make this kit very much worth the once-over.

In detail

We have a six-piece ‘Funk Kit’ with 8x7”, 10x7.5”, 12x8” toms, 16x15” floor tom, 22x20” kick, and 14x5” snare. Each shell is six-ply and thin, with birch outer, maple core and birch inner. The bass drum is undrilled (no tom mount), and the snare drum is of the same shell material. This kit is finished in attic white (this is a spray, not a wrap), which looks authentically old when you stand back and look at it from a distance. Up close you can see the finish is new and that the edges aren’t actually aged or faded at all, but the look is right. The quality of the finish can’t be faulted either. The shell hardware is finished in vintage bronze. While this finish is very classic-looking, and will look right on many of Ludwig’s kits, I’m not certain it’s the perfect match for the attic white finish. But it’s not completely out of place either, and you don’t notice it so much after a short time. The toms are suspended via RIMS-style mounts, and the hoops used here are triple flanged – these are not flimsy, but nice and solid. The snare drum throw-off is off Ludwig’s classic design and allows sensitive, gradual adjustment of the snare tension as well as letting you ‘feel’ how tight the snares are on the head when turning the snare on. Ludwig have supplied their 400 series hardware here (the kit is available as a shell pack, in various configurations), which is double braced and as sturdy as most will need. The only issue here is with the kick pedal, which needs a drum key to tighten the hoop clamp and is a bit clumsy and fiddly. The rack toms are suspended by supplied ball-joint arms with in-built clamp, and the cymbal stands are hefty enough to support the weight of the toms without a problem.

In use

It’s not too often you see 8” toms included in a shell pack, and it makes a nice addition here. The punchy, higher pitch of this mini-yet-mighty little fella makes for some lovely accents and great funk/soul/R&B-style fills. The 10” and 12” toms are more standard sizes, although the slightly odd depth of the 10” tom (7.5” deep) adds just a touch more depth of sound and presence than a typically shorter drum. The same can be said for the floor tom, which has a depth of 15” – right in between the truncated sustain of a 14”-deep floor tom, and the deep, booming growl of a 16”-deep floor tom. I’ll confess, I love deep bass drums. Even though there is an emerging trend to go back to shorter kick drums, you can’t help but like the full-on punch, weight, depth and sustain that this 22x20” drum delivers. The snare drum, at 5” deep, is punchy and has great initial attack, with a tight ‘crack’, especially when played with a cross stick. It does, however, lack a little bit of body, and an extra half-inch to an inch in the depth would probably help with this. Overall, the tone of each drum is warm, but the birch really delivers plenty of attack, especially with the clear, single-ply, 10mm Remo-made-for-Ludwig heads. We actually mic’d this kit up and recorded it so we could listen back to it, and the results were fantastic: clear as a bell, punchy, warm and aggressive attack, with just about the right amount of sustain. This configuration is sold as a ‘Funk Kit’ – it sure is!

Conclusion 

Ludwig are a classic brand with great heritage, and it’s great to see them produce a shell pack that is modern and suitable for different styles, and a little different to what is usually ‘the norm’. With this shell pack you have the range of toms you need for different set-ups: from one-up one-down indie/punk, to the full six-piece set-up for funk/R&B and gospel, and even heavy rock. The deep bass drum is awesome, though I would admit to this size not being quite so universal. It would be complete overkill with jazz, for example. The weakest link in the kit is the snare drum, but it’s not bad either, it just lacks a little body – but that said, different heads will deliver different results. The birch/maple/ birch sandwich shell works really well, and this also helps the kit to work in different environments. The price point is very competitive too, especially when you consider the build quality and the kit’s practicality for that money. The shell hardware finish might not be to all tastes, but this will work better with the other finishes available. I really ‘get’ the attic white look, though – it’s got a vibe similar to a vintage, or road-worn, Fender guitar, which is cool. That’s the word to sum up this kit … cool.

Old-skool kicks from Truth’s vintage kits

Every drummer will, at some point, be faced with the nightmare decision of ‘what kit should I buy?’ There are some amazing ‘production’ drums available out there and we all have our preferences on brands, but there’s also an opportunity to buy a custom kit with your ‘signature’ on it – custom spec’d with no compromises. In the interests of impartiality, it’s only right that we should review drums from both the ‘production’ and ‘custom’ factions for you. Truth (or, more specifically, Drum Stop of Sheffield, Truth’s UK dealer)have sent us  one of their Vintage Maple shell kits here to play with … er, independently review, that is. We, and you, dear reader, are in for a treat.

In detail

We have a classic hard-rock-sized ‘one up, two down’ set-up with 24x14” bass drum, 13x9” tom, and 16x16” and 18x16” floor toms. The old-skool sizes aren’t the only retro features with this kit. The 10-ply vintage maple (with an inner ply of poplar) shells have reinforcement rings and round-over bearing edges and are fitted with chrome die-cast hoops. The shells are finished in ‘black ripple’ (grey oyster pearl) wrap, with gold glass glitter racing stripe. Those stripes are not just stuck on to the wrap, though – they are actually inset into the shell! Such is the craftsmanship you can go for with custom work. Single ‘beaver-tail’ lugs are fitted throughout, further enhancing the retro vibe, and Truth-branded single-ply coated heads are fitted on top (I would say that these are coated Ambassadors), with clear Ambassadors on the resonant side. On the bass drum specifically, a clear Powerstroke 3 is used, with a Fiberskyn resonant head. The bass drum also uses T-rods with old-style hoop claws. The floor tom legs and bass drum spurs are fitted to black Gibraltar brackets, which look incredibly strong and quite mean, adding to the quality feel of this kit. The bass drum spurs themselves are a work of art, with machined bullet-like adjustable tips. There are no rubber stops, though, so keep it off of that parquet floor! The rack tom doesn’t have any mount, so we mounted it on a snare stand. Now, almost every high-end kit on the market, as you would expect, is finished to a high standard. This set is no exception, but there is attention to detail here that would be too labour-intensive to be produced on a mass scale. The bass drum hoops, for example, have the black ripple finish inset on the outside, and the gold glass glitter inset on the inside of the hoop. This is the sort of attention to detail that tells you that each drum is a beautifully handmade instrument. The finish of each shell really can’t be faulted. Finally, the Truth badges are mounted using Allen bolts, and the shells are ‘signed off’ inside by Truth’s Geoff Barrios, which I like very much. 

In use

For a drummer that’s played more e-kit than anything lately, this is a treat. First off, you have plenty of initial attack and good definition from the stick, with that lovely warm tone of maple and bright mid-high frequencies. The round-over bearing edge has more contact with the head – combine this with the die-cast hoops and shell reinforcement rings and the sound is dried out and focused, but still full and fat. The single-ply coated heads still provide enough resonance, though, for these drums to roar, and with each head in a fairly low tuning, the toms really growl, especially that 18” monster. Crank the heads up a little and they project nicely, while overtones are still amply controlled. The kick drum, even with no damping, has a dryness to it as well, giving a plentiful warm ‘thud’, but still with plenty of attack. Resonance is there once again, but the ported front Fiberskyn absorbs the unwanted overtones. The whole kit has a Bonham-esque feel about it and it’s very satisfying to play. Triplets across the toms sound thunderous, and the overall ‘experience’ is just epic.

Conclusion 

Drums have come on in leaps and bounds over the years. Today’s shells are thinner, stronger, more resonant, better made and better finished than the shells of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s … That’s why we no longer need things like reinforcement rings as standard (they are a preference feature these days). By no means are the shells of old obsolete  (many a drummer might part with thousands for a vintage Slingerland or Ludwig kit), but it’s great to see modern versions of ‘vintage’ shells, still made to the old spec but to today’s standards of quality. Truth’s vintage maple shells with inner poplar ply, re-rings and round bearing edges are simply splendid – warm and focused, but with enough resonance to cut it. The finish is outstanding too. And with custom drums, you know that the builder will be able to spend the time required to do it, and do it well (see our Truth factory tour in issue 89 of Drummer). That will come with a hefty price tag, but not one over and above what is within the realms of acceptability for a pro-level kit like this one. I’ve said it before: I would certainly consider a custom build for my next kit. And Truth will be very much on the shortlist of go-to guys. So next time you find yourself ploughing your way through all the drum brochures and websites contemplating your next kit, know this: the Truth is out there!

An intermediate kit for the budget-conscious...

Most drummers, in fact anyone who had any kind of music lessons at school, will have at some point played an instrument bearing the name Percussion Plus. Back in 2009, the company launched into the drum kit market with their entry-level Sonix series, available as either fusion (the 924 range) or rock (the 925 range) set-ups. On the back of the success of these kits, Percussion Plus have introduced a mid-level Sonix kit, the 922 range. With a retail price of £519 they offer an intermediate all-birch shell kit at an affordable price. So we were intrigued to find out more.

In detail

All the shells of the kit are made from six plies of birch and have a highly lacquered ‘natural honey’ finish. Strangely, the middle (12”) tom looks slightly lighter in finish than the rest of the kit, but I put this down to the outer ply of birch used on that particular drum. The bearing edges are all very smooth and sanded, and all shells are perfectly round. The kit is supplied with Remo UT branded batter heads (similar to a pinstripe), making set-up and tuning the kit very easy, although the resonant heads throughout the kit are unbranded and very thin, but this caused no real issue. The snare drum has a coated batter head (very similar to a coated Ambassador) and features 10 oval-shaped lugs, which are cushioned from the shell via rubber insulation. Triple-flanged hoops are used across the kit (Die-cast on the snare), and a simple yet effective  lever-type snare throw-off which controls a 20-strand snare wire also features. The undrilled (no tom mount) 22” bass drum features eight lugs front and back, with matching wood hoops holding in place a twin-ply Remo UT batter head and a very thin, ported front head, complete with Sonix logo. All three toms have six lugs top and bottom, with the two rack toms having solid isolation mounts. Finishing off the package is a full set of double-braced hardware: snare stand, hi-hat stand, two boom cymbal stands with integrated ball-and-socket tom mounts, and a dual-chain-drive bass drum pedal. This is essentially the same as the Techtonic 600 series hardware we reviewed back in issue 90.

In Use

Once set up, this kit sounded great – the bass drum offered up a very deep, punchy note, especially once some dampening was placed inside, with a really nice, warm tone coupled with good levels of attack. Feathered strokes were conveyed perfectly, with every stroke being articulated clearly, while really laying into the drum produced big-sounding tones that projected very well, giving this drum a real gut-thumping solid kick. The snare drum responded best when cranked up fairly high, giving a crisp, clear note with a nice depth of tone, and was very responsive at all dynamic levels, sounding funky and dry, perfect for funk-type musical settings. Ghost notes were perfectly clear and precise due to the drums’ superb articulation, while rim-shots were very loud and well projected, with almost ear-splitting tones being produced with ease. Finally, rim clicks were full and fat, and very clear and warm-sounding - perfect for R&B-type grooves as well as big power pop ballads. Onto the toms and all three sound fat and warm thanks to the combination of birch shells and good-quality heads. All three offered up good projection and response and sat perfectly well together sonically. Initially there was a slight ringing overtone, particularly from the floor tom, but after a little dampening with some Moongel this was sorted, leaving some very nice-sounding drums indeed. Together as a set, these drums performed very well. The supplied hardware performs equally as well: all stands, once set, remained firmly in place, with the kick and hi-hat pedals feeling smooth and responsive.

Conclusion 

This really is a nice-sounding kit, particularly for the price, which I didn’t actually know until after I’d reviewed the kit. Years ago an all-birch kit would have set you back a considerable amount more than this. The drums sound superb, while the hardware is strong, heavy-duty and well constructed. My only slight (and it is slight) niggle is the thin front head and the thin resonant heads supplied, but even then they were easily controlled with some damping. All things told, this is a fantastic kit that will benefit anyone looking to upgrade from their starter set to a much nicer, intermediate set-up. And at such a great price, this is exceptional value for your hard-earned money! 

The pioneers of British percussion instruments release a new line of drums!

Back in 2010 Marshall announced that they had bought the Natal brand. Natal, the brainchild of British percussionist Alan Sharp, were born in 1965 in swinging-Sixties London and quickly gained respect for their fibreglass congas and percussion instruments. Apt, then, that British giants Marshall Amplification should step in 45 years later to take the brand forward. A press release from Marshall at the time read: “One thing is certain – this latest chapter in both companies’ history promises to be hugely creative and productive.” Marshall’s significance in buying out Natal came to light at the winter NAMM show when Natal unveiled their new range of drum kits. Creative and productive indeed. In a UK first, we have one of their Ash kits here.

In detail

First of all, you should know that Natal drums have been designed from the ground up, by drummers, with a no-compromise approach to quality, componentary or features. As with nearly all drums today, the shells are produced in Taiwan, but with Natal everything is British designed and led (actually, their stave shell and hand-hammered snare drums are UK made and assembled). Natal have released ash, birch, maple and bubinga shell kits. Something to note, and we like this, is that the price you pay is affected by the shell material you choose, and you get exactly the same shell hardware and components regardless of which type of shell you buy. Natal have chosen to use ash as their most affordable kit in the range, having used the wood for years in their hand percussion instruments. We have here a five-piece ‘fusion’-size kit, with 22x18, 10x8, 12x9 toms, 14x14 floor tom and 14x5.5 snare drum. The shells are six-ply ash with 45-degree bearing edges. The internal shell finish is smooth and unlacquered. Four wrap finishes are available in the Ash series (lacquer finishes are only available in birch, maple and bubinga), with this kit being finished in grey sparkle, which has a classic vibe about it. 2.3mm triple-flanged hoops are used throughout the kit, with wooden hoops on the bass drum. Each Natal kit shares the same Natal ‘sun’ lug design, tom suspension system (which is mounted to two of the lug boxes), snare strainer and butt. The shell hardware finish is, quite honestly, outstanding. I’m told that everything is double-chromed, and you can tell by the super-sleek, super-shiny finish. The snare strainer (also featuring Natal’s ‘sun’ design) is three-way, with an off, on and a ‘loose’ lever position, which backs the snare off a little and is a great feature for getting another sound texture from your snare. Aquarian heads are fitted as standard across the kit, with singly-ply coated ‘Galaxy’ batter heads, ‘Zenith’ single-ply clear resonant heads, ‘Polaris’ single-ply (with 10mm tone ring), clear bass drum batter, and an unported black resonant head with Natal logo. The Pro Series hardware supplied with the kit is also of exceptional quality and again of Natal’s own design. No part is universally shared with any other hardware on the market. The same double chrome applies to these sturdy stands. The tom arm clamps have an aluminium ball joint (as opposed to the usual plastic), which makes for superb grip and tom arms that won’t break on you. The snare stand is infinitely adjustable and has very solid components. The cymbal stands have memory locks and infinitely adjustable tilt angles, and the two-legged hi-hat stand has a well-thought-out sliding bar underneath the footplate, making for easy, secure stowage when packing down. Even the multi-clamp and X-hat sent with this kit are impressive. It’s very clear that Natal have aimed at setting themselves apart from the competition, and so far it’s looking good.

In use

This kit was used in a band rehearsal and played alone as a kit to truly put it through its paces. These drums have plenty of attack and initial bite. The tone is bright, but there is a dark, warm overtone as well. The resonance is nicely balanced between open and focused - the use of triple-flanged hoops is the right choice here: die-cast hoops may kill the resonance too much. The single-ply coated heads really work with this kit too, offering further warmth to the tone. The snare drum packs plenty of punch, with a sweet, controllable overtone that allows the drum to be heard nicely over the other instruments. The bass drum is reasonably focused, has great attack and delivers good low end, although some further damping was required to control the overtone from the front head. Two of the snare side tension lugs did work themselves loose, but this problem has been combated by Natal already. All tension rods on all of Natal’s kits now come with a Tru-Tune coating, which prevents them from loosening. The Pro Series hardware didn’t give an inch – this truly is sturdy stuff. The kick pedal is responsive and easily adjustable, the ball clamps held fast, the clamps didn’t move, and the tubing on the hardware is strong (no dents when tightening anything). This whole kit has a quality ‘engineered’ feel about it. We’ve yet to see a Maple or Bubinga kit, but there is already a feeling that even though the Ash kit is more affordable, the build quality and components won’t be any better on a more expensive kit in Natal’s range.

Conclusion

We need to review the facts here: this is a kit designed newly from the ground up, Natal have the heritage and it’s a truly British brand, it’s been developed by drummers with the backing of one of the biggest companies in the music world (Marshall), the components and hardware are all bespoke and newly made and the standard of the chrome work is very high, it’s well thought out, it comes with good heads out of the box, and it sounds great. And all this is available for just under £1,000 (if you get the Ash kit. But ash is a great material in my opinion – right in between maple and birch in the tonal spectrum). What you get here is a kit with pro-level qualities, but for intermediate-kit money. If you’re in the market for a kit, it would be ludicrous not to take a closer look at one of these for yourself. If you bought one at the moment, you’d have a kit that not a lot of other people have, as yet. But from the looks of this kit, it won’t be long before others cotton on to Natal’s drums.

A lightweight, portable drum kit that makes a big noise...

As a drum teacher, one of the most frequently heard comments from many student drummers is “I’d love to have a kit at home, but haven’t got room for one,” while a lot of more experienced drummers might say, “I wish I didn’t have to carry around so much stuff, especially for rehearsing and teaching.” Well, here we have a very viable solution that might be the answer for both of those statements: the Traps A400 portable acoustic kit, which has been ingeniously designed to take up very little room and be lightweight, while still retaining a full and solid sound. 

In Detail

All of the various parts of this Traps kit, except the hi-hat stand, are attached to the supplied rack system. This is essentially a straight front bar with two upright posts that accommodate the two cymbal arms, which can be used as either boom or straight. The snare is held by way of a short boom arm and standard snare basket, which attaches to the left-hand upright, with the toms attached to the rack via hexagonal-shaped brackets fixed to clamps on the front bar and right-hand upright. The bass drum also attaches to the rack by brackets on the lower half of the upright posts. The kit comes with a simple single-chain drive kick pedal with a side attachment screw and extendable spurs, as well as a double-braced, unfussy hi-hat stand. 

Onto the drums themselves: the dual-headed 20” bass drum has a 2” hardened-plastic shell along with a Remo UT Powerstroke 3 clear batter head and an ebony front head complete with Traps logo, all held in place with eight tension rods and chrome-plated steel hoops. The 12” snare drum also features a 2” shell and dual heads: a thin, clear snare (resonant) head along with a coated Remo UT batter head, which is tuned using eight tension rods via a steel hoop. Underneath you have a 20-strand snare wire attached to a large, blue, plastic snare throw-off (which the company refer to as a ‘Paddle Bill’ throw-off), with a tension adjuster at the opposite side of the drum. In contrast, the toms (10”, 12” and 14”) all feature a specially designed toughened plastic moulding and triple-flanged hoops along with Remo pinstripe heads. The 10” and 12” have six tension rods, while the 14” has eight. The whole package is finished off with two heavy-duty padded bags – one for hardware and rack, and one for the rest of the kit, with internal dividers separating the kick from the toms in one compartment, along with a zipped side pocket for the snare. Throw into the mix a pair of sticks and you have pretty much all you need to get started. Although the review model came without cymbals, Traps do supply a range (hats, crash and ride) for an extra cost. A drum throne isn’t supplied, which is a shame as this would give a beginner absolutely everything necessary to start out.

In use 

Setting up the kit was relatively simple. I did note that the supplied instructions are slightly unclear, so inexperienced students or parents could be a little confused. Sitting down behind the kit, the first thing I noticed was how sturdy the kit felt, especially the kick drum; having played other portable kits with free-standing kick drums, the Traps A400 method of mounting the kick to the rack gives it a very solid feel with no slipping or wobbling, no matter how hard you play. The rest of the kit is equally as solid, and after a little tweaking of the toms it felt very comfortable to play. Sound-wise the kit sounded great. The lack of shells, or more importantly resonant heads, is noticeable on the toms. But as a large portion of any drum’s sound comes from the batter head, you don’t miss them too much. After a few minutes of playing this was soon forgotten. The kick drum provided a loud, clear note, which at first slightly lacked a little in depth but with a little tweaking of the tuning soon sounded not a million miles away from a regular bass drum. It was a similar story with the toms: at certain tunings they sounded slightly too thin with lots of ring, but with a little dampening and careful tuning they soon sounded great. The snare drum, for me, is the best feature of the kit – loud, aggressive, snappy and articulate, this little beauty produced a sound much bigger than its diminutive size first suggests. As such, it would work perfectly well as an instrument in its own right, perhaps as a second snare for most gigs, or even a main snare for funky pop gigs.

Conclusion

Well-constructed, lightweight and quick to set up (particularly once all clamps/holders are set in place on the rack), this kit does exactly what it’s designed for, offering a space-saving, portable kit which sounds very close to a regular kit. The only slight negative here is the lack of drum throne. Balance this against the positive attributes, however, especially when you take into account the price of the kit (you could afford to buy an inexpensive drum throne at this price), and you have a very good deal. The biggest plus point for me was undoubtedly the snare drum, which sounded and played great throughout the whole of the time I spent with the kit. A little gem.