Truth Custom Drums Vintage Maple Kit - £3499 - www.drum-stop.co.uk/www.truthdrums.com

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!