bass wood kit

[stickadiddle]

I have a very basic Mapex bass wood kit and want to know how to get the best possible sound out of it.
I can't afford a better kit so I need to know what would be the best economical heads to use.
I've also heard that the sound can be improved by using varnish on the inside of the shells.
Any comments or help will be appreciated.

[Northern Redneck]

Dont bother with the varnish.
I nice set of well tuned pinstripes over clear Ambos and your kit will sound great!

[atomcorr2]

dont bother with the varnish.
I nice set of well tuned pinstripes over clear ambos and your kit will sound great!

+1

[defcon235]

Dont bother with the varnish.
I nice set of well tuned pinstripes over clear Ambos and your kit will sound great!

+2 but I use the Evans equivalent.

[yohin]

dont bother with the varnish.
I nice set of well tuned pinstripes over clear ambos and your kit will sound great!

+3

[leeman_36]

+4 here

[Pearl MCX Man]

With the right heads and tuning this should make that bass wood kit sound good.

[AndyC]

My kit is made of Basswood. Emperors on the top, stock version of ambassadors on the bottom, Powerstroke 3 on the Bassdrum. Sounds OK to me.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEjC4C-1htU"]YouTube - Highway to Hell.[/ame]

Andy

[bgibson]

Drums are all about tuning, you may not get a "maple" or "birch" sound out of them, that does not mean you cant make them sound good. I mean really, we all want that great sounding wood, and then throw moon gels or ring on them to deaden the overtones, taking out almost all of the character. I would start with something like was mentioned, but I would go with aquarian. I loved my performance II's on my old cheap kit, made it sound very focused and punchy.

Best of luck to you.

[EddieV]

I think a lot of the choices can have to do with the way you play your drums too.

If this was a kit that was going to be in a church, or played lightly-to-medium volumes, I would suggest the Pinstripes with Ambassadors without question. But if it's a kit that is going to be played harder, louder, such as a heavier rock style or even a louder funk or contemporary type stuff, I might suggest a heavier reso on the bottom- even a thin batter head as a reso. It will drop the tones a bit and eliminate the dirty frequencies that seem to come out more on the basswood and poplar kits.

I think the trade off is a good one. Yes...you will lose a little timbre, but you'll gain a bit of low end punch while again, eliminating some of the dirty overtones.