Ever mix wood types on a kit?

[Powertrip240]

I'm still on the hunt to add another floor tom to my kit, and was curious about mixing wood types. My Tama kit is all birch, and I found a good deal on a 14" maple floor tom. I have been using a maple snare with that kit for a while, but that's different than mixing toms. Has anyone ever used toms from different wood types? Is it a noticeable difference?

[drummer]

It depends. Sometimes 'same' drums sound differently anyway because of the size differences, etc. It's a gamble but you could try it.

[not him]

If you like it then do it. You are not gonna notice it that much.My set is 100 % Birch but my 13 tom is old Rogers and I love how it sounds.Not sure of the wood but don't think its birch.

[Powertrip240]

It depends. Sometimes 'same' drums sound differently anyway because of the size differences, etc. It's a gamble but you could try it.

If you like it then do it. You are not gonna notice it that much.My set is 100 % Birch but my 13 tom is old Rogers and I love how it sounds.Not sure of the wood but don't think its birch.

I think I may give it a shot. It's a Ddrum Custom Maple 14"X14" floor tom, with die cast hoops. my Tama toms also have die cast hoops. The finish doesn't match at all, but I'm thinking if it sounds good with the rest of the kit, I'll re-wrap it to match. And if the sound doesn't match, who know, maybe I'll build a little frankenkit around it!

[rickthedrummer]

My original set of Ludwigs that was bought in '72 is made of whatever kind of wood they were using then. They had some kind of painted coating so you couldn't see the wood (not that I cared what it was, but I believe it was mahogany).

Over the last several years, I have added some toms that are acrylic and some that are wood including a 16x16 FT that I bought on a whim that cost me $50 brand new and I think the wood it's made from is a step above driftwood.

If you have seen any of my videos, I doubt you could tell which is which because they aren't where you would think they would be.

It comes down to the tuning.

[N2Bluz]

Pearl built an entire series of drum around the concept of different woods for different drums. Mahogany is excellent for bass and FT. Maple is great on medium toms. Birch works well on smaller toms. No reason you can't have different woods....and even different bearing edge profiles on different drums.

[slinky]

nothing I have matches. I don't make it a point to do it I just like finding strays and putting them together. The most expensive drums in my set is the bass and snare. Those are the two that I try to get the best available everything else is medium grade or lower end. Round it off with good cymbals and I'm comfortable.

Sometimes I wish I had a whole matching set but I'll get another one someday.

[Powertrip240]

Cool, that's the responses I was looking for. Thanks guys! I'm going to try to pick up that maple floor tom.

[not him]

My original set of Ludwigs that was bought in '72 is made of whatever kind of wood they were using then. They had some kind of painted coating so you couldn't see the wood (not that I cared what it was, but I believe it was mahogany).

Over the last several years, I have added some toms that are acrylic and some that are wood including a 16x16 FT that I bought on a whim that cost me $50 brand new and I think the wood it's made from is a step above driftwood.

If you have seen any of my videos, I doubt you could tell which is which because they aren't where you would think they would be.

It comes down to the tuning.

Ditto

[not him]

Let us know how it goes

[porkpieguy]

As someone previously mentioned, Pearl does this. However, what was not mentioned is that Pearl does this on their top-of-the-line Reference series drums. I personally think that's it's a little crazy to mismatch woods on a pricy top-of-the-line drum kit, but each to his own. With that said, how drums are played is so much more important than the materials they are made of.

[noreastbob]

If I recall correctly, the Pearl Reference series drums are drums with differing combinations of different woods in each drum, mixed in different combos and ratios to enhance and blend the sounds. They weren't a mix of drums of different woods in the same kit.
That said, if the mixed birch and maple sound good to you, why not?

[porkpieguy]

If I recall correctly, the Pearl Reference series drums are drums with differing combinations of different woods in each drum, mixed in different combos and ratios to enhance and blend the sounds. They weren't a mix of drums of different woods in the same kit.

Check this out.

http://www.drummagazine.com/gear/pos...s-drums-tested

[FlipDWfan4lyfe]

here is the video as well explaining the Reference Series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lixY3cQHmok

[SunDog]

Yeah but Reference is a bust. As much as Pearl changes their lines I'm surprised it still exists. I play an extra floor Tom tuned low and set left of my hats. In a situation like that a different wood might even be desired. To stick it in line with the family though, for me that's a no. I've added two drum to my DW and I went out of my way to make sure they were Keller shells (my Ddubs are) with the same plies and edges. You cannot hear a difference in tonal quality. The illusion is complete and the kit sounds as one (looks like one as well, I did a killer job on the finishes).

[signia fan]

Mixing woods is often a better choice than trying to tune matching woods so they have a definite different character. I do not believe in exact sounding toms that vary only in pitch.

[N2Bluz]

Mixing woods is often a better choice than trying to tune matching woods so they have a definite different character. I do not believe in exact sounding toms that vary only in pitch.

As a drum builder, what do you think about varying/mixing bearing edges on a kit? On the old ones I've fixed up, I try to keep a sharp edge on the smaller toms and a more rounded over outside edge on the bass and FT.

[SunDog]

As a drum builder, what do you think about varying/mixing bearing edges on a kit? On the old ones I've fixed up, I try to keep a sharp edge on the smaller toms and a more rounded over outside edge on the bass and FT.

Pearl does the exact opposite on the Reference. Progressively sharper.

[kay-gee]

In the end, a drum is a plywood circle with a plastic membrane over the the open ends. My fellow drummers make me smile sometimes. You'd think that they were talking about Stradivarious violins or something.

all the best...

[signia fan]

As a drum builder, what do you think about varying/mixing bearing edges on a kit? On the old ones I've fixed up, I try to keep a sharp edge on the smaller toms and a more rounded over outside edge on the bass and FT.

Yes that too. Yamaha Phoenix line mixes edges too.

[markthechuck]

i have a pearl Reference, they have different wood as a feature, 12" is Maple, 16 and the kick is a mix of maple and mahogany, it sounds fine to me, i've never been a stickler for wood types to be honest.

[noreastbob]

I've always looked at the Pearl Reference Series as a reasonable alternative, or differing approach, to getting a good tonal blend from the various sizes to dw's SSC. Pearl uses different woods and combos of wood plies on each size while dw uses different ply angle lay ups. Both approaches seem reasonable and believable. There is a place for these technologies. I remember drums in the 60's & 70's that were all built identically and had noticeably varying sounds and resonance properties. Marketing? hype? I went for the dw system and they're by far the best drums I've ever had.
Anyway, as far as mixing drums of different types....it all comes down to, do you like the sound?

[signia fan]

In the end, a drum is a plywood circle with a plastic membrane over the the open ends. My fellow drummers make me smile sometimes. You'd think that they were talking about Stradivarious violins or something.

all the best...

I agree, drummer's sort of obsess over this. But when offered the choice and it is within financial reach, don't you want the best combination? After all, a coffee table is a coffee table. If you had a choice between a solid cherry table and a particle or plywood table, if the money was not extremely far apart, would you not prefer the solid cherry? The particle board table has nice cherry veneer, but you always know what lies beneath.