My limited experience with SONOR was positive. They do make some good budget based drum kits. 3007 on down were good kits for the money.
When i was a kid, i loved the way Phil Rudd of ac/dc drums sounded on “ for those about to rock”. He used a sonor signature series back then. To me sonor was the mercedes of drums. Anyone like them or use them? I dont hear much aboutbthem any longer. I know they were always expensive.
I also love the way Tommy Lee’s drums sounded on shout at the devil and theater of pain, i believe he also used sonor for those 2 albums.
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Main Sonor Drums Discussion Thread
My limited experience with SONOR was positive. They do make some good budget based drum kits. 3007 on down were good kits for the money.
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That's why I never tried them. In my day, they were super expensive. I always thought their hardware was cutting edge though and it set them apart from all the other drum companies. I never heard bad things about them growing up. People always spoke positively about Sonor.
Budget based ? That shows how long i’ve been out of the game. I always thought sonor were amongst the most expensive,
I own two sonor kits and I would KILL for a new SQ2 but it's out of my budget. I will always be a Sonor fan.
My first drumset was a Sonor and I still own it and play it today (The kit is 32 years old).
If you have time watch the youtube video tour of the Sonor factory in Germany and how they make their drums and all the research and development into their drums hardware. Its amazing.
Sonor designer series to this day was still the best sounding drum kit I have ever heard and the SQ2 Maple is the same exact kit. SQ1 is the best sounding birch kit I have ever heard and yes that includes the Yamaha RC's. Sonor is pound for pound the best drum company going IMO... I just cannot afford them. Love my Ludwig CM and they will never go anywhere but I would love a SQ1 someday.
Ludwig Classic Maple 22x16,10x8,12x9,16x16
7" Moon Gel Practice Pad
Sabian HHX Legacy
Decide whether this is love for the craft or simply an ego thing
http://www.redskymary.com/ NOT MY BAND, JUST A GREAT LOCAL BAND WHO SHOULD BE SOOO MUCH BIGGER IMO
You pay up the rear end for German engineering! Sonor has been around for a very long time, and yes I'm a Sonor fan as well! over all their expertise is in their shell making. They do have good hardware but they do fall short on some of the hardware design on some of their kits including the SQ2 IMO.
Ok. I remember Phil Rudd, Steve Smith, and Tommy Lee using Sonor. I know Bernard Purdie uses them. Had Carmine Appice not called Ludwig for John Bonham, perhaps Bonham would of been a Sonor guy, imagine that..
I always loved the sound of Sonor. Dont get me wrong, any drum could sound good. Cymbals?? Thats another story.
When I first switched back to acoustic drums after playing an E-kit for years I didn't have a lot to spend so i bought two special edition Sonor 5 piece kits. They were Basswood shells with a silver sparkle wrap. $525.00 for each kit. Then I combined them into the kit you see here. Even though this was a low budget kit they still were nicely put together and sounded very good for Basswood shells. Sonor makes quality drums at every level.
005 (2) by Joe D, on Flickr
Last edited by NPYYZ; 05-18-2020 at 05:20 AM.
I bought an entry level Sonor Performer snare ,14x6 a few years ago,and even though when new it was their 'budget' range it's a truly nice piece of kit. 10 lug and really heavy. I've currently got a Rogers reverse dot batter on it but will swap that out for an Evans Genera at some point or maybe a hydraulic as I've wanted to try one of those for a while.
I have a good deal I found on the net. I have played it, swapped heads set it up several different ways and for the money, it's one heck of a kit.
I currently have this listed on Reverb for $650.00 plus shipping.
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I have owned some of their cheaper/mid-range lines (Force series, 2003, 3005, 3007, Essential Force), and sadly came to the conclusion that the hardware on the drums was just a bit too "weird" for my taste, and eventually sold all of them. Not neccesarily of bad quality, just the look of them are not triggering me in a positive way (got great deals on those kits so I jumped on them). I don't think I could ever say no to a nice Prolite or SQ2 kit, but I just prefer the slightly more subtle (or standard if you will) look of the hardware on the asian brands (Tama, Pearl, Yamaha etc). Sonor does sound good, but their hardware is just a bit too "uniqually" designed in my opinion.
Pearl Masters BCX in Piano Black (birch), 22x18"x2/10x8"/12x9"/13x10"/14x14"/16x16"
Snares: 14x6" Tama Starphonic Bronze, 13x5" Mapex Black Panther DL Cherry Bomb
Paiste cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Evans heads
I had a 2007 last year briefly. Lovely sounding kit & exceptionally made
The Varukers.
would kill to be able to afford an SQ2(maple or beech).............but one thing I haven't seen mentioned are their snare drums...those are works of art that sound amazing....one of my bucket list snares is their Artist Series Bronze.
Mapex Saturn V Blue Red Hybrid Sparkle 4 pc
Ludwig 6.5 x14 Black Beauty
Pearl Demon Drive double pedal
Sabian 22" Paragon Ride
Sabian 19" Paragon China
Sabian 18" AAX Xplosion Crash
Sabian 18" HHX Xplosion Crash
Sabian 14" AAX Xlosion Hats
Sabian 10" AAX Aero Splash
Sabian XSR Fast Stax
Wuhan 8" Splash
Sonor makes great sounding drums at all price levels. They have two distinct pricing levels. German made = super expensive (look for used kits online),
and the KHS built drums. Currently, the best sounding Sonor kit for the money is the AQ2. It is the latest intermediate level maple Sonor kit. I have two 3007 series kits (same construction as the AQ2) and I can tell you that they look and sound great. Great maple classic rock drums!
Love Sonor drums! If I had some cash, my next kit would be Sonor Vintage Series.
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