...and we're back.
Floor Tom - I love a square sized floor tom with legs. I have a Beech Custom kit with 14x12 and 16x14 mounted toms. The stand they are on is very heavy to lug around and they move around too much for my comfort. Also, neither sounds as good as this floor tom. It's rock stable and is very boomy, resembling the bass drum. The toms shipped with Evans G1 coated heads. They sounded okay in my small practice room, which is very dead. While looking for the 18" fiberskyn head, I also picked up a 14" fiberskyn to try on the snare (I had seen Steve Smith using one and wanted to try it out). It was way too ringy on the snare so I tried it on the floor tom. This is the sound I have dreamed about. The G1s had a bad ringing sound unmuffled. The fiberskyns have very little ring. What's there is musical and can only be heard from behind the kit. Out front they sound amazing. With studio rings, they give a good fusion decay sound. Plus, they look classy. I'll probably try a set of EC2s I have sitting around on them later.
Snare - On the entire kit, the snare is the most average sounding drum. The G1 batter that shipped with it sounds good. The reso head is completely unlabeled, but seems to be 3 or 4 mils thick. The snare wires are 20 strand and sturdy. The throwoff is very nice. The arm is curved and it feels like you get more leverage turning it on. You can tell it's going to stay in place when engaged. I'm not sure mahogany is the best wood for a set snare. It's got a nice musical ring to it, but at the sacrifice of a good crack. It would make a great solo snare. The fact that it matches is the only reason I'll take it out instead of my maple snare.
For the above reasons, I highly recommend this set to anyone. The sizes limit it to certain styles, but if you are in the market for a small set, this is the one to get, even at the current $650 price tag.
That being said, I'll continue with my minor gripes after a short break...
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