On drums...

To me one of the coolest sounding drums is the Sonor Phonic. I hate the damn tom mounts though--terrible.
I've only seen one Phonic kit for sale with RIMS mounts and no mounts drilled. However, I came across a set of special order Phonic concert toms with Tama mounts (two small holes). The 10 and 12 are both 8 inches deep, which is rare and again special order. So, I had this dream of making my kick-ass Phonic set by doweling up holes, cutting out small plugs from Phonic donor drums, and plugging all mounting holes. My set:

10x8, 12x8, 14x10, 14x14, 16x16, 20x17, 24x14, 13x7 snare, 12x6 snare, 10x6 snare

The plan is to finish them in a high gloss outer (maybe Impala lacquer, or Cream) and finish them in a semi-gloss inner veneer, such as rosewood or bubinga. This way any holes or imperfections are nullified. The main drums I need to plug are the 14x14 and 14x10 (standard cut outs for a rack tom mount), and the 20x17 (tom mount cut out in center--hopefully it will be stable over time). The inner veneer should be an adventure, but nothing too crazy, just time and patience...and some money. With these drums as they sit I'm already in $1300, though I have to sell off many parts. That will probably net out to more like $1100. When all done, I think I'll be in for a bit north of $2000, which leaves one wondering if a new Ascent kit wouldn't be a better deal.

Here's an example of doing this on a 14x14 Sig hanging tom I converted into a snare. The plug sits on a snare bed btw:


Any opinions on a paint/veneer scheme?

You have skills and patience I wasn't aware of Hale.
That stuff is fun though. I enjoyed veneering some drums a little while back.

2K for a kit you could love is not out of line in my opinion.
Is this the "summer project"? Look forward to seeing the progress.

Ascent? Any product from the current version of Sonor is of limited interest. Sonor v. 2.3 is a pastiche of what was once a family buisniess with a rightfully proud heritage transformed into a money pump figuring out ways to eek max return from increasingly minimal effort. That this is 'the way of the world' in no way convinces me that I want to participate, because there is so much great material around to work with.

Gettin' back off that stump.

Fantastic project you've got going on, Hale. The one caution I'd throw in is veneering the interior of a kit presents problems, since all pressure must work toward the outside rather than the more readily available inward pressure used to veneer the exterior. Of course if you are going to use contact cement as an adhesive, application of pressure is no challenge - though making that veneer stay put may be.

Personally, I love to see well crafted signs of workmanship, so plugs visible on the inside would not bother me at all, particularly when weighed against the effort of veneering. All the rest of that aside, who ever looks inside your drums? I can't think of one time that anyone in actual (vs. virtual) life has ever commented about the bubinga inside the shells. You can send me 2¢ by Paypal, thank you.

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Gregory

I have respect for people who have this kind of skill, good luck. I couldn't do that for sure.

If You put Coated Emperors on top and Coated Ambassadors (or Diplomats) on bottom - the inner veneer is a totally insignificant thing...

That's how most Pearl and Gretsch drums were sold - some don't like the shell texture, some don't like the silver color...

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

To do the inner veneer pressure is actually pretty easy:

Use an exercise ball inside once the veneer is set with glue and inflate!

I just love the inner veneer thing. Check out Mitch's Impala Sigs:
http://www.sonormuseum.com/forum/viewto ... 3&start=60

If you can guarantee equal pressure of 25 lbs per square inch all the way across, you're home free.

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Gregory

There are very few guarantees in life...especially in home drum projects.

It would be nice to have access to an air bladder, but the ball is an easy and, I think, useful alternative.

Have you looked into a vacuum bag with a bladder?

I have....I didn't get it because then I would have been out of excuses if it came out like crap