On drums...

Well, it looks like the ink is just about dry(thanks for coining such an apropos phrase, Cliff ), so I can take Ron's encouragement and, finally, post about an amazing confluence of circumstance and its, probable, outcome...
Back in January, Gregory posted(on another forum) a link to a CL ad posted in the Atlanta area. The ad was for a long lugged Designer kit, in black, with a 10" tom that didn't match the kit. Gregory opined that it was a "bargain." For me, personally, it was a stunner.
I took one look at the kit and knew what it was: 10" x 10", 12" x 12", 16" x 16", 18" x 18", 22" x 16". The seller mentioned that the 10" was green and that the kick had a small crack in the reso side hoop. I don't believe in coincidences, but I emailed the seller(whose name wasn't listed). The next morning I got an email.
The seller was one of my best friends from my early college years. And the kit he was selling was, of course, familiar to me. It was the very set I had sold to him eight years earlier[I'd been forced to part with it under some pretty horrific circumstances and my friend and I had lost touch shortly after he bought it].
Those maple heavy Designers were my very first Sonor kit...ever.
At about the same time, I posted a wanted ad looking for a Designer 14" x 8" snare with a maple heavy shell. I'd found one when I was putting together my Designers(back in '00) and I'd held onto it for as long as I could after I lost the kit, but, ultimately, I was forced to part with it as well. Gunnar replied to my ad and we started chatting about Designer maple heavy snares. It turned out a friend of his had bought one on Ebay back in 04 that was the same finish as mine. After comparing notes for awhile, we figured out that the friend that Gunnar was telling me about is the very same gentleman who bought my snare from me.
Within two months, I'd discovered the whereabouts of the kit that meant the world to me...
I won't bore you guys with the details and some of it isn't really my story to tell...
But my favorite snare of all time is sitting three feet to my left and the rest of my Designers should be arriving in the next few weeks.
Thank you, Gregory.Your simple, unwitting act of kindness set in motion a chain of events that changed the course of my life(and that is truly not hyperbole). Gunnar, what can I say that hasn't already been said?! I have no words, brother. Kelly, my goodness, I could write a book and still not thank you enough. But you know that already.

Sometimes, Sonor is about more than just the drums. Its about the journey and the amazing people you meet along the way. This is an embarrassingly public thank you, but I wanted each of you to know how much your contributions meant.

_________________
Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

_________________
Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Congratulations Ron...

For me - there's NOTHING better than an "equipment return"...

I bought a small kit several years ago, and sold it to finance the F3K set... I missed it so much. I managed to find the buyer, and told him I'd like to buy them back. But then - the dissapointment - they were stollen...

I even placed adds around - but no luck...

It's GREAT that You mnaged to bring the lost love back home... And it's even greater that "some of the locals here" helped in the process... ;

Congratulations!!!

_________________
Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

Thanks, Goki. I've found that a few of the "Sonor faithful" are truly, fine, fine people! I'm even prouder to call some of them friends..


Cliff, you do recall correctly. It was a sort of strange evolution that I never really saw coming, and a lot of it had to do with the Green Stain maple light Designers. My experiences with them actually led to my desire to reacquire my maple heavy kit.
**The kick- Even though it was 18" in depth( as opposed to the 16" depth of the maple heavy kick), and even though it was a maple light shell..every time I played it, I thought of the maple heavy kick. There are differences, absolutely. But they weren't as pronounced as I expected them to be.
** The Rack Toms- I played with multiple combinations of rack toms[8/10/12, 10/12, 8/12, and 8/10]. Two up top really suited me best. And for the Designers, the 8/10 really, really opened things up in my playing. There was an almost audible click in my brain. The 12" didn't get a lot of burn.
** The "Hanging Floors"- The mounted "floors" absolutely drove me up a wall. One was fine(I really like the 14"); Two was an absolute nightmare! Positioning them was pretty much pure hell-in a completely comical way. It looked like I had taken to practicing various pratfalls and sight gags.
The things I loved about the maple lights(the 8 and 10 as two racks and the matching finish) were actually equaled by the things I loved about the maple heavies( that 10" was my favorite Sonor rack tom I've ever owned; the 18" floor used to make me smile every time I hit it etc. etc). I was thinking of the 12", specifically, when I mentioned that square toms didn't really work for me anymore. But I might not even use the drum all the time.
And the difference(other than shell thickness) between the maple light 10"-which I loved, and the maple heavy 10"(which I adored) is only 1" in depth. Again, there's a difference, but its not Earth shattering. And I'm willing to tackle a square 16" floor now.
All that remained, to seal the deal, was to find an 8". I knew I'd never, ever find a maple heavy 8". But the maple light 8" was my absolute favorite drum on the kit. So, I decided to improvise. I found a maple light 8" and will be adding it at some point in the near future. Its a different finish, but so is the 10". That doesn't deter me a bit. I'll have the 8" and 10" lacquered to match the rest of the kit.
I'll miss the 14" but I'll probably hunt for one...
This isn't my only kit. And the snare isn't my only snare. I'll have the S Class Pros(8/12/14/16/20) and my Ferro D508X.
So the Designers don't have to be a "do-it-all" kit. I have the Pros for the funkier stuff I like to play.
And I still have the poor, lonely, Classix 8" that is begging to be added to a Classix kit...

_________________
Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

We be waiting for pics brother.

So, does this mean you want the 14x14 MH Designer Tom, what a great story,hope all goes well for you.

_________________
Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

I was waiting for you to chime in, Jeff! . Yeah, its time for you and I to see if we can figure something out! I forgot to ask you how the Phonic hunt is going?! [Its too bad you don't need a 13" x 9". I found one in seemingly great shape at a very reasonable price].

_________________
Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

Ron, there's an audible click in my brain, too - the sound of it rattling around trying to follow your rambunctious ramblings! Since there is a click, I'm assuming that means there's still one up there, no matter how pea-sized.



Suspended large toms require sticking to a precise plan. The initial set-up is the most difficult, since getting the precise heights and angles from multiple direction pivots and clamps is just that way, but once that's done, the rest is easy.

Rule 1. Never move the clamps!

Rule 2. Know the exact position of the feet of the stand.

Rule 3. Set the smaller tom first, then place the stand in position.

Trying to move a 14/16 combo mounted on the stand can be done, but you don't want to have to. It requires lifting the drums with either hand, then getting a foot around a stand leg and leveraging one way or another. I imagine on a hard surface it's a lot easier, but on a carpet some muscle is required.

Once all that initial positioning is satisfied, the subsequent set up and mounting suspended toms is easier than setting up floors, but getting used to its nit-picking demands can be a little trying, and the drummer's relationship to those drums is altered, since any weight applied to them has a consequence.

I'm not sure I understand what was the question that suspended low toms were designed to answer, but I've got 'em and am learning to live with 'em. Given a choice, I'd still take the legged floors, but not for any good reason that I know of other than... I am used to them. There is something - perhaps pretentious - about suspending "floor" toms.

_________________
Gregory

Now you know why I generally try to limit my "outbursts" to emoticons and short sentences. I can be, um, verbose when I get going!



In addition to my any difficulty I would've had with moving the #$^%@ mounted floors, the tom clamps slipped noticeably on the post. I tried every angle I could, but I couldn't get the 14 and 16 to sit right. They were either too close, one was too high and the other two low, or too far apart.. for me it seriously detracted from the joy of owning the kit. I mean I know I'm a little slow and all, but setting them up and playing them comfortably was a total no go for me. A lot of my consternation was the 1st Gen Designer stand too. I don't have the words to describe how much I disliked that thing.
I could work with two smaller toms, for instance, if I were mounting a 12" x 12" and a 14" x 14" in the same position, I think that would work. I'll probably give that a shot with the next double tom stand I play with.
I could have tried another solution, but honestly, once I started playing the 14" x 12" and the 16" x 14", I really, really missed my 18" floor.
The maple light Designers are a fantastic, fantastic kit. But every single time I played them, I thought about my old maple heavies.
Its as simple as that, really.
I missed my old kit something fierce and the maple lights brought them home with a certainty. That rambunctious rambling was my, admittedly ragged, attempt to go through my reasoning.

_________________
Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

What an amazing turn of events!!! That's amazing news that your getting it back! Man I hope my first kit was burned somewhere! haha It was awful!!!!

Congrats!!!

_________________
Ron