Sonor Vintage Series Drum Kit

100
| JANUARY 2016 WWW.MUSICRADAR.COM/RHYTHM
GEAR REVIEW
The 13"x8" tom is a vintage Sonor size,
one inch shallower than the usual 13"x9",
and with a little more clout and speed as a
result. I found it refreshing after the
ubiquitous 13"x9" which can be over-boomy.
Likewise, the 14"x12" and 16"x14" fl oor toms
benefi t from being shallower (ie: not the
more traditional 1960s square sizes), which
does make them that bit more compressed
and distinct – less lumbering.
The bass drum came with a Fibreskyn
front head and Evans 360 Coated batter.
With no port hole, and tuned quite fi rmly,
the sound was commandingly strong, clean
and quite hard. Very ’60s, especially given
the 14" depth and rounded edges.
Traditionally tuned with the batter wrinkles
just out, there was plenty of beef.
With such a woody set it makes sense to
have a matching wood snare. Tonally it
accords better than a more clattery metal.
Again the Superprofi l hoops and rounded
edges tighten the centre beat – there’s a
feeling of being compacted and focused. But
catch the comfortable-feeling rims and they
certainly ring out abundantly.
Beech is an underused wood and yet one
strainer lever is reminiscent of vintage
‘baseball bat’ style muffl er levers, and
unusually the minimal mechanism is secreted
within the shell. There’s a fi rm and secure feel
to the lever, while the small tension knob for
the Sonor 24-strand German-made stainless
steel wires is positioned at the butt end.
Hands On
Those rounded bearing edges undoubtedly
soften the attack and darken the sound,
increasing the beechy woody timbre,
while shortening the decay a fraction.
This tightening effect is added to by the
heavy rims which seem to enclose and
compact the sound a little more with a
hint of the effect that Gretsch’s heavy
die-cast rims have.
Sonor generally ships with Remo heads,
but the review kit came with Evans Coated
360s on the toms and snare. Either way,
white coated single-ply heads, top and
bottom, add to the vintage sound and look.
With the 360s, and considering all the above
sonic components together, the toms have a
tone which is more on the calf side than the
sharp attacking sound of 45° edges.
VERDICT: With its beech shells,
rounded bearing edges, Superprofi l
hoops and teardrop lugs, Sonor’s
Vintage Series recalls a fondly-
remembered defi ning period in the
German company’s 140-year evolution.
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
RATING
Also try…
1
GRETSCH
BROADKASTER
We say: “ Gretsch relives
its history with this
faithful reproduction of
its most sought-after
Broadkaster
round-badge three-ply
drums.”
2
PEARL WOOD
FIBERGLASS KIT
We say: “ This excellent,
timely update with
Kapur shells comes
at a knock-down price.
Stunningly clear and
punchy, grab one while
you can. ”
What is the series concept?
“Offering drummers vintage
looking and sounding drums that
are built under modern
manufacturing standards. We
wanted to make it as authentic as possible by
looking into the company’s history which
reaches back to 1875, There are lots of things
we learned from it, and were able to implement
into the Vintage series.”
Why now?
“It was our 140th anniversary in 2015 and when
we talked about product development it was
pretty obvious that this was a striking idea,
perfect for our anniversary and beyond. It’s also
a good tool to educate people about Sonor’s
history. Lots of drummers don’t know that
Sonor is the oldest, still-existing drum company.
The feedback from our artist family was
extremely positive. Endorsers from different
genres called as soon as the news was out. And
they all love it!”
The 14"x5¾" snare drum size is unusual…
“We’ve been going through old catalogues to
see what was available back then. There’s a
new wrap coming at NAMM 2016, but we’re not
done yet. There are some options thinking
about fi nishes, hardware and especially snare
drum sizes.”
Thomas Barth Sonor International
Artist Relations and Marketing
Manager
They say…
THE 13”X8” TOM IS A VINTAGE SONOR
SIZE, ONE INCH SHALLOWER THAN
THE USUAL 13”X9”, WITH A LITTLE
MORE CLOUT AND SPEED AS A RESULT
which is always greeted with enthusiasm
when it crops up. It’s been described as
having the clarity of birch with some of the
warmth and resonance of maple. That’s a
decent enough description. Now I wouldn’t
normally suggest this, but there is a video of
Steve Smith testing the Vintage kit (with 20"
bass and 12" tom), and to my ears the drums
sound close to perfection. There’s probably
no need to say more! Search out ‘Sonor
Vintage Series: Steve Smith Performance’
on YouTube.
In fact, Sonor has done us a service
here because it’s followed by another
video of Smith playing his more familiar
modern Sonor fusion kit with CS heads
and the difference is blisteringly clear. The
latter might work better for much of
Steve’s electro-fusion stuff, but the
Vintage is warmer and more rounded,
bluffer and tubbier – great for any classic
jazz or rock with its authentically evocative
’50s/’60s tone.
MOUNTING HARDWARE
Floor tom legs, small tom bracket
and bass drum spurs are all updated
classic designs, unobtrusive, but
strong enough for today’s players
CLASSIC BUILD
The Vintage Series has 9-ply 6mm
straight-sided German beech shells
with rounded-over bearing edges
and vertical inner plies
2
RHY250.gear_sonor.indd 100 26/11/2015 20:43