Genuine Veneer vs. ALPI Reconstituted woods...

[SonorBart]

Here's my genuine Rosewood veneer on an engineered/imposter Sonor 8x8 tom. When I put together my Bubinga Signature kit in the early 00's, I wanted an 8, but knew the chance of finding a reasonably priced one was near zero. Via the old Sonormuseum Forum, I found out about Bearing Edge Drums and had the guy build me a 10 ply Keller shell 8x8 with Bubinga inside and out. He did a really nice job. I installed the box lugs, mount, and badge. It was good match both visually and sonically. When I sold the kit, the buyer wasn't interested in it. A couple of years later, when I bought my Rosewood Lites, I again wanted an 8 and knew how rare they were. I saw some pics on the old forum of a Phonic kit that had been stripped of the wrap and veneered with Rosewood. It looked great, so I contacted the guy and he walked me through the process. I found an appropriate sized sheet of real Rosewood veneer on Ebay that wasn't too expensive. I sanded the matte finish down to the bare Bubinga and did the preliminary cutting of the veneer. One panel at a time, I brushed on a light layer of wood glue and installed the veneer with a hot iron over a dish towel with the seams under the lugs. It definitely required attention to detail and I was very happy with how it turned out, expecially given my lack of experience. I used a few coats of water based clear satin topcoat. I left the Bubinga on the inside, so it became a poor man's SQ2 with Rosewood out and Bubinga in. When I sold the Lite kit, the buyer didn't want it, so I now have it stacked with my other unused 8" toms (Scandi Lite, Frankenstein Designer, and SQ2). I'll have to get a pic of that and put it in the Sonor family album section. I don't anticipate ever needing to use it with my Rosewood Vintage Series kit, but it'd be an ok match.

[krusher74]

Here's my genuine Rosewood veneer on an engineered/imposter Sonor 8x8 tom. When I put together my Bubinga Signature kit in the early 00's, I wanted an 8, but knew the chance of finding a reasonably priced one was near zero. Via the old Sonormuseum Forum, I found out about Bearing Edge Drums and had the guy build me a 10 ply Keller shell 8x8 with Bubinga inside and out. He did a really nice job. I installed the box lugs, mount, and badge. It was good match both visually and sonically. When I sold the kit, the buyer wasn't interested in it. A couple of years later, when I bought my Rosewood Lites, I again wanted an 8 and knew how rare they were. I saw some pics on the old forum of a Phonic kit that had been stripped of the wrap and veneered with Rosewood. It looked great, so I contacted the guy and he walked me through the process. I found an appropriate sized sheet of real Rosewood veneer on Ebay that wasn't too expensive. I sanded the matte finish down to the bare Bubinga and did the preliminary cutting of the veneer. One panel at a time, I brushed on a light layer of wood glue and installed the veneer with a hot iron over a dish towel with the seams under the lugs. It definitely required attention to detail and I was very happy with how it turned out, expecially given my lack of experience. I used a few coats of water based clear satin topcoat. I left the Bubinga on the inside, so it became a poor man's SQ2 with Rosewood out and Bubinga in. When I sold the Lite kit, the buyer didn't want it, so I now have it stacked with my other unused 8" toms (Scandi Lite, Frankenstein Designer, and SQ2). I'll have to get a pic of that and put it in the Sonor family album section. I don't anticipate ever needing to use it with my Rosewood Vintage Series kit, but it'd be an ok match.

RW Lite 8b.JPG

Did you discount the kits because they did not take the 8", unless it was really stretching the budget i would always buy the full kit someone was selling as i feel it would be better in the future for resale.( and a bit rude to say i only want part of the set you are selling) I'm probably in a minority loving an 8" tom and a set that i was interesting in when enquiring they had already sold off the 8" tom in 2 days of it being for sale, and now that the 8/10/12/14/20 set is only a 10/12/14/20 I passed on it. Its was a hilite exclusive and i have never seen a 8" tom for sale in the 4 years since that would have matched it.

[SonorBart]

In both cases, the buyer didn't want the 8 because it was an imposter. I'm not using an 8 with my Lites, Frankenstein Designers, or SQ2 anymore (I've used all 3 kits with my 70's & 80's band). Our songlist changed slightly with a different vocalist/bassist joining 4 years ago and realized that I was only using the 8 on 3 or 4 fills per night. It allowed me to lower my crashes by 4 - 6 inches and I removed the smallest crash on my left this year. Here's my Lite kit 10 years ago and currently.