Upgrading my Artist Bronze: Hella Hoops are on the way!

[Jules]

Looking forward to beefing up this Artist Bronze to the next level. I have the Black Chrome Hellas arriving with the rest of the kit tomorrow. Can't want to get it all worked up Tuesday.

[Jules]

I put a Sound Control X on it. I may have cranked it too much, it doesn't have the body that the UV1 did. I went with a Remo instead of the Evans just for brand consistency. I have almost every Evans 14" head in my head closet and may work through them all one by one week by week just to see what happens, but first I am going to tinker with this Remo (I still have two different Remos on hand, also) before I start buying through the head stash.

And, yes, I know that the weight of the Hellas changed things, but the cross stick and rim shot with these Hellas on this drum are out of this world! I can find a head that cuts but still has oomph to it, too. And I will.

[krusher74]

I should make a thread about it sometime, but i made my own cast bronze snare out of a hld-582. its a Guven Bronze shell 4mm thick 6mm to and bottom bands/undersized to sonor spec.
I have a yamaha aluminium bottom hoop and a bubinga with ebony inlay top hoop, and this thing will take your head off, as i'm sure yours will.
I think these would be the extreme opposite of hellas

[Jules]

Hook us up with some sound samples.

[DaveInNZ]

So what's the authoritative verdict on this Jules? Everyone thinks the Artist Bronze is amazing and can't be made any better, and then you put Hellas on it and another dimension opens up?

[Jules]

So what's the authoritative verdict on this Jules? Everyone thinks the Artist Bronze is amazing and can't be made any better, and then you put Hellas on it and another dimension opens up?

The whole rig is about 45 minutes away, and has been since the day I set it all up for the first time. So I have had limited time to tweak any of it. But, here goes my first impression:

Prior to installing the Hellas, I had put an Evans UV1 on top and was enjoying a good all around sound. Lots of crack and depth, simultaneaously. When I put the Hellas on, I also put a new hazy snare side and a Controlled Sound X on. I went too far with cranking the batter and lost the meatiness of the sound, but later dropped the tuning quite a bit and got that balanced gutsy sound back.

The drum sounds like a sample. And cross sticking and rim shots are LOUD and powerful. I was apprehensive about making the change because the drum sounded so good to start with, but I wanted to give it a try and I am glad I did! I will have some audio/video late in the month or early in October. I will have the drums back at my home church after the 28th and can have full access to them, again.