My SQ2 Series Kit

[TubThumper74]

SQ2 5pc Kit - Gold Oyster with Gold hardware
8x10 rack tom
9x12 rack tom
16x16 floor tom
18x22 kick drum

All medium Beech shells

[tcbetka]

You must like those beech shells, seeing that you went with that for the floor tom of the Momentum kit you got. I'm a birch guy myself--but I have this vintage-series kit which is all beech of course. I can't play it at full volume yet though, so I have the Evans dBOne quiet heads and cymbals set up now. I need to build out a drum practice room before I can go full volume, and I hope to do that over the winter at some point.

Cool that you got the medium shells though--to me that's the best sounding thickness. I've had a heavy beech kit and it takes a lot of energy to excite all that mass. The sound was great, no problem there. But the medium shells on the S-Classix kit I used to have was my favorite I think. This is one of the main reasons for getting the (gently) used vintage kit I got. In fact I think I would rather have the "wrong" wood type in the "right" shell thickness, than the other way around.

Just my 2 cents though. Others' mileage may vary.

[TubThumper74]

I think, to me, Beech IS Sonor. Medium Beech, to my ears, has a nice combination of attack, punch and warmth and like you said, in regards to the heavy shell, doesn't take as much energy to activate. The birch 10" tom I have on my Momentum kit also sounds great and I love the attack from it, especially for that size drum.

[tcbetka]

Did you ever hear Aaron Holler's all-birch SQ2 kit, with heavy rack toms and thin floor toms? Oh. My. GAWD...is it incredible.

[Jules]

The drums do sound great, but Aaron could probably tune Tupperware and make it sound good. The consensus is that he is the man when it comes to tuning!

[tcbetka]

The drums do sound great, but Aaron could probably tune Tupperware and make it sound good. The consensus is that he is the man when it comes to tuning!

It's not hard to tune drums, when you've been doing it for a while. That said, yeah...he can tune a set of drums. But to my ears, the birch shells give this combination of punch and attack, while still maintaining a controlled sound. No PITA overtones like with maple. I don't have nearly the experience with beech shells, but did not prefer the beech heavy shells of the Sonor SQ2 kit I had. I much preferred the birch shells on the S Classix kit--although perhaps the kick drum could have had a bit more "umph" for me.

[TubThumper74]

Did you ever hear Aaron Holler's all-birch SQ2 kit, with heavy rack toms and thin floor toms? Oh. My. GAWD...is it incredible.

Great sound for sure! As someone who owns 3 different Sonor professional kits with each of the 3 wood types (maple, birch, beech) I can confidently say the differences between the 3 - all things being equal-ish - is there, but subtle. The DNA and essence of my Prolite kit isn't that different from my SQ2 or Momentum kits. The Sonor sound is the Sonor sound by and far. IMHO, bearing edge and shell thickness (or thiness - escpecially on extremes) will have a larger impact and influence on the sound that wood type.

[Jules]

Did you ever watch DCP's comparison videos?

[TubThumper74]

Did you ever watch DCP's comparison videos?

Yes. When you're listening to them mic'd, eq'd, compressed and mixed to perfection - back to back - there will obviously be more noticeable differences. Raw, behind the kit, the differences are more subtle than noticeable.

[tcbetka]

It's more of a feeling in my gut than anything else. The frequencies from the thin birch FT shells just blows me away, sitting next to them. The rack toms, not so much. So I, like Aaron, prefer a thicker rack tom. He likes the thick shells, but for me the medium shell thickness would be fine. But as for the FTs, 5mm shells for me thank you.