SQ1

[Joe´s Drumgear]

Today is the day, I picked up my first ever Sonor Drumkit from my favorite drumstore (Drumladen in St. Leon Rot). I fell in love with a satine pure white SQ1 in 20“, 12“, 14“ and 16“, which I got for a killer deal. 8“ and 10“ toms will be added in the future.

I put Remo Ambassador Clear heads on all of the batter heads on the toms and gave it a quick tune up. Now I know what everybody means when they say Sonors sound different. In comparison to my Tama Starclassic Maple, this is a whole different sound.

I got to say the hardware on my Tama is more robust and heavyweight though, the screws on the toms feel a bit cheap in my opinion, aswell as the floor tom legs.

In the last few weeks I thought about getting a SQ2 Heavy Birch, but my configuration would have been similiar to the standard SQ1 sizes, so I switched to that to safe a few bucks.

I really really love the sound of my new drums, they really sing and the floor toms / bassdrum sound like thunder.

Now I got to adjust my playing and get used to a double pedal again though haha.

For anyone interested my other kits sizes are:
20“x16“ x2
8“x6“
10“x7“
12“x8“
14“x14“
16“x16“

[Jules]

Nice rig!

[Joe´s Drumgear]

Today I had some time to build around the new set up, since my set up before was way bigger. Did quiet some downsizing in cymbals.

[Jules]

I have gotten a complaint about images posting sideways and I don't have an answer yet. They open to the proper orientation if you click on them. Love the snare!!!

[Joe´s Drumgear]

Noticed that haha.

The snare is a beast! Had to put a clear Ambassador on it, so I can admire the shell while playing. I love the thickness

I‘m really curious how the 18“ Floor Tom would sound. Originally I wanted to get the 8“ and 10“ Tom as a Add-on, but now I‘m thinking 10“ and 13“…

[Joe´s Drumgear]

Got rid of my rack today, since I don‘t need it for the SQ1 for now. Way smaller footprint and fun to play with the different placements.

[Jules]

The 18" Floor tom is a CANNON. Bad phone placement, and phone microphone do these drums no justice. Turns out me snare reso head needed tweaking so ignore all of that, too.

[Joe´s Drumgear]

That sounds massive! Maybe I‘ll consider the 18“…

[Joe´s Drumgear]

Finally I found a tuning where the drums sing. It‘s insane tbh how the drums sound now that I found the tuning I like. Looking forward to the 8“ and 10“ tom, this is going to be insane.

Had some concerns about the decision of buying a SQ1 since I just could not tune the 12“ the way I wanted. But now it feels like the perfect decision and I have no regrets selling my Tama kit.

[DaveInNZ]

I'm curious Joe, what you perceive the magic tuning is?

I had a similar experience on my Vintage Series running coated Emperors over coated Ambassadors, tuned them the same way I did my Pearl kit, with the reso head up a bit and was underwhelmed. Pitched both heads the same tension on the Tunebot and they became the best sounding drums I've personally ever heard.