"Link era" gear. Is it about the drums or the emotions?

[Jules]

I have been "in my feelings" the last few days, to be honest. Watching the Steve Smith/Jack Dejohnette interview took me back a bit in a way to old emotions I had in my early discovery of Sonor.

Oddly, for me, there isn't a sense of nostalgia about the gear to the point of making me want to buy up some of it. In fact, as nostalgia goes, I recently sold a D-500 reissue which was identical to the very first piece of Sonor gear I ever owned. But, maybe I am nostalgic about that time in my life and how the sheer awesomeness of Sonor was a big part of my waking days for the 8 years it took me to get around to buying any and beyond.

I guess it would be akin to going to a "Santa's Workshop" and reliving the youthful days of believing in a jolly fat man that would traverse the entire planet in 24 hours. While those days wore off long ago, sometimes it's interesting to think back to certain things that were momentous occasions or eras and try to relive that excitement. For me, that's a bit of what happened in the video Sonor put out recently and I look forward to the next two installments.

Speaking of nostalgia, I used to work at an aircraft plant that built the best ag aircraft on the planet. This plane has been built under 5 different companies and is in use in over 75 countries around the world. Aside from really liking the work environment, I took pride in being involved in such a globally respected product. I actually used to dream that I was at work out there again from time to time. Literally dream in my sleep. I went back out there a few years ago and looked around while inquiring about a position. Things were so different. A hand full of people, among lots of process changes and it just wasn't the same. The company was about to go through a bankruptcy and change ownership (again) and so the job offer was not extended. And it's probably justas well. I would have been a job, but it and I were both very different than all those years ago.

It makes we wonder if that's what so many Sonor guys are clinging onto. Is it really about the gear, or is it the connection that goes along with the emotions of eras gone by? Probably both.

This may lead into a video, so please feel free to leave your opinions, whatever they are.

[tcbetka]

Never owned a single piece of Sonor hardware (besides the tom mount(s) that came with the Vintage series kit), so I can't comment on that. But I've been a licensed pilot, flight instructor and aircraft mechanic since the early/mid 1980s. I've built/rebuilt/repaired many an airplane part in my life. Even starting building an aircraft from plans in the 90s. Medical training got in the way then though, so I never got it flying--but I think it DID fly after I sold it.

You'll have to tell some more about your aircraft-building experience over in the rag-chewing area Jules. I'd love to talk about it!

[Jules]

Never owned a single piece of Sonor hardware (besides the tom mount(s) that came with the Vintage series kit), so I can't comment on that. But I've been a licensed pilot, flight instructor and aircraft mechanic since the early/mid 1980s. I've built/rebuilt/repaired many an airplane part in my life. Even starting building an aircraft from plans in the 90s. Medical training got in the way then though, so I never got it flying--but I think it DID fly after I sold it.

You'll have to tell some more about your aircraft-building experience over in the rag-chewing area Jules. I'd love to talk about it!

Maybe a phone call sometime?

[Scott_M]

It makes we wonder if that's what so many Sonor guys are clinging onto. Is it really about the gear, or is it the connection that goes along with the emotions of eras gone by? Probably both.

For me, it's a bit of both. In the 80's (when I started paying attention to gear), both the hardware and the drums really stood out to me. For the Hardware, it was the innovations that Sonor had that no one else was doing - the anti-detuning system built into the lugs (snap-locks), the spring-loaded handles on the tom mounts, and the ability to take a double stand/holder and turn it into a 3-4, or even 5-way. From what I could see, it was all miles ahead of anything anyone else was doing. The Designer series stuff just took everything up another level - even the poorly implemented stuff like the floor tom leg mounts and the tune-safe were (still are?) way beyond anything anyone else has done.

As for the drums - they had a look and sound all their own. I'm still not a big "wood finish" guy, but Sonor's veneer finishes have always been the exception (2 of my 3 kits are veneer finishes...). The boxy lugs from the Phonics/Signatures/Lites were what I could only describe as having an "understated chonkiness" - i.e. just the right amount of bulkiness and angles to make their presence known visually, but still small enough to not be obnoxious on smaller drums (lookin' at you DW/Camco, Hayman, Eddie Ryan, etc)..

That being said, I actually prefer the majority of the current production stuff. The current "Mallet" lugs are bold and distinct, but tasteful. The finishes continue to grab my attention, and the whole 600/Basic Arm series hardware concept (and it's backward compatibility) keeps the hardware versatility and options more open than with anyone outside of DW.

[SonorBart]

I bought my Scandinavian Birch Lites new for $2,750 in early '84 and it's still my primary gigging kit as I have 22 and 20 bass drums. I pieced together a Bubinga Signature Heavy kit for $1800 in around '02, including the bass drum and one tom from Jules. I liked the look, but preferred the sound of the Lites - those heavy square size toms were too dry for my taste, so I eventually sold the Sigs for a small profit. I bought a used Red Maple Hilite for $800 in around '05 and played it for a couple of years. It sounded OK to my ears, but wasn't what I had expected. I traded it plus $1,000 for a Rosewood Lite kit in the same sizes. I pieced together a Frankenstein/Orphan Maple Light Designer kit with a Delite BD for $1,700 in '13 and covered it with BumWrap to use for outdoor gigs. I still have it, but recovered it in a BumWrap very close to Signature Impala Lacquer this past year. It's a great sounding kit. I bought my African Marble Beech SQ2 for $5,500 in '17 and then sold the Rosewood Lites for a small profit - it was a great looking kit, but sounded similar to my other Lites. As a guy who drooled over The Rolls of Drums ad and the Drummer's Drum catalogs of the Link era, I wanted to try as many of the Sonor series as possible and I managed to do it without having to spend too much money. I've never had Phonics, but my SQ2 is close enough. I bought a Vintage Series this past spring for $4,400, so I have all the bases covered with the Birch Lites, the Maple Designers/Delite, the Medium Beech SQ2, and the thin Beech with rounded edges Vintage Series: Two Link era and two current. For me it's a mixture of the actual drums and the emotions.