fourstringdrums
04-25-2007, 10:00 PM
I posted another thread about this, but I wanted to make a new one to announce its arrival. My 4x13 Saluda Birch snare finally came in, after about 10 weeks of waiting and an extra 2 DHL late thanks to DHL.
First I want to address the finish because I had mentioned in the original thread about how Jamie told me that the drum still had buffing scratches on it, and I'd have to get rid of those myself unless I wanted them to hold the drum for a month before they could do it (I still don't know why they'd have to wait that long..). Anyway, I'm happy to say that yes, there are a few buffing scratches on it BUT, you can't see them unless you hold the drum in the light at a certain angle..they're definately nothing major. In fact if Jamie hadn't told me that they were, I probably wouldnt've thought twice after seeing them. So people might be bothered by that, but I'm fine with it. There are however a few tiny tiny bubbles in the clear coat. I found about 3. Why THOSE definately slipped by QC, I don't know, but again, it's not worth making a huge stink about. Face it, you don't look at drums through a fine tooth comb every time you see them, so in normal viewing and inspection these issues aren't that noticeable.
I have to say though that they did a great job with the color. I had originally asked for a dark walnut finish because I ordered it when I had my Catalinas and I thought that finish would look good. When I got the Renowns I casually mentioned it to Jamie and he said that it could be resprayed, so I asked for a black cherry, and sent them a picture of my Renowns. It's obviously not an exact match especially since my Renowns are a black cherry burst so the color is a tiny bit lighter, but at first glance you'd think that the snare was meant to be on that set finish wise. In the comparison pic below, my Renown snare looks alittle darker than it actually is. In person they're even closer in color.
Now to construction and sound.. I'll be honest, I haven't had a chance yet to take the drum apart and examine the bearing edges or anything but I'll do that when I change heads, and I do want to change heads. The drum came with Attack heads. A clear snare side and a CLEAR medium single-ply batter...why they put a clear batter head on the drum, I have no idea. I just ordered heads and am waiting for them to arrive, so I think for the time being I'll just go to my local store and get a coated Ambassador. They definately won't have any 13" snare side heads in stock so I'll change that at a later date. Oh back to construction...I did notice that the seam in the snare is not the tightest I've seen..It has a noticeable gap.
Sound wise, it's hard to judge right now because of the lousy heads, but it does have a nice crack, with a dry sound that has a slightly ringy edge. I think it would be pretty nice once I change the heads. I recorded a short mp3 of me just messing around on it. I haven't played much in like 5 months so the playing is lousy, don't mind that.
www.handidrummed.com/saludabirch.mp3
and here are the pics:
http://www.handidrummed.com/saluda1.jpg
http://www.handidrummed.com/saluda2.jpg
http://www.handidrummed.com/saluda3.jpg
First I want to address the finish because I had mentioned in the original thread about how Jamie told me that the drum still had buffing scratches on it, and I'd have to get rid of those myself unless I wanted them to hold the drum for a month before they could do it (I still don't know why they'd have to wait that long..). Anyway, I'm happy to say that yes, there are a few buffing scratches on it BUT, you can't see them unless you hold the drum in the light at a certain angle..they're definately nothing major. In fact if Jamie hadn't told me that they were, I probably wouldnt've thought twice after seeing them. So people might be bothered by that, but I'm fine with it. There are however a few tiny tiny bubbles in the clear coat. I found about 3. Why THOSE definately slipped by QC, I don't know, but again, it's not worth making a huge stink about. Face it, you don't look at drums through a fine tooth comb every time you see them, so in normal viewing and inspection these issues aren't that noticeable.
I have to say though that they did a great job with the color. I had originally asked for a dark walnut finish because I ordered it when I had my Catalinas and I thought that finish would look good. When I got the Renowns I casually mentioned it to Jamie and he said that it could be resprayed, so I asked for a black cherry, and sent them a picture of my Renowns. It's obviously not an exact match especially since my Renowns are a black cherry burst so the color is a tiny bit lighter, but at first glance you'd think that the snare was meant to be on that set finish wise. In the comparison pic below, my Renown snare looks alittle darker than it actually is. In person they're even closer in color.
Now to construction and sound.. I'll be honest, I haven't had a chance yet to take the drum apart and examine the bearing edges or anything but I'll do that when I change heads, and I do want to change heads. The drum came with Attack heads. A clear snare side and a CLEAR medium single-ply batter...why they put a clear batter head on the drum, I have no idea. I just ordered heads and am waiting for them to arrive, so I think for the time being I'll just go to my local store and get a coated Ambassador. They definately won't have any 13" snare side heads in stock so I'll change that at a later date. Oh back to construction...I did notice that the seam in the snare is not the tightest I've seen..It has a noticeable gap.
Sound wise, it's hard to judge right now because of the lousy heads, but it does have a nice crack, with a dry sound that has a slightly ringy edge. I think it would be pretty nice once I change the heads. I recorded a short mp3 of me just messing around on it. I haven't played much in like 5 months so the playing is lousy, don't mind that.
www.handidrummed.com/saludabirch.mp3
and here are the pics:
http://www.handidrummed.com/saluda1.jpg
http://www.handidrummed.com/saluda2.jpg
http://www.handidrummed.com/saluda3.jpg