Which is/was heavier - Sonor Designer or Yamaha RC?

Bad Tempered Clavier

Silver Member
I know that the Designer came in different shell types, but broadly speaking how did they compare to the RC in terms of weight?

To explain: I have an RC kit that I'm looking to change - nowt wrong with it per se, just fancy a kit in different sizes . . .
I think ideally I'd go for something like the Sonor Delites as I hear that they were fairly lightweight owing to thin shells and not a lot of metalwork. This appeals to me as the only real drawback to living with the RC for me is the heft of the thing.

As far as the Designer goes, a kit in my preferred sizes caught my eye the other day but it's too far away for me to try in person. I'd be happy to take a punt on it as far as the sound and build quality go, but it does appear to have a lot of hardware on the shells. The kit in question has the maple light shells, if that makes a difference, but I was just wondering if I would end up with another very nice but bloody heavy drum kit?
 
You are playing a fairly heavy kit with those long-lugged RC's....... no ?

I had two of those RC's and they never seemed lightweight.

The guy PowerTom just got a Designer.. He is in Your Gear section mostly. I would ask him his opinion on the weight.
 
They came with various different shells but the hardware is huge on the designers. I have a designer stand and it's ridiculously heavy with its big thick legs, which are also used on the kic, as well as the adjustable rail and missile thing. Without weighing them I bet the sonor is heavier.
 
The bass drum tom mount on the Designers is a huge bit of metalwork. I suspect that may be the difference between the kits. I haven't directly compared the weights so it's only a speculative guess but if you use a different system (e.g. a snare stand) then I'd guess that the Designer would be marginally lighter.

Lovely kits, though. I lusted after one for years.
 
I have a friend of mine who has a Sonor Designer kit, and yes they weigh a ton but as others have said most of that was due to all the metal on it. As far as just the shells themselves, hard to tell.
 
the hardware is huge on the designers [. . .] ridiculously heavy with its big thick legs, which are also used on the kic, as well as the adjustable rail and missile thing

The bass drum tom mount on the Designers is a huge bit of metalwork

I have a friend of mine who has a Sonor Designer kit, and yes they weigh a ton

Yeah, it's not looking good . . . I mean, I don't take the kit out as much as I used to but it's nice to have that option. Unfortunately I have neither the wallet nor the space to have a stay-at-home kit as well as a going-out kit. If I'm sticking with one kit that's as versatile as possible, I don't think this is it. Shame, as it looks gorgeous.
 
I've never really had issue with RC weight, except for the kick. I remedied that by getting a different case. I used to lug the thing with an Anvil fiber case. There is just no good way to carry those, except by using a hand truck. I got a padded gig bag, and it has made all the difference. I can put the strap on my shoulder and sort of hang the drum on my back, which for me, is a much easier way to cart it than carrying the Anvil.

The only drums I own that are MUCH lighter than my RC's are my 1966 Ludwig. I don't gig those, but they are really lightweight and easy on the back.
 
I know that the Designer came in different shell types, but broadly speaking how did they compare to the RC in terms of weight?

The kit in question has the maple light shells, if that makes a difference, but I was just wondering if I would end up with another very nice but bloody heavy drum kit?

...broadly speaking, yes, the sonor designer series maple light kit will be heavier than your existing yamaha recording custom kit (owing, mostly, to the bass drum hardware and sonor's proprietary rack (and possibly floor ) tom mounting brackets and stands...and more so if the toms feature the long - as opposed to the split - lugs)...

...that being the case, yes, you may end up with another "nice but bloody heavy drum kit", imho...
 
Shell hardware (lugs, brackets, legs, spurs, etc) is almost always the biggest contributor to overall shell kit weight. The shells themselves are fairly similar in weight from brand to brand, all other things considered.
 
Cheers for the input - I've decided to pass on that Designer kit: as gorgeous as I'm sure it is the bass drum alone looks like a tank which is the antithesis of what I want right now.
 
Went to check out a new Sakae Almighty Maple kit last week. Was pleasantly surprised to find they are not heavy drums. However, the shop guru said that the Sakae Celestial series weigh a ton. Since the fittings are the same - this must be all shell? I always remember Sonor as heavy drums and the tom mount needs a roadie on it's own. Great drums of course. However the Craviotto kit in the store made more noise than you would think possible and they were actually quite light . . .
 
I don't have a Sonor Designer but I do have several other Sonor kits: Phonic Plus (9 ply beech square depth), Phonic (9 ply beech standard depth) and Performer (6 ply beech power depths) and my yamaha RC (standard depths) is lighter in weight than any of them. I do think that the hardware is the bigger weight issue compared to the shells. The RC hardware is relatively lightweight.
 
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Better weight comparison would be between Yamaha Maple Customs and Sonor Designers. Both of those kits were quite heavy. The MC floor toms and bass drums were monstrously heavy.
 
Woah - theres a blast from the past. I remember you from sputnik music forums. How is your designer going? I remember lusting after that years ago.

Going well, mate - and still barely a scratch on it!
I've bought myself a DW Collectors as well for a lot of my live work though, to keep the (irreplaceable) Sonor from nightly damage!
 
you thought the RC was heavy, try the Oak, it outweighted my Rc's kicks in the past by far, and the new Live Oak is said to be even more heavier then its predeccesor.

I think the Designer weights more then the RC without the old tom mount, and even more with. The new Designer would be a tat lighter.
 
you thought the RC was heavy, try the Oak, it outweighted my Rc's kicks in the past by far, and the new Live Oak is said to be even more heavier then its predeccesor.

I think the Designer weights more then the RC without the old tom mount, and even more with. The new Designer would be a tat lighter.

The SQ2 series would indeed be marginally lighter, particularly the lack of bass drum rail and different bass drum legs.
 
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