Ludwig shells vs. Sonor shells?

Quick question, are the Ludwig Centennial series a better shell than the Sonor 3007's?

Cheers.

Ludwig Centennial shells use the same wood as the Classic Maple, which is North American Maple. The Centennial series drums are produced in Taiwan.

Don't know what wood/grade the Sonor 3007 uses, or where they are made. If it's Taiwan, it could be at the same factory--which wouldn't surprise me.

The difference then would be the grade of wood used.

I'm not sure about N.A. maple for the Sonor 3007 series, but I'm pretty sure that they are made in Taiwan.

I just received my Sonor 3007s yesterday! So I should know this one...

The Sonors are all maple, but they tell you the inner plies are Asian maple, and the plies on the outside and inside (that you see) are Canadian maple.

I honestly don't know how you could verify this, but that's what they say.

I'm very happy with these drums (I've never bought "mid-level" drums before until now). I outfitted it with Remo vintage Emperors top and bottom, and put a PowerStroke 3 on the kick, and in the last few hours of futzing with it, I can make that kit sound great for jazz, high rock, and low rock, which covers just about everything. And I thought I had to immediately upgrade the snare drum - not so! After messing around with it before declaring "I like it now" - I discovered it sounds identical to my Ludwig Acrolite that was on the other side of the room!

Someone speculated (not just here), that perhaps everybody's "Made in China" drums are manufactured in the same plant. I wouldn't be surprised. Back in the hey-day of the VCR, I found out that Matsushita was making ALL the VCRs for all the brands, except for Sony back then!

3007 is from China... The KHS/Mapex factory.

Bo Eder said:

And I thought I had to immediately upgrade the snare drum - not so! After messing around with it before declaring "I like it now" - I discovered it sounds identical to my Ludwig Acrolite that was on the other side of the room!

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Hahaha!
I think we just have a "sound in our head" and we always seem to end up there no matter what the snare is!

I have 11 snares, and each is a little different than the next one, just because it's a different shell, but to anyone else--they all sound the same!!

I don't fight it anymore.

Thanks Karl, at least I'm not the only one.

I think I may go one gutsier move and get rid of my other two snares. You're right, they all do sound the same, and this Sonor I can make sound fat, or cranked like Stewart Copeland. I'm impressed. Makes me wonder why I have that $500 wonder snare in the closet....

I have to say that the 3007 sounds amazing. I play one every week when I take my drum lessons and its parked next to a Mapex Pro M with the same tom sizes and head combination. To me the Sonor has a rounder, fatter sound ( I think the shells may be a bit thicker). As for the Ludwigs, I had a chance to play one of these at the drum shop with emperors on the toms and a ps3 on the kick. The toms were wonderful, but the kick just didn't do it for me. I don't know if it was the depth of the kick or what, but it was a little short on attack and volume. But I'm sure some of you guys here on the forum can get one thumping appropriately with a little time and elbow grease so be sure to field some more opinions. Hope this helps.

Frankierocker said:

I have to say that the 3007 sounds amazing. I play one every week when I take my drum lessons and its parked next to a Mapex Pro M with the same tom sizes and head combination. To me the Sonor has a rounder, fatter sound ( I think the shells may be a bit thicker). As for the Ludwigs, I had a chance to play one of these at the drum shop with emperors on the toms and a ps3 on the kick. The toms were wonderful, but the kick just didn't do it for me. I don't know if it was the depth of the kick or what, but it was a little short on attack and volume. But I'm sure some of you guys here on the forum can get one thumping appropriately with a little time and elbow grease so be sure to field some more opinions. Hope this helps.

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either way both good kits!

Frankierocker said:

I have to say that the 3007 sounds amazing. I play one every week when I take my drum lessons and its parked next to a Mapex Pro M with the same tom sizes and head combination. To me the Sonor has a rounder, fatter sound ( I think the shells may be a bit thicker). As for the Ludwigs, I had a chance to play one of these at the drum shop with emperors on the toms and a ps3 on the kick. The toms were wonderful, but the kick just didn't do it for me. I don't know if it was the depth of the kick or what, but it was a little short on attack and volume. But I'm sure some of you guys here on the forum can get one thumping appropriately with a little time and elbow grease so be sure to field some more opinions. Hope this helps.

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Sonor 3007 bass drum loves to breath. Powerstroke3 on the batter and reso with no muffling.