mixing wood?

Lee-Cox

Member
Heres my story, Ive been for the last few months been on a quest to build my own kit from the used market.. Kind of always wanted a 1up 2down set up. Purchased the three ludwig centennial toms from ludwigs " zep kit " 225$ for all three in there natural finish. There supposed to be a north american oak. So 14,16,18... Previously I was given a 22" inch Premier Artisan Birch bass drum. One of there intermediate but true ' made in England ' drums. Just curious if anyone has or is doing this? Thanks Lee
 
It isn't uncommon. Birch Rack toms with Maple or Mahogany floors I think are popular. Or Birch toms with a Maple kick (I think Steve Gadd does this).

I'd say go with whatever works for you, and the sound your looking for.
 
I like the idea of mixing different woods. IMO, Each piece in your kit should have some character. I find all matching kits kind of annoying as popular as they are, just seems like an epic lack of creativity.

And as per wood choices I'd go with softer for deeper tones. Western red cedar would be ideal.

Though I would try to stay in one connector style at least.
 
My Ludwig is a mix of constructions and wood from 1966-1982ish.

24/16/18 floors are 6ply maple. 12 tom is 3ply maple w/ring, 22BD is mahogany w/maple ring.

Jon Fishman's kit is the prime example and he's toured that for years. I remember seeing Jay Lane with Primus he had a vistalite bass drum as an auxiliary bass drum.
 
I've met 2 drummers who have chosen brighter woods for rack tom(s) and darker ones for the floor(s).
To them, it made for a natural sonic drop in pitch as they descended down the kit.
Sounds legit.
 
Didn't Gadd (among others) even use Pearl toms with a Yamaha bass drum back in the 70's/80's? I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the wood involved, but seems like an interesting way to achieve a distinct sound.
 
All of my toms are birch, except for my 2nd floor tom which is birch and mahogany. And my bass drum I'm not sure about actually, it's an old Gretsch and the catalog and serial number never gave me info about the wood, it sounds good though! They all match so you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at them that they don't match, and they all blend well with each other

Many pros, especially DW endorsed guys mix woods
 
All of my toms are birch, except for my 2nd floor tom which is birch and mahogany. And my bass drum I'm not sure about actually, it's an old Gretsch and the catalog and serial number never gave me info about the wood, it sounds good though! They all have the same finish and lugs so you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at them that they don't match, and they all blend well with each other

Many pros, especially DW endorsed guys mix woods

Also I heard that in the 80s when the Yamaha RCs were big many recording artists loved the birch toms but wasn't crazy about the bass drum. So it was kind of a trend with many guys to end up using a maple bass with birch toms

its whatever sounds good to you, don't even stop at wood choices though. Get 3 ply toms and a 8 ply bass or something. Experiment and build an awesome kit
 
I like the idea of mixing woods, even approaches to construction for different drums. I think a light went off in my head when Bermuda compared drum sounds to the sounds of a piano. Small toms sounding like the plink of a high piano note, to larger drums resonating more like lower notes on the piano....something to that effect. Really kind of changed how I think about drum sounds.
 
Totally get this. I myself love the attack of birch rack toms, but prefer a maple bass drum.

If I could afford it, I'd get a kit made up like that but for some reason I'd really struggle to mix brands on a kit. Lord knows why. I'm fine doing this with cymbals, but drums?! That's a bridge too far for me...
 
You can get what you want all from the same company. My main gigging kit is a concrete DW snare, birch toms, maple bass drum, mahogany gong drum, and rosewood piccolo toms. All from the same company, all in my head.
 
I took a 40's Mahogany 26x14 Ludwig and Ludwig orchestra drum, had it covered with a maple veneer, and it's my Bonham sized kick for my Luddie 3 ply Thermogloss kit. Sounds killer. Looks the part.​
 
All of my toms are birch, except for my 2nd floor tom which is birch and mahogany. And my bass drum I'm not sure about actually, it's an old Gretsch and the catalog and serial number never gave me info about the wood, it sounds good though! They all have the same finish and lugs so you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at them that they don't match, and they all blend well with each other

Many pros, especially DW endorsed guys mix woods

Also I heard that in the 80s when the Yamaha RCs were big many recording artists loved the birch toms but wasn't crazy about the bass drum. So it was kind of a trend with many guys to end up using a maple bass with birch toms

its whatever sounds good to you, don't even stop at wood choices though. Get 3 ply toms and a 8 ply bass or something. Experiment and build an awesome kit

Steve Gadd's Absolute kits are maple BD and birch toms, if I remember rightly. The bass drum was the Yam RC 9000's weaker point, new ones are much better apparently.
 
For my practice kit, I have a poplar Export 22x18 bass drum. My small tom is a Mapex Venus 10" tom with basswood shells (sounds great). Sometime in the next 2-6 weeks, I will buy a larger Mapex tom. The snare is a Mapex MPX birch. Peace and goodwill.
 
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