New drumset

braincramp

Gold Member
182919559624
I looking for another low cost quality sounding set, I've owned Sonor 3007s, PDP CXs and meridian maples. I ended up after a lot of research and a lucky eBay break with a Taye Studio Birch set. The torquise wrap is awesome. Got them for 399 which shows the birch hate (or maple love) that exists now. I put on new vintage emperor heads and can say hands down this is the best sounding set I've ever owned. The edges and shells are perfect. Maybe it's just a case of my drum tuning getting better but the quality sound is unbelievable. Has all the low end of the maples I've owned but much more attack and presence. Toms are larger too 12/14/16. Hard to believe this company went out of business, I see there maple sets are NA maple. Cannot sing this sets praises high enough. Would post pics but forget how, asks for URL??? of pic???
 
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I believe Taye is still around, but their distribution is pretty limited here in the US.

Taye does make drum shells and hardware for a number of other manufacturers, so their business is still going strong even if they don't have many of their own drums out in the stores.
 
... Got them for 399 which shows the birch hate (or maple love) that exists now. ... Has all the low end of the maples I've owned but much more attack and presence.
It is really insane that so many people think nowadays that maple is a superior wood for drums. I hope that this trend ends someday. There are so many great birch-kits out there, that sound a-m-a-z-i-n-g, like e.g. the Recording Custom, the Starclassic Birch-Bubinga, the Sakae Almighty Birch or the Sonor SQ1. Btw, I just love my birch drumsets. They work like a charm and sound great.
Congrats on your Taye. Good drums for sure. Enjoy them. And 399 is a steal.
 
I bought my Taye Maple years ago and they were great. I don't think however Taye is making drums for others any longer. They stopped that when Ayoyette left them
 
There are so many great birch-kits out there, that sound a-m-a-z-i-n-g, like e.g. the Recording Custom, the Starclassic Birch-Bubinga, the Sakae Almighty Birch or the Sonor SQ1. Btw, I just love my birch drumsets. They work like a charm and sound great.

They also all cost $2500+. Too rich for many people's blood.

There are more cost effective Birch kits out there, though, that still sound very good, like: Stage Customs, Concept Birch, Tama Silverstar, etc. IMO, maple produces a richer bottom end on bigger sized drums, like floor toms and bass drums, while birch has better clarity and tone on rack toms. I haven't tried Mapex's Armory kits, but their hybrid birch/maple shells may be a fantastic balance of the two woods.
 
They also all cost $2500+. Too rich for many people's blood.

True, but you can get some of those used at a rather affordable price. For those who still cannot afford them, there are the outstanding Silverstars, Superstars (birch), Stage Customs and so on.
 
I think the Maple/Birch love/hate is more popularity than anything else. Anytime maple is mentioned, we have to know which maple. North American, or Canadian(which is North America) Asian, etc etc etc. I don't think I have seen such division for Birch kits other than some times mentioned is Scandanavian birch. Birch gives a brighter sound but I wouldn't call it a better sound. Just whatever your ear likes. If you can find an expensive kit used, that is the way to roll.
 
I just got a Ludwig USA Club Date, but my old kit was a Tama Silverstar 10/12/16/22 with the deeper tom sizes. I found that with Coated G1's on top and Clear G1's on the bottom, I got a good amount of warmth with enough punch to cut through the mix. The only thing I found that the Silverstars couldn't do well, was a tighter tom tuning for Bop stuff, the drums just choked. I think that more comes down to the bigger drums rather than the wood, though.
 
I think the Maple/Birch love/hate is more popularity than anything else. Anytime maple is mentioned, we have to know which maple. North American, or Canadian(which is North America) Asian, etc etc etc. I don't think I have seen such division for Birch kits other than some times mentioned is Scandanavian birch. Birch gives a brighter sound but I wouldn't call it a better sound. Just whatever your ear likes. If you can find an expensive kit used, that is the way to roll.

In the world of drums, Finnish birch and Japanese birch tend to get more favoritism than Asian birch. Probably because the 2 most revered birch drum sets have been made from these woods (Premier Genista and Yamaha Recording Custom). North American birch is also very good and is used a lot in birch drums coming out of Asia. It's just not generally advertised this way like they advertise NA maple.
 
In the world of drums, Finnish birch and Japanese birch tend to get more favoritism than Asian birch. Probably because the 2 most revered birch drum sets have been made from these woods (Premier Genista and Yamaha Recording Custom). .

RC's are currently North American birch. But I hear you about long ago..
 
Huh! I never realized the Recording Customs were NA birch. Do any of you guys know if any of the mid level birch drums (Silverstar, Stage Custom) are North American Birch aswell?
 
I have owned just about every major brand drum set over the years and about five years ago I was looking for a small fusion sized kit for smaller jobs. I had a early 60's Ludwig 3 ply kit in 13,16,22. I found a set of TAYE ProX which was just a intermediate line. They were birch and basswood. The came in 10,12,14 and 20. I was so blown away by these drums that I ordered a 13 and 16 to go with them and sold the Ludwigs. The fit, finish and bearing edges were as good as any that I have seen. Have been more than happy with them. I don't see where all the dislike for hy-bred shells come from. Gretsh used maple/gum, Rogers used maple/gum, Ludwig used Maple/Mahogany/ Mapex uses maple/walnut, etc. I think the blending of the two different types of wood compliment each other.
 
I owned a set of blue glass sparkle Taye ProX before my current Gretsch kit. I wanted smaller toms, but they were great drums for the price.
 
Huh! I never realized the Recording Customs were NA birch. Do any of you guys know if any of the mid level birch drums (Silverstar, Stage Custom) are North American Birch aswell?
Silverstar and Stage Custom are afaik not using birchwood from the US. But who cares really? Excellent birchwood can be found in North America, Asia and Europe...

A weird trend this "where does the wood come from"-thingy. Years ago, people didn't care much about the wood, until a now extinct company started the whole mess for pure marketing reasons (it worked fantastically for keeping tha company alive, didn't it?). And now, people go crazy, asking about the exact origin of wood.

-Which wood is used on your drums, George?
-Swedish birch from the north-western Hallabro-area, Mike. Just drive along the Road 27 northwards, 3 Minutes, 5 seconds at 50mph, then stop and go 5 minutes west by foot. Second row of trees.
- Wow! That's some teriffic wood, George. Sounds way better than the wood on my drums that is birch from Lessebo, road 25 southwards, 7 minutes at 50 mph, third row directly behind the street. I seriously need to buy new drums.
 

These are links to pictures on your desktop. We don't have access ;)

In order to post pictures here, the best way is to scroll below the "submit reply" buttons, to the second box that says "attach files". Click on "manage attachments" and add photos in the pop-up window that appears. Click on "upload" and then click "submit reply" in the original post window.
 
Silverstar and Stage Custom are afaik not using birchwood from the US. But who cares really? Excellent birchwood can be found in North America, Asia and Europe...

A weird trend this "where does the wood come from"-thingy. Years ago, people didn't care much about the wood, until a now extinct company started the whole mess for pure marketing reasons (it worked fantastically for keeping tha company alive, didn't it?). And now, people go crazy, asking about the exact origin of wood.

Well, 40-50 years ago we were much less of a global economy than we are today. Many things were made from local resources. Back in the late 70's/early 80's drums made by Yamaha (specifically the Recording Customs) were made from Japanese birch. Is Japanese birch "better" than North American or Asian birch? I don't know, but everyone loved the sound of the old Recording Customs, so Japanese birch must be the bee's knees.

Same thing with the Premier Genistas. European birch in the 90's Genistas. The later re-issue was made with North American birch (and maple, but let's keep this apples to apples). Do the newer ones sound bad compared to the originals? No, probably not. They likely sound pretty much the same, but people look at the past with rose colored glasses. Many people are convinced that the 90's Genistas are superior to the new 2010's Genistas because of the European Birch and the British construction.

Why do people care about this stuff? Because they now have the choice. This isn't the 50's anymore where drums were made from "Premium Hardwood", whatever that means. They have choices between NA Birch, European Birch, Japanese Birch, Asian Birch, etc. There will obviously come the question of which is better, or why go with one over the other?
 
Well, 40-50 years ago we were much less of a global economy than we are today.
As a historian, I beg to differ. Actually we had a global economy in place for centuries now. The way the global economies works (transportation methods, new and faster communication-possibilities,...) has changed over the past centuries, but in its essence, it is pretty much the same today as in the 15th/16th century. Stuff got shipped from China to Europe to Africa, to India, to America, ..., merchants created an artificial public interest in new trading objects, they robbed each other, they tried to win the "merchants battle" for new markets by offering more diverse or somehow "improved" stuff,... But I better stop before it gets too much off-topic. :)
 
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