In your own words, try to describe the Sonor phonic sound.

What are you Phonic guys running for the heads?

Today was the last day for Black Friday sales at DCP, so I ordered 12/13/16 clear ambassador for resos and 12/13/16 evans G1 coated for batters. They also had a mirrored remo ebony ambassador 22 Sonor logo for the kick reso and I snagged that one too. This kick I have has some beat up batter….I think I’m going to get a powerstroke 3 clear like my renown kick has…hope it works out. It’s great on the RN2
 
rungeflash said:
I’m not sure what year this is….but this sure looks like Phil Rudd behind a silver badge phonic kit…I guess oak veneer. Damn, I never realized he used phonics at any point…thought it was always some maple kit. That’s wild lol
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That's obviously a promo shot as he never used Sonor snare drums live or in the studio until he rejoined in 1992 and started using a brass 14x5 Symphony Sig drum.

Once the band were established he used Gretsch COB drums live (2 are visible in the Let There Be Rock concert video) and wood Gretsch drums in the studio, there's a a well known pic of him with one from the Back in Black recording sessions.
 
rungeflash said:
What are you Phonic guys running for the heads?

Today was the last day for Black Friday sales at DCP, so I ordered 12/13/16 clear ambassador for resos and 12/13/16 evans G1 coated for batters. They also had a mirrored remo ebony ambassador 22 Sonor logo for the kick reso and I snagged that one too. This kick I have has some beat up batter….I think I’m going to get a powerstroke 3 clear like my renown kick has…hope it works out. It’s great on the RN2
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I've had a few and they all had clear G2 over G1 or clear Emperor over Ambassador. Second preference was for clear Remo CS over Ambassador.
 
mpthomson said:
That's obviously a promo shot as he never used Sonor snare drums live or in the studio until he rejoined in 1992 and started using a brass 14x5 Symphony Sig drum.

Once the band were established he used Gretsch COB drums live (2 are visible in the Let There Be Rock concert video) and wood Gretsch drums in the studio, there's a a well known pic of him with one from the Back in Black recording sessions.
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Wow, great info about Rudd. I did not know that about the snares.
 
Bozozoid said:
I plan on getting that for spare lugs 😨
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Those spares would be a bargain now….they’ve already slashed the price $1200 lol

Which reminds me, I had a rattle on the kit and finally narrowed it down to the 13. Started removing lugs and yup, one on the reso side rattled and the foam inside was deteriorated. Glad Frank posted that DIY video! Worked like a charm! Thanks Frank
 
OK..i have to say it...30 years ago I'm in a club talking with a road bands drummer at the Holiday Inn Jockey Club who happened to be playing a beautiful new natural lacquered Gretsch USA kit. We got to talking shop and he mentioned playing a Sonor phonic kit and the word he used was that they were so (sweet) sounding which clicked with me...THAT was the word and I couldn't have agreed more. That line has stayed with me.
 
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rungeflash said:
I’m going to be honest…I was not super familiar with those…so I looked up some vids with the headphones….and WOW! Tremendous sounding. I haven’t come up with enough words to articulate a description…..other than bold….full….thunder. I’d love a set of these

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I hadn't heard them either. First thing I noticed is how oversquare that 13" is. It looks like 13x16 deep maybe (or deeper).
They sure don't make them like that anymore. As they used to say about engines - 'there's no substitute for cubic inches'.
Basically, playing with 3 floor toms. Nice deep sound though.

Also is that a Phonic snare? It sounds quite pingy to me.
 
wildbill said:
I hadn't heard them either. First thing I noticed is how oversquare that 13" is. It looks like 13x16 deep maybe (or deeper).
They sure don't make them like that anymore. As they used to say about engines - 'there's no substitute for cubic inches'.
Basically, playing with 3 floor toms. Nice deep sound though.

Also is that a Phonic snare? It sounds quite pingy to me.
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wildbill, it says it’s a phonic “plus” kit so that would mean a 13x13 rack tom…but it does look very deep, so not positive could be deeper. The other 2 floors are 14x14 and I think the big dog is 16x18. The kick is 22x18.

And no, that is not a phonic snare. I wish they had not used it at all because it’s a ringy sob that detracts from those glorious phonic tom sounds IMO
 
wildbill said:
I hadn't heard them either. First thing I noticed is how oversquare that 13" is. It looks like 13x16 deep maybe (or deeper).
They sure don't make them like that anymore. As they used to say about engines - 'there's no substitute for cubic inches'.
Basically, playing with 3 floor toms. Nice deep sound though.

Also is that a Phonic snare? It sounds quite pingy to me.
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As rungeflash wrote, it is a 13"x13".
Screen shot:
Screenshot_20231211-091756_YouTube.jpg
 
wildbill said:
View attachment 141715

Fun with Optical Illusions

(I'll bet those are 14" hi hats too)
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They are really deep sounding drums. My phonic kit has the 12x8 and 13x9 racks and they sonically punch way past that size. I‘ve played them back to back with my renown kit (10x7, 12x8, 14x14 and 16x16), which is pretty darn loud and punchy in its own right…., there’s very little comparison.
 
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