Pork Pie Siam Oak kit?

[SnickSound]

Long & McQuade near here just received this thing.

Not a big fan of the lug design, but I do love the finish and sizes: 12x8, 16x16 and 22x14. Such a kick drum is hard to find in that price range (works out to about 1099$USD).

I'm drawn to it... but undecided. I did get to play on it a bit, but in an unfamiliar environment and with what appears to be coated Ambassador heads on the toms. Attack was a bit too soft for me and sustain ridiculously long on the floor tom. I'm more of a clear Emperor guy.

But I really liked the kick, really punchy and deep despite being so small.

I can't find information on their website about this kit, not a single demo either. WTH is siam oak?

Also, I'm assuming it's made in Asia (only the heads said Made in USA, aka real Remo's). A Ludwig Neusonic is made in USA for 100$ less and sounds really good though. But that natural mahonay finish on the Pork Pie is really appealing to me, also the shorter kick.

Any one else had a chance to look at one of these?

 

[Ghostin one]

WTH is siam oak?

Siam is an old name for Thailand, so I guess it's an Asian species of oak.

 

[Ghostin one]

Did some searching and "Siam oak" is probably a South American rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis.

 

[KEEF]

I own a pp snare - quality is very high. Wasn't sure about the lugs at first either but they've grown on me. The finish is sweet and it has the sizes you like - If it sounds good,I say go for it!!

 

[Woolwich]

First of all, don’t get hung up on wood species. It took me probably a year to get over the fact that the Gretsch Catalina Club is made of Philippine mahogany/Luan. When I finally took the plunge and bought one I had a fantastic sounding kit that for the first time in my life got me complimentary comments about the sound from other drummers. There are all sorts of plies being used now that are NOT maple, birch, bubinga or the newer exotic hardwoods that we’ve all accepted, and no one is complaining. Is it marketing? Who knows, whatever it is it’s build quality that counts.
Re the 14” deep bass drum, again the Gretsch Catalina Club is probably one of the few other kits around that offers this option so you’re choice is basically between one of those or the Pork Pie ( Edit, mine was a 20” x 14”., perhaps there are more 22” x 14” options, I’ve never researched that) I loved the shallower drum and would have preferred that depth to the 16” of the drum I’ve got now, however even that is nowhere close to the beer can proportions of some kits so it’s been okay. 14” depth gets the note in and out with less overtones and it’s easier to tune. I played with an unported head and an EMad batter, micing it was never problematic and playing unmic’d it was loud enough to work in a live Heavy Rock amplified environment.
Just buy it I reckon

Further edit. I think one of the Mapex Saturn V Tour edition configurations is 12”, 16”, 22” x 14” too. Not sure oforice in your territory and they’re wrapped finishes as opposed to lacquers.

 

[SnickSound]

First of all, don’t get hung up on wood species. It took me probably a year to get over the fact that the Gretsch Catalina Club is made of Philippine mahogany/Luan.
...
Further edit. I think one of the Mapex Saturn V Tour edition configurations is 12”, 16”, 22” x 14” too. Not sure oforice in your territory and they’re wrapped finishes as opposed to lacquers.

Funny you would mention the Catalina Club, that is the kit this reminded me the most of. After reading a bit about Siam Oak, apparently it's closer in sound to asian mahogany so that makes sense.

And yes, 20x14 and 24x14 are common sizes, but 22's are almost always 18" or longer under 1500$.

The Saturn V Tour is a great kit, the kick is a 22x16. It is also more expensive than this Pork Pie but does look very good. I'd still take the US-made Ludwig Neusonic over it but that's just me. The Pork Pie is interesting because of the shorter kick and natural finish which neither of those offer.

Coming back to the Pork Pie, while it's not listed on their website, I did find information about it on their Facebook page. Apparently it is made in USA which you would think would be displayed somewhere on the kit, but another possible explanation is that the shells are made in Vietnam but the kit is finished and assembled in the USA. An odd thing though is that the kit displayed on their FB page matches the one I saw perfectly except for having a suspension mount on the tom which the one I saw didn't have (just a cheap side-mounted thingy).

Also, now that I look back at the picture I notice how low the floor tom mounts are and how long the rods are. It was already roughly at playing height and yet it's not even close to being in the rougher area of the rod where you'd usually want to be.