TRAK drums

[KarlCrafton]

Some friends of mine had a drummer with a TRAK kit...I only saw & heard it once at a live gig, but it looked and sounded pretty nice.

This was back around 1985, so maybe they were drums in that catalog.
The finish on it was pretty nice, and it sound good, so it was obviously one of the higher quality/priced kits from TRAK.
Cool link, thanks for adding it.

The arguing below was pretty funny.....

 

[stycch]

Whether it's spelled "plywood" or "ply wood" makes no difference. Plywood is a wood composite material, made of veneers and glue bonded together under heat and pressure, Cheap guitars and most Western trap drums are made of plywood, but it is a high-grade variety of maple, etc. Remo also experimented with other wood composites, such as Acousticon, basically specially formulated particle board.

Plywood has many advantages to natural whole wood, so it makes a good material for drums.

I stand corrected... thanks!

 

[Rhaaboudin]

TRAK Top "L"

a very breathtaking topic IMHO. thanks everybody for clinging to the subject so closely

I own two Trak kits: one is a 80's entry level, "encore" model, mahogany and rhodoïd wrap, the other one a "close to the top end" kit, basswood and birch finish ply, really fine clean sound, a bit like a Yamaha's "stage custom advantage", but with chrome bass drum hoops (their top end on the catalogue comes with wood hoops); a kind of Tama Superstar 70's clone




:

if you can get one of these don't hesitate, they're worth it

 

[Shanksy]

Hi - yup I have a Trak 400 sunburst which I bought in 1985 and it was the top of the range at the time - I still have it and it still looks and sounds great. Different sound to my tama star classic and yamaha recording custom but it is like an old friend

You dont see many of them around now so its probably a collectors thing but I love mine and still looks as good as any kit around

Cheers

Stevie

 

[Shanus]

I have a pair of Trak 400 in Mahogany/Poplar, with maple rims on the bass drum. I completely restored them 7 years back, because I loved the sound so much. I bought them used in 1997 with cymbals and everything, for $400.00 came with a Zildjian Constantanople splash from the 1930's, and a UFIP ride dated from 1974. I got them when I first started playing and they are still my main kit till this day.

My current set up is:
10" pearl Firecracker snare (Evans G2 Coated head)
Trak 12" tom (Remo weatherking ebony pinstripe head)
Trak 13" tom (Remo weatherking ebony pinstripe head)
Trak 16" floor tom (Evans G2 Coated head)
Trak 22" Bass Drum (Trak) (Remo weatherking Ebony head)
9" Saron dejembe (Etho's Drums)
8 & 9" bongos
1964 Zildjian (Zilco Azco canadian) 18" ride
2004 sabian AA 14" Crash
1936 Zildjian (Zilco Constantinople 11" splash)
1974 UFIP 16" Crash Ride
Zildjian K custom hats
Gibraltar stands and hardware

I replaced the snare drum with a pearl firecracker! The only problems I have had with mine were lug and stand hardware related. Actually yesterday I had to replace the Bass spurs with pearl ones and that ran me $105.00 The lugs don't stand up to gigging abuse very well.

The big thing I would say about Trak Drums is Buyer Beware. If you're looking at buying a kit look at the 400 series and up, play them religiously before buying, ask the owner what type of woods it is made up of and bring someone with you who know’s drums. The reason why I say this is because when Trak Drums started up, much of their drum kits were "running experiments". They made kits out of everything from: pressboard, MDF, plywood, and whole wooden shells, using everything from cheap quality woods to exotic tonewoods. Some of their drum kits were hits but many were disasters! Usually you stay away from the "freak of nature" kits at the 400 level and higher, yet I have played some 400 and 500 series kits that sounded like garbage however, it depends on the materials used, the quality they have been kept in, the heads used and who sells you them! I personally prefer my 400 series Trak Kit over some of the High End Gretcsh, Ludwig, Premier, Pearl and Tama's I have played but I would say that their are a lot of bad apples that were made by track likewise. My drums are composed of 3 and 6 ply Mahogany/Poplar shells …The top toms are 3 ply Mahogany and Poplar laminate while the floor tom and bass drum are 6 ply Mahogany and poplar laminate shells. The poplar and mahogany laminate provides a mellow warmth and punchy sustain, That I find many modern kits can't offer.

Koodo’s, Shane Abbott.

 

[hixmyster]

I am glad I found this forum. I was finding negative feed back and was quite surprised as I really like my drums. I have a trak 400 series 9 piece kit with a but load of hardware. This drum kit belonged to my much missed late drummer Mr China Man. R.I.P. It took me a day and quite a few beers to set it up the first time, but it was worth it. I am a guitar player who pretends to drum but I do know a nice kit when I play one. This kit takes some tuning and set up but when its ready yehaa. Big sound, very responsive, and lots of tone. I guess some things get better with age, shame about me though.

 

[KarlCrafton]

Yeah, like I said before, Trak drums seemed pretty nice, and Mahogany/Poplar shells sound really good.

It's nice to see some of these kits still being played and cared about.

 

[uniongoon]

The funniest thing about this, the reply's about Trak being cheap over and over, and what is the general truth, kept being challenged until the poster's got the positive answer they wanted to get. I remember Trak, they were mostly cheap junk, but just like Dixon drums or, Hyundai and Kia cars, the factories making the cheap junk also took a stab at making a higher quality line. All in all, you usually get what you paid for, and even though Trak made a better line, the market was way more saturated with their cheap stuff, so more than likely, the cheap stuff is what people will find in the used market. There is just so much more of it.

 

[NC68]

Trak drums are simply awesome. I sent in an audition tape along with a letter to offer my endorsement of their product but never received a reply. Not sure why...

 

[tootnskamen]

I used to rehearse in a recording studio with my band in about 1985, the studio kit was a Trak, not sure what series ect... it was a pretty ok kit, maybe not quite as good as the Pearls & Premiers of the day, but it sounded ok, really loud as i remeber.)

 

[cartergirlz7]

Hello, I'm looking for a set of trak drums 400 series.. Do you know where I would find this? Or, is there a "drum junk yard" something where retired drums go.. Any help is appreciated
cheryl

 

[ColP]

My band (English brass band) had had Trak kit which I played for some years. My review would be as follows:

I don't know which model it was, looked great, a sort of mettalic pearl colour, it was obviously an entry level kit, but with new heads made a (just about passable) sound. In the end it became too battered to be any use for a sensible performance. The holders for the toms became loose and upon my recommendation the band agreed to budget for a new kit, which was by the way a Mapex V series, great price and very adequate for live brass band performances.

It probably wouldn't be fair to judge the whole Trak band on my experience, the kit in question was probably entry level and must have been thirty odd years old when I started playing it. I am sure as with all all manufacturers, the higher end kits are of much better quality. Anyway, the set has a new home, the band has donated if to a school. I hope that some kid somewhere will benefit from its use as a practice kit.

Going slightly off topic but within the realms of starter kit, I recently played with another brass band who had chosen to by a Pearl Export. I couldn't believe how much the quality had slipped, they used to be a solid entry level kit, this one was terrible. Completely mis shaped rims and completely untunable. Compared to the aforementioned Mapex, the quality was vastly inferior.

CWP

 

[JEMCUK]

Hi All,

newbie here, yes TRAK 400 series, I got some brand new in 1984 from a shop in north london. They're a five piece kit in Tobacco Sunburst. I love 'em, Been through several kits since then and have owned kits by Tama Pearl and Premier, but it's the TRAK kit that i really love. Not saying they're the best, in fact some of the hardware ( tom holder on the bass drum needs some work, the omnisphere fitting have worn quite badly, may have to replace them,) is duff, mostly now replaced with pearl/tama. But they are quite rare now and if anyone knows where i could get spares ?? I would be very happy.
In fact yesterday I started stripping them down to the wood, as they've been recovered several times since the '80's and the wood looks beautiful, but there are some quite bad scratches and digs in the surface. Does anyone know how I could get the refinished, Is that even possible. I'll take some photos and post them if anyone is interested. There's not too much info about them on the net, and no where advertises spares so I may have to buy some secondhand or even non original parts to get them finished.
They have wooden hoops on the bass drum and a 6 1/2 inch chrome snare.
Try doing a google search for Tobacco Sunburst Trak, not much comes up, but I have seen the original sales brochure and price list. seems very expensive now, I must've been loaded in the 80's.

thanks all for the great posts, this is the most I've seen about TRAK

 

[Tobba]

My only experiance with trak drums are from the late 90's when trak was the worst fepos around.
This is a nice article regrding their decent drums from the 80's.
http://mikedolbear.co.uk/story.asp?StoryID=2607&Source=Search&txtSearch=Trak

 

[Rocketfixer]

Hi there
New to this Forum, but found some great info.

I see this is an old thread but with some recent sensible comments about Trak.

I have several high end kits, but my Trak 400 was the 1st one I considered a Semi-pro/ Pro.
There is definitely much ignorance about Trak and the HRK (manufacturer) on the internet.
I bought mine in the late 80,s. I cant remember what I paid but the scan of the price list on the internet shows about £800..... £800 about 30 years ago. Anybody who says this was a entry level kit needs there head examined. I agree there was a 200 series not so good, but most manufactures have lower priced kits as well.
The Trak 400 was well made and the hardware is unbelievably tough. This was in the days when many other companies hadn't even considered dual braced stands. The boom stand was known as the crane (check pictures on the internet). The chrome is as good as the day it was purchased, and it is kept in cases in the garage!
The tone is loud and controlled, and has always held its own at festivals etc.

I dont really mind what other people think about Trak,,, but if they dont know the true facts and history, please dont post false information. Theres plenty of genuine info about Trak.
I notice prices are still low..... so if you get a chance to buy a 400 series cheep.... buy it, because they probably dont know what they have.
Great Forum this.

 

[sticksman1]

Hi there
New to this Forum, but found some great info.

I see this is an old thread but with some recent sensible comments about Trak.

I have several high end kits, but my Trak 400 was the 1st one I considered a Semi-pro/ Pro.
There is definitely much ignorance about Trak and the HRK (manufacturer) on the internet.
I bought mine in the late 80,s. I cant remember what I paid but the scan of the price list on the internet shows about £800..... £800 about 30 years ago. Anybody who says this was a entry level kit needs there head examined. I agree there was a 200 series not so good, but most manufactures have lower priced kits as well.
The Trak 400 was well made and the hardware is unbelievably tough. This was in the days when many other companies hadn't even considered dual braced stands. The boom stand was known as the crane (check pictures on the internet). The chrome is as good as the day it was purchased, and it is kept in cases in the garage!
The tone is loud and controlled, and has always held its own at festivals etc.

I dont really mind what other people think about Trak,,, but if they dont know the true facts and history, please dont post false information. Theres plenty of genuine info about Trak.
I notice prices are still low..... so if you get a chance to buy a 400 series cheep.... buy it, because they probably dont know what they have.
Great Forum this.

Totally agree.

My first acoustic kit was a second hand Series 400. It was a beautifully full sounding kit with plenty of punch. No dodgy bearing edges on any of the drums at all - very clean. High end enough for me, and very resilient. Their hardware was rock solid as well.

I would have put them on a par with Tama in many ways.

 

[TonyWilliamsFlam]

Loved my mid 80s Trak set...here they are (with a 7" maple custom Kenner snare) on a record I did with a jazz/funk band in late 90s:

03 Boxcar

Jeff Bernheart - drums Rob Petersen - bass Matt Odabashian - keyboards Derek Reynolds - guitars Recorded 1997 @ Audio Excellence, Milford, MA

soundcloud.app.goo.gl

 

[Al Strange]

In 1990 my drum teacher Eric recommended I sell my Pearl Export 5 piece and buy a 7 piece double bass Trak kit (8”, 10”, 12”, 13”, 16”, 2 x 22”) owned by Dennis Gasser from the UK thrash band Xentrix. I did lots of recording dates with them and gigged the heck out of those drums for a good decade. I always got compliments off sound engineers both live and in the studio and have nothing but fond memories of my Trak kit! I sold them for half what they were worth to a young aspiring rock drummer when I got my top line Prem kit, but wish I’d kept and restored them now. A well made and fantastic sounding kit!

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

Just spotted this 400 series Basswood/ash from the 80’s with 400 steel snare at a friends store.

12×8, 13×9, 14×14, 18×14

14×6,5

Trak 400 Series Jazz Tobacco Sunburst - Rebo Music

Trak 400 Series Jazz Tobacco Sunburst 6 ply: 5 ply lindenhout met buitenlaag van 1 ply essenhout Zeer zeldzame jazz uitvoering Van de eerste eigenaar! Begin jaren 80 nieuw gekocht…

www.rebomusic.nl

 

[Yamaha Rider]

This is a funny thread.

Are you going to eat all that popcorn or pass some around?