What about Birch? Who make the best birch kits?

I have a set of Japanese made Tama Starclassic Performers (all birch) from around 2003 and I would put that kit up against almost any birch kit in terms of sound and quality. The hardware is excellent with diecast hoops and there is just nothing cheap about them. Finish is a nice honey amber lacquer.
 
My birch experience is limited to owning a Pearl BLX and spending some time with a friend's Recording Customs. Two very different sounding birch sets, IMO. The pearls highlighted the quintessential birch sound I always read about. Accentuated highs and lows, with scooped out mids....almost to a fault due to lack of mid range presence. The recording customs had more warmth than the Pearls and didn't accentuate the highs and lows as drastically....they were more centered sounding. Both nice birch sets, but with very different sounds.

It all depends on what you're looking for in a birch set.
 
LeftyDoug said:
I have a set of Japanese made Tama Starclassic Performers (all birch) from around 2003 and I would put that kit up against almost any birch kit in terms of sound and quality. The hardware is excellent with diecast hoops and there is just nothing cheap about them. Finish is a nice honey amber lacquer.
Click to expand...
?
I’ve been waiting patiently for a Tama nomination.
 
As everyone has already mentioned, the Recording Customs are a classic choice. I've also got a set of Birch Custom Absolutes that I love.

KamaK said:
Worth a mention is that Gretsch made a Renown Birch, as well as doing a few runs out of other semi-interesting woods in the Purewood line (IIRC Oak, Hickory, Wenge, Mahogany, and Beech).

While I wouldn't rate these as "The Best", they are perhaps the best birch drum for Gretsch enthusiasts looking for a birch kit.
Click to expand...

I forgot about these! They are actually pretty cool.
 
incrementalg said:
...than the Pearls and didn't accentuate the highs and lows as drastically....they were more centered sounding. Both nice birch sets, but with very different sounds.
Click to expand...

I think you really nicely described what i was trying to say!
 
incrementalg said:
Do you have to center the heads, or does the hoop center them when you put it on?
Click to expand...
There's not that much undersizing to have that much play in the head, the hoop takes care of it.
I simply put them on as any brand of drum, tighten them in a star pattern evenly pitched at each lug. I recommend everyone get a set!
 
incrementalg said:
You don't hear that name too often these days. Looks like they're still making drums.

http://www.eamesdrumshells.com/
Click to expand...
I drove up to their factory (a big barn) and ordered a set of drums from them in late1979 I think it was. It was my first great set of drums with great edges.

I still have them and plan on refinishing them.

They are the most beat up drums I own lol
 
The best sounding birch snare drum I ever heard was by Joyful Noise Drum Co. built from a piece of wood that was hundreds of years old-recovered from an ice cold lake. It had an incredible sound and dynamic range.
I didn't have the bread at the time to take it home with me :(
 
Last edited:
The Sonor Protean snare rekindled my admiration for birch shells. This snare may have the widest tuning range of any snare I have ever owned.
I had already chimed in about the Sonor SQ1 kits being my favourite birch drums, thought I would add my two cents about my favourite birch shell snare.
I have owned a couple Yamaha RC kits ( Sakae made) and loved the toms and disliked the bass drums. The SQ1 bass drums are super and so are the toms.
 
RickP said:
The Sonor Protean snare rekindled my admiration for birch shells. This snare may have the widest tuning range of any snare I have ever owned.
I had already chimed in about the Sonor SQ1 kits being my favourite birch drums, thought I would add my two cents about my favourite birch shell snare.
I have owned a couple Yamaha RC kits ( Sakae made) and loved the toms and disliked the bass drums. The SQ1 bass drums are super and so are the toms.
Click to expand...

The new RC’s solved that issue. I always had the same sentiment.
 
Because I love to argue semantics, which one of the 52 species of European and Chinese birch are we referring? Or is it one of the 16 different NA species? This information would be highly pertinent to the basic argument as the geographic location and growing climate vary across all the species and would thus create different characteristics within the wood.
I'd be willing to bet there's maybe one person at the manufacturer who can accurately identify the species used and even then I bet it's not consistent unless they have their own arboretums.

All that being said, I love the sound of my XPKs, birch/eucalyptus hybrid shell. (and no, I have no idea what species of birch)
 
arpic75 said:
which one of the 52 species of European and Chinese birch are we referring? Or is it one of the 16 different NA species? This information would be highly pertinent to the basic argument as the geographic location and growing climate vary across all the species and would thus create different characteristics within the wood.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Someone on this forum made a remark disparaging Japanese birch wood, but didn’t specify if it was soft, dry, etc.
 
cbphoto said:
Indeed. Someone on this forum made a remark disparaging Japanese birch wood, but didn’t specify if it was soft, dry, etc.
Click to expand...
As a nerd with a degree in plant sciences, that too would depend on where, exactly, in Japan said birch tree was growing and the years it was alive, what were the climate conditions? It's almost a silly argument as there are so many variables that are not available for us to plug in to the argument equation. They're all Betulaceae, let's just go with that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top