Pacific FS birch drumset

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dejacky

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I purchased one of these and I'm learning a lot, but sometimes when I hit the drums just right, they sound brilliant and record great! Currently, i replaced my kick drum head with the Aquarian Superkick I prepack and it seem to have less "slap" and more controlled thump.. it booms a little when I tap the pedal really fast. I put a remo pin stripe dot top for snare and it's really heavy even though it has a nice controlled fat sound. Might go a little lighter soon. It's been annoying tuning and retuning to get "that" sound. Does anyone else have this drumset and can recommend some notes to tune to or recommend a device to help me get even tension when tuning? I've been to the drum bible website, but any advice is much appreciated! thanks!

-dejacky
 
I know DW does this currently from the warehouse, but I've been told you can do it with any drums:
1.) Remove both heads and rims from the drum.
2.) Tap the shell of the drum, and determine what note it "resonates" at. That should be the note that you tune your drum to.

How accurate this is for YOUR drums, I'm not sure. But here's what I've done:
- Find out what note the shell resonates at.
- Place the batter head on the drum, and tune it to that note.
- Then place the resonant head on the drum -- with the batter head on a carpeted surface or anything that will restrict it from resonating -- and tune the reso head to the same note.

When both heads are the same note, that's when the drum is *supposed* to sound the best.
Works for me! :)
 
Pacific Fusion FS

Steve Weiss Music is selling this kit on blowout brand new for $425. Over $150 cheaper then other places. I just picked one up just to have on the side (for certain gigs, etc), and wanted to spread the good word. Enjoy!
 
yup... i paid $500 for the shell pack plus pearl P-100 pedal :o . Wish I knew about this deal before..but guess it's okay since it gives Guitar Center people a reason to be nicer to me :cool: .
 
Shiat! I think my drums were $440 with tax, and I would classify the wood they are made of as "unknown."
 
OneArmedScissor said:
Shiat! I think my drums were $440 with tax, and I would classify the wood they are made of as "unknown."
That would be genuine Korean goofwood, sir
 
I've got the Pacific FS Birch kit too, but I haven't had the time or money to fiddle around with new heads yet. Keep us updated if you find something that works well!
 
Hey Dejacky, . . .!

Congratulations on your new Pacific kit, . .! It sounds like you got a great deal!!! well, your inconsistent sound problem, might be your head choicess. . .

You see, . . .because these drums are made of birch! (which is fantastic for recording, by the way) Birch shells usually have a very focused, and controlled sound, with a strong initial attack, and quick decay, . .and because of that, very focused attack, and quick decay-- which is one of the reasons that birch, supposedly make great 'recording' drums!

un-like maple, or a mixed shell wood-- which can be a very warm boomy sound-- with lots of overtones. . .Not that, maple wont sound great to record with as well-- some of the best recordings are dome with maple kits, Its just a different ,..more open sound.

so, you might want to try some single ply heads on the toms, . . .and maybe even on the snare--- or at least a 2 ply head on the snare, if you don't want to go that thin... You didn't mention what type of heads you are using, so I'm not sure if your having trouble with the toms, snare, bass, or all of them?

But, I have found that thinner heads on Birch work best! Now, your bass drum is difficult, . .so, you will have to experiment with that, . .cause you want your bass drum a little more open sounding, with slightly more overtones-- so, that's a tough one. . .

Also, its good to know that a lot of drummers, have had great success with using pinstripes on their toms, . .and even the Bass drum. But, I'm not too fond of the pinstripes on birch, because I think that they can 'choke' the toms too much, . . Maybe pinstripe on the bass, or even an Aquarian X. . . Like I said, the bass drum can be tough, your gonna have to experiment. .

But, let us know how you make out, and what heads you finally went with-- that worked for you. .. .


PS You might want to invest in a 'Drum Dial' ($59.). . .A lot of drummers think they are crap,.But, I think that they can be a handy tool-- I've been tuning drums for over 15 years, and I still use a drum dial-- just to get me in the right neighborhood of where I want the heads to be, . .then I fine tune them by ear. . .Cause your birch shells, should stay in tune for a while, before you need to mess with them again. . . Good luck!
 
StudioDrum,
thanks for your input. I'd also appreciate more of your insight regarding me attaining a desireable kick drum sound. Right now, I'm back to the Aquarian Superkick I batter & resonator head (with ~4in mic hole). The sound is a little too hollow (no mids..just lots of low rumble and and plenty of trebly attack sound). When I tried the EQ3 batter (2ply clear), it had a little more "wet" sound which sounded ever-so-slighty more mids rich, but I hated the "slap' sound of the head and it retains that evans trademark "plasticky" sound which I don't admire.
Currently, I have the kick tuned to a ratio that is the closest to give it more "mids/thump/ 'meat'/in-ur-chest" sound...but the sound still a little too gutted in the mids for my tastes...so I've been on a quest to attain a better sound for a while now...it's priority over the othe parts since the other shells are fine for the most part...

Here are other resources I've discussed the matter w/ others:

1. https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=122529
2. http://marsh.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/982/
3. http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=414283
4. http://www.drummercafe.com/communit...splay;threadid=9149;start=msg107874#msg107874
5. http://drumdogs.com/message-board-forum/viewtopic.php?t=3201&highlight=
6. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=001535
 
I put a Superkick II on my FS Birch kick and put a 6 inch hole and am getting pretty good results. I think I got plenty of the mid's, which I ended up scooping out a lot when I was trying it out with a MD421, I'm just trying to get a little more of the really low stuff and attack now. Might try some other mics out soon enough and see if I can get closer to the sound I want.
 
gumplunger,
are you familiar with any other aquarian head combos you think would be worth a try for the kick drum. I considering the SuperKick II, SuperKick III, and maybe their Force series?..don't have a huge budget to experiment here.. :rolleyes:
 
This was my first try with Aquarian heads. I'm using the Super Kick II, Performance II's on the toms (though I'm thinking I should have gotten Studio-X's) and a Studio-X on the snare. The kick and snare sound great and the toms just sound average (though that might be due to my suckage at tuning :D)
 
any recordings of the kick? :confused: . I'm starting to believe a 2ply head is really the way to go on this 22x18 bass drum...
 
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