Well my kit arrived on Monday and all was in good condition. What I will relate are my initial impressions of this kit from the perspective of what I got vs what I expected to get for the price. The kit is a deep red wine color and although I am certain it is a wrap it is applied well and looks quite nice. the small shells hide the seam with the lugs. The hardware has a nice chrome finish with no obvious flaws although time will tell how it handles the humidity here in Fla. The rims are stamped of heavier stock than I expected and have the 3 90 degree bends for stiffening that you would expect. The threads on the lugs are a bit rough but I would expect they will smooth out with use. For the time being, I can rely on them holding their tension. The batter heads are coated and better than I expected. The bottom heads are clear and very thin. (including the bass head) The cow bell and cymbals are exactly what I expected of an inexpensive import. Was very impressed with the kick pedal. It has weight and a smooth action, a double chain drive with a single spring. Ample tensioning adjustment, an offset clamp and a heavy cast aluminum foot board. I suspect the hinge pin at the heel plate will be the weak point. An easy fix if it goes out. I would say the shells are 4 plys of luan with a thin maple ply on the inside. However the plys were free of voids and the maple plys were all clear grained. The snare throw off is basic and time will tell how it holds up.
Tunning is a new experience. Once again, the threads made it impossible to quick tune by feel. Getting the kick head and tom head an octive apart took a couple of tries before I got somthing that didn't sound like a timbales. I have the two toms tuned a third from each other but cant seem to get that little snare tuned down with out ending up with a dead batter head and wrinkled snare head. So I just tuned it to what pleased me most. I like its voice and will incorporate it into my traditional kit.
Playing grooves. Wow! Very different. Balance, stance, posture, these are going to be as important as chops. The inverted kick has a hair trigger that I am learning to control and exploit. For instance it makes a dotted eighth, sixteenth samba beat very easy to play. No calf burn, he he. Let the Sax have another lead. The tight little snare head makes the Moeller technique much easier for my lazy left hand. All in all, a cocktail kit will force me to adjust what I already know and learn new techniqus and approach that I can bring back to a traditional set.
I hope this helps someone who may be thinking about a cocktail kit or this kit in particular. As always I hope to hear and learn from all of you who have gone before me.
Verve cocktail kit initial impression
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John Kepler
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:49 am
- Location: Tallahassee Florida
John - congratulations on your new kit! ...and a very detailed post.
So this kit comes with 2 toms in addition to the big drum? As you've spent some time and effort tuning the kick and tom combination (ad you'll likely refine it further) let us know what kind of tuning, head combinations, and muffling you're using for best results.
I approach tuning my popcorn snare and oddball 10x8 tom differently than if in context of a trad kit and the result is a unique overall kit sound. Kinda odd but cool. Point is that I find it worth it to continually experiment to develop your own kit sound.
And good luck with relearning some of your playing! haha! I think it is important to note that new techniques and grooves you develop on cocktail can benefit or at least supplement your trad kit playing.
So this kit comes with 2 toms in addition to the big drum? As you've spent some time and effort tuning the kick and tom combination (ad you'll likely refine it further) let us know what kind of tuning, head combinations, and muffling you're using for best results.
I approach tuning my popcorn snare and oddball 10x8 tom differently than if in context of a trad kit and the result is a unique overall kit sound. Kinda odd but cool. Point is that I find it worth it to continually experiment to develop your own kit sound.
And good luck with relearning some of your playing! haha! I think it is important to note that new techniques and grooves you develop on cocktail can benefit or at least supplement your trad kit playing.
Great review. One product that might help with the new kit, Go to Radio Shack and get some Teflon Lube in a small clear tube - even has a pen clip. I use this stuff on drums and it is great, just a wee bit does the trick. I put it on the rod threads and even around the washers and it helps even out the tuning tension. Also great on pedals as it does not drip and is clear anyway. Have fun with the new kit!
John,
Very nice post. I just bought the Verve kit as well. I agree with a lot of what you posted, but I have to disagree with the quality of the heads supplied initially for this kit. Especially the head for the top of the big drum. YUCK!
I've re-headed the top of the big drum with a new Fiberskyn head by Remo.
http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/8 ... kyn_3.html What an amazing difference. The drum is really ringing now. The look of the Fiberskyn is pretty cool to, I think.
I'm planning on re-heading the bottom head as well to something a bit thicker to give it more depth. I've tried dampening the lower head with a few different things, from the old "strip of cloth across the head" trick to tape and now I'm onto using a Remo ring muffler http://www.remo.com/portal/products/2/5 ... _ring.html that seems to do pretty well, but I still can't get the low-end I really want out of it.
I'll be re-heading the other two drums as well at least the batter-heads. The pop-corn snare just sounds like a kids toy to my ear. I'm thinking some G2 Evans heads might fix that and the second tom.
The cymbals sound like old pie plates, but that was to be expected.
All in all, my impressions on Verve kit are positive even if it doesn't sound it from this post. I agree that balance and technique are going to be something to learn and re-thinking some playing styles will have to come with time, but for the money invested I think it'll be a fun move into a different sound.
kevin
Very nice post. I just bought the Verve kit as well. I agree with a lot of what you posted, but I have to disagree with the quality of the heads supplied initially for this kit. Especially the head for the top of the big drum. YUCK!
I've re-headed the top of the big drum with a new Fiberskyn head by Remo.
http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/8 ... kyn_3.html What an amazing difference. The drum is really ringing now. The look of the Fiberskyn is pretty cool to, I think.
I'm planning on re-heading the bottom head as well to something a bit thicker to give it more depth. I've tried dampening the lower head with a few different things, from the old "strip of cloth across the head" trick to tape and now I'm onto using a Remo ring muffler http://www.remo.com/portal/products/2/5 ... _ring.html that seems to do pretty well, but I still can't get the low-end I really want out of it.
I'll be re-heading the other two drums as well at least the batter-heads. The pop-corn snare just sounds like a kids toy to my ear. I'm thinking some G2 Evans heads might fix that and the second tom.
The cymbals sound like old pie plates, but that was to be expected.
All in all, my impressions on Verve kit are positive even if it doesn't sound it from this post. I agree that balance and technique are going to be something to learn and re-thinking some playing styles will have to come with time, but for the money invested I think it'll be a fun move into a different sound.
kevin
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John Kepler
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:49 am
- Location: Tallahassee Florida
Congrats Kevin
I like mthe idea of fiber skin. they sound good but they have that retro look too. Your right, the original heads are nothing I would go out an buy but they were better than I expected to get. I now have a few rehersals and one gig on them and I am ready to swap them out. I just might go fiberskin.
I like mthe idea of fiber skin. they sound good but they have that retro look too. Your right, the original heads are nothing I would go out an buy but they were better than I expected to get. I now have a few rehersals and one gig on them and I am ready to swap them out. I just might go fiberskin.
Congrats on the new kit, I just bought a Sonic Drive set that I believe could be from the same company, re stamped. Either way, it's almost identical to the Verve kit. I have achieved a very booming rock sound that I would happily jam even heavy metal with.
In regards to muffling the bass drum, I've got one of those external mufflers that clamp onto the rim on my bass side and I love it. Sounds like a traditional rock bass now. If i want to play jazz or Latin or similar, the muffler comes of in seconds. Perfect!
I do want to get some new skins, especially for the bass side. I don't understand why they put such a thin skin of a bass batter side, oh well.
In regards to muffling the bass drum, I've got one of those external mufflers that clamp onto the rim on my bass side and I love it. Sounds like a traditional rock bass now. If i want to play jazz or Latin or similar, the muffler comes of in seconds. Perfect!
I do want to get some new skins, especially for the bass side. I don't understand why they put such a thin skin of a bass batter side, oh well.
kick heads
To John and Metalhead (and anyone else):
Try the Aquarian Performance II head on your kick side, with a small (2.5") Falam Slam pad. I'm loving the punch and depth I'm getting from mine. No additional muffling needed.
tikifreak
Dallas, TX
Try the Aquarian Performance II head on your kick side, with a small (2.5") Falam Slam pad. I'm loving the punch and depth I'm getting from mine. No additional muffling needed.
tikifreak
Dallas, TX
@tikifreak,
I tried this combo with my Peace Manhattan set and it sounds awesome! Thanks for the tip. Nice bass drum sound.Try the Aquarian Performance II head on your kick side, with a small (2.5") Falam Slam pad. I'm loving the punch and depth I'm getting from mine. No additional muffling needed.
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halfcocked
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:23 am
- Location: Malaysia
- Contact:
Have fun with your new kit! It's all about testing different setups with these buggers. A few cotton balls thrown inside for the bass drum help dampen the bottom end,not too many.I put about 25pcs in my Billy Blast cocktail kit at first but am down to about 10pcs now.Just enough to give ya a nice thump.I use the damper rings on all the rest tof the drums.