20 Best Wood For Drums (2022 Updated)

Nice to see a very heavy/thick shelled snare drum available at this price point. Sort of a welcome, fresh breath of air from the current rage of thin-shelled, re-ring vintage modeled stuff. Hate to say it, but the build quality on this drum is equal to or better than some of the U.

S. made stuff I’ve seen. Bearing edges are accurately cut, shell is perfectly in round, finish is spotless, etc. The wood hoops are sort of trendy and necessitate the use of a snare drum stand that will accommodate at least a 16″ drum (not too many snare stands do this), but the hoops are extremely well made and add an interesting tone to this drum.

Oddly enough, I took them off the drum and placed 2. 3mm steel hoops on the drum to open it up even more. In closing, the drum is a great, all around “Plain-Jane” drum with an extremely thick shell which by virtue, offers a much different feel and tonality.

Happy with my purchase.

This is by far the nicest snare drum I’ve ever owned. The hardware is beautiful and stout, the throw off is the exact hardware on DW snare drums, and the wood rings are solid and sturdy. I can’t say enough about the quality and beauty of this drum, I only wish I had enough to buy another one!! BUY ONE WHILE YOU CAN!!.

This was exactly what I was looking for. Very nice tone, good snare rumble, a piece of artwork!!!. My band was very excited to hear the recording of the snare.

it is a good snare over all, the wood plys are standard , the lugs are good, hoops are also good. only downfall is the snare wires and the straps, would of liked to have seen cords or plastic strap. overall it is a good snare to add to ones drum kit.

The depth is a Plus, giving that Tight but yet deep sound to it,its not a Piccolo snare by anyways. but yet sounds like one, but brighter tone and snapper sound, I was almost going to pass it up before taken a chance, the Value is great for a wood shell snare drum.

But the only Con i found is the snare wires and the mounting of the strainer, it is a bit high mounted, but does what it needs to to. The snare wires would of been a better fit with Copper wires, but steel wires are good.

The cloth strap is something to be changed out, as i had talked about before would of been nice to see a plastic strap or cord strap, the coth strap is small and has to much lack in the placement of the snare wires, has to be adjusted to make center, a little more in the alinement of the snare wires.

But over all for the price and being a wood shell snare, it is worth the price, they also include a drum key and that is a plus , always need a extra key at some point.

You will not find a better snare drum at this price. This is not as good as my Ludwig Classic Supraphonic snare drum. But, it’s good enough for practice sessions and even for gigs at most venues. I have not yet tested it for recording purposes.

I switched out the batterhead with a used Ludwig Remo Weatherking. Other than that, I think the quality of this product far exceeded my expectations. The sound of the used Weatherking batterhead was better than the basic head that came with this drum.

If you know how to properly tune a snaredrum, then you will be more than happy with this Griffin snaredrum. But, for less knowledgeable musicians, I suggest you spend your money on a more well-known brand such as Pearl, Gretsch, Ludwig, DW, etc.

No high expectations considering the extremely low price. This snare is just fine. Yes, it is poplar wood, not birch or maple. I like the sound of poplar. It sounds rich and full like mahogany, but with slightly more attack.

The hardware is basic import stuff, nothing stellar. The stock heads are simple 1 plys. I took the tuning bolts out and lubricated the lugs with a small dab of petroleum jelly. Then i reassembled and tuned it.

It sounds really good, even with the stock heads. I run a music rehearsal facility and bought this as a rental drum. It has been used and abused for several days now by a variety of drummers. All have commented on the quality sound of this snare.

I am quite happy with it. I recommend it ,but dont expect it to compare with an expensive snare.

This product should not be on the market. Bad Bearing edges Bad Chrome on lugs (bubbling) Cheap 6 string snare wires, Really, you can buy 20 strand wires from China for $2. 00 You pamphlet says to replaces heads for a better sounding product! Again Really! As a customer and just purchased your product and in the instructions you tell me to go spend more money on new better quality.

Is this where quality music products are headed as we keep seeing music class and band participation falling through the floor, and you put this sub-par snare in 10 year old’s hands. that’s Greed!.

The poplar shell looks solid, and has snare beds, though its not sanded well. The wrap looks cool. The hoops and lugs seem ok. On the other hand the strainer is very stiff and not easy to use and the snare wires are the lowest quality Ive ever seen.

Very poorly made and they rattle like crazy because theyre not flat or tensioned the same across the set. Makes it impossible to get a right snappy sound. I think with a new set of quality wires this might sound good, but Ill have to buy some and find out.

When you sit down and play this kit, you’ll have drummers asking themselves why they spent more than a grand for a drum set. I’ve been around and played Yamaha drums growing up in the church and in high school and have fell in love with the sound.

When it was time for me to purchase a drum kit of my own, the stage custom birch was the ultimate choice for my sound. DO NOT LET THE PRICE FOOL YOU! YOU’LL BE AMAZED on what this set sounds like with different heads and nice tuning! The Cranberry Red shells are just as beautiful as ever and since red is my favourite colour, she not only LOOKS GOOD, she SOUNDS good too! I love a lot I can just look at and say, YUP! That’s mine, makes you a proud owner.

Definitely worth the buy!.

I bought the Yamaha Stage Custom Birch 5 piece drum set for my son as he has been going to lessons for 3 years already. Our choice of brand was based on already very good reviews and we are familiar with the high quality of the Yamaha instruments.

The set came nicely packed and was easy to assemble. The sound really stands out, The Honey Amber color stands out as well and you can notice different color tones depending on the angle of the light.

Both Taylor Foott and Daniel Cooke from the Orlando Lee Road store were very helpful, patient and gave us good advise for this purchase.

These can’t be beat for the price. They’re noticeably lighter than a pair of 5a”s I own (not sure of the wood type) yet have the diameter of 5b’s, and the slightly rough finish is nicely grippy. The teardrop tip is surprisingly clean and they feel great in my (average-sized) hands when I reverse them.

So far the first pair has lasted about a dozen hours of medium-to-hard playing and they’re wearing quite evenly. Highly recommended.

As much as I hate to leave a bad review. I feel that consumers should be aware of the low quality of this stick. As a new drummer I couldn’t tell the difference between a 7a and a 12z. As a cheapskate I can tell you that the price was right.

Compared to $8. 00 for one set or $20. 00 for 12 sets. It was a no brainer. I only have two problems with the stick. The first being. Not one pair are the same size in thickness. I don’t have a pair of calipers to put on them, but just the way they feel in my hand.

I know there is something different about them. The second and most disappointing feature of the sticks are the nylon tips. It was recommended to me that I use nylon tips with my totally awesome Nitro kit.

The problem is that the tips come off. CONSTANTLY! Elmer’s Glue doesn’t work either. If you buy these make sure you buy some Gorilla Glue or something else that binds plastic to wood. Due to the disappointment of this product.

I doubt I’ll be buying any On Stage products any time soo.

Hey. I have an Alesis electronic drum set. I was using an old pair of sticks that I had until one broke. So I hauled out the sticks that actually came with the drum set. Started using those. I realized that being out of drumsticks, if another broke, just wouldn’t be too clever.

so I took a chance on an affordable box of these ON STAGE 5A sticks. I know there are better/more famous brands. but I’m only using my drum set for demos and stuff. So. I’ve used a pair of these ON STAGE 5A sticks for the last 3 weeks on my ALESIS set and they are identical to that pair that came with the set, and they are holding up.

I don’t know how they’d work actually ON STAGE with REAL ACOUSTIC DRUMS in the hands of a REAL DRUMMER. You’d have to supply that info, O actual drummers. Have fun.

I’ve owned three beginner sets all from the 90’s and early 00’s. Since 2008 the only drums I’ve owned is my Roland TD-4. After playing only the e-kit for a decade I was itching to play acoustic again.

In my price range I narrowed it down to this set and the Gretsch Catalina Maple. The Pearl was 100 less and the thought of being able to move the 12″ tom left and putting a cymbal arm in the bass drum were my deciding decisions.

It may be possible to mount a cymbal with a tom on the Gretsch bass drum but I haven’t investigated it. I was very happy when I un-boxed the drums the day they arrived. I love the satin black burst. It is understated but has character with the burst.

Very classy. After setting them up I started to tune them. I couldn’t believe the range and how good they sounded in a very low range all the way up to a jazz tuning. And it was so easy to get them in tune.

I’ve done even tuning, top tighter, bottom tighter and they sounded good all ways. You should be able to get any tuning you desire from this set. Matched with the right heads I’m sure they can be used in almost any style of music.

I’m still on the stock heads which are ok but have almost a plasticy sound to me. I’m a fan of coated and will either go with 1 or 2 ply when I’m ready to change them out. I do have a couple of cons with them and the first being the large seam used on each drum.

It’s not unseemly but would be nice if it was less noticeable. The other was the large oval badge. Not a fan. But you can arrange the mounted toms by switching which air vent you use for the mount. I have the badges facing me so only wood shows on the toms from the front.

I am very happy with this Pearl set.

Have had this set now for about 2 weeks and wow what a difference from my Pearl Roadshow. This kit sounds amazing. I replaced the stock heads with Evans UV 2’s, and the sound is fantastic and tuning is so easy, phenomenal tones!!! The Tom hardware from Pearl is flawless, making it adjustable to any position.

Not to mention that the kit looks amazing in the Black Satin Burst, I have had so many compliments on the kit. The great financing available through Musicians Friend and my Gear Advisor made this kit affordable for me, thank you Musicians Friend and Allie!!!!.

First “real kit” bought for recording, gigging and my own drum studio. The shells have great tone, tune up easily and can be tuned to a variety of genres. I have the 22 kick version so I’ve not tuned up the kick but it is punchy and loud tuned low.

The shells sit well in many different genres of music and the satin caramel finish is eye-catching without being flashy. My only complaints would be the hardware could be a bit more sturdier and high end but the shells and hoops are all excellent quality.

Also I prefer having toms on stands above a virgin bass drum but the YESS mounts are easy to position and I had no problems getting the 10 and 12 toms exactly where I like them. I plan on getting an add 14 floor tom to compliment the 16.

I purchased a pair of these in April 2019 after having purchased a pair each of Vater Gospel Series Fusion (. 580″ x 16. 5″), American Hickory 5B (. 605″ x 16″), American Hickory Power 5B (. 610″ x 16.

5″), and Xtreme Design Wood 5B (. 610″ x 16. 5″) drumsticks. Of the five models, the Vater American Hickory Power 5B became my favorite (for playing an electronic drum kit anyway); but the Power 5B Acorn is essentially the same stick with a different shaped tip.

In rotating between the different models of Vater sticks-as well as a couple pairs of Promark 5As-from one church service to another, I generally found myself reaching for the American Hickory Power 5B-though I generally preferred the tip of the Power 5B Acorn for general purposes.

After about a year, these sticks began to wrap slightly (the reason for my giving it 4 stars instead of 5). I don’t know why that would happen in the arid climate of Colorado unless it had to do with them being frequently exposed to a humidifier, A/C vent, and/or something else.

Otherwise, a quality stick with a nice feel.

Was concerned about how well it projected. Since, my old one, that I’ve had for 30+ years, is a Steel 14×7 snare drum -very responsive and really projects I wanted to replace with something comparable.

After tuning this new snare upstairs, it sounded kind of weak, but then I put it with my 7 pc. set downstairs and it projects just as well. Even better its very crisp and warm, which makes it great for soft or hard music.

You tube had a million videos on this drum and it sounded great on all of them. Looks sharp, sounds sharp! People will probably think I spent a lot of money on it, but I didn’t (under $120!). Only cons: 2 dark lines in the finish but hardly noticeable.

only took 2 moongels to get rid of reverb. Purred like a kitten after that.

Let’s just start off with the simple truth, this snare in cheap, and it sounds amazing. Even the stock head from factory are very good. They are Remo Ambassadors. I’ve played this snare on several recordings and live gigs and I haven’t been let down on it’s sound and wide range of dynamics and versatility.

From phat ol’ thumps, to cracking good snaps; it sounds great. I got it in the natural finish and it looks amazing, and pairs great with my glossy black Mapex kit. On the con, I have found that some of the lugs on the batter side do tend to come loose occasionally, which can get a bit annoying when trying to play an hour long set.

Other than that small con, this thing is absolutely fantastic. This is a perfect second or third snare, for intermediate players looking to expand their sound.

I bought this as a replacement for my 30 year old Tama steel snare that my son lost parts to. I have a vintage cranberry yamaha stage custom kit. Bought this to replace the Tama as it was more expensive to replace it than buy this new one.

This is my first Tama drum, in more than 50 years of drumming professionally. I have been a staunch Gretsch player for the last 25 years or so, but. this Tama drum ROCKS! I wanted all maple construction, in keeping with my other drums, and was interested in the maple rims, as well, but I was blown-away at the high quality in this drum! It sounds pretty good right out of the box, but I changed the batter head to Evans Calf-hide vintage, and now this drum really sings! IT is loud, projects very well, and is a joy to play.

I picked this up at my local GC a couple months ago heavily discounted on clearance. Let me be clear, this drum sounds great. It has a wide snare bed and works well with various snares up to 42 without issue.

For my needs a 16 strand with the wood hoops and 2 ply coated top is perfect. The exterior of the drum is gorgeous. Installed are tastefully styled lugs and the dye/laquer finish is clean (I have the Sienna).

But why 2 stars? While doing maintence I noticed the throwoff is crooked. When dropping the snare the mechnism comes down at an angle. There’s no slop in the holes to align the throwoff. The holes are simply poorly drilled.

Next on the bottom bearing edge I can feel where the router was pulled away from the drum. There’s a noticable bump on the outer edge and it’s no where near the snare bed. I’m sure I can send this back to be fixed but why should anyone have to deal with that? These are glaring issues that should be caught before shipping.

Luckily, I got mine heavily discounted. I would not pay full price regardless of this drum sounding good. There are many other brands or even maybe another series from Tama that offer higher quailty workmanship and comparable sonic perfomance at equal cost.

No drummer should have to deal with these types of issues. I can’t recommend any SLP but I still love Tama. Spend your hard earned money elsewhere.

Overall: This snare sounds and looks amazing! I was reluctant to buy it at first because there wasn’t many reviews online and local stores didn’t have the snare, but I took the risk and bought the snare anyway.

It was by far the best decision I have made! The studio maple snare has a very loud and vibrant sound that impresses everyone. The sound engineer at my church loves this snare because he doesn’t have to change much to make it sound great.

It sounds great naturally! Since its 8 lugs, it’s easier to tune, and doesn’t have much over tones. I just put one moon gel and it was ready to go! also, the wooden hoops make it look and sound awesome.

The side stick and rim shots sound amazing on this snare! They give the snare a complete different feel than other snare drums, and they are holding up really good so far. This snare is also way lighter than other snare drums which is something that comes in handy if you plan to travel a lot.

I not only recommend this snare, but I recommend this company as well! The level of excellence that zZounds has is very impressive. The payment options are amazing and are not seen in any other company, the instruments arrive crazy fast, and the customer service is the best I’ve experienced till this day.

This snare also includes a free drum bag, and tuning key which is awesome! GET YOURS TODAY!!!!!.

This is my favorite kit I’ve worked with. I got this one after doing lots of research for upgrading our studio’s drums, and it sounds absolutely beautiful. I will say the one drawback is the stock heads are not the best, but I knew that going in and pretty much changed heads right away (to studio X Aquarians, Super Kick 2 Aquarian).

I’m sure with some tuning and patience you could make the stock heads work just fine. I was excited to get my specific heads on, so please take my opinion on the stock heads with a grain of salt. Thus I’m still easily giving it 5 stars.

I love the way this kit rings out. Very good for any music that needs a good natural sounding drum set. The wood rings out very well and has a nice warm, pleasant sound to it. The bass drum’s sound surprised me, and I’ve opted to not even dampen mine past the super kick 2 heads.

It’s highly unusual for me to not dampen a bass drum, I had my towels ready and decided not to after hearing it. I play a lot of rock and metal; definitely a good studio kit.

I just bought these last week and got them home last night. This is the first truly professional kit I’ve ever had and I love everything about them. I do plan to do a couple of minor customizations like natural maple bass drum hoops and a kick port.

I got the vintage marine pearl finish. My first purchase was a new Yamaha Tour Custom maple shell pack. I returned those to upgrade to these Tamas, and like everything about these better than the Yamahas.

This is my second Tama kit. My first was the all birch Superstar Hyperdrive which Tama doesn’t make anymore. Those were phenomenal for an intermediate kit. I think they were actually better than the Yamaha Tour Customs.

But these Starclassics are my dream kit. I ordered a Starphonic nickel plated brass snare for this kit. That will be here Friday. This time I was able to answer the question “if I could only ever have one, which would it be?” That led me to the Starclassic Walnut/Birch shell pack and Starphonic nickel plated brass snare.

My drum envy has been cured.

This is the second drum set that I have owned and I am extremely happy with them! I owned my birch kit for 12-years, but I was looking for something with a little more low end at this time. In general, the tone from maple drums seems a little to low and resonant for me.

The Tama Starclassic Performer B/B drums really have the tone that I was looking for and I feel that it is a very successful hybrid. They have the characteristic of birch with a sharp attack, finish with a quick low end response which creates a full bodied tone.

I typically do not like clear heads, but the included 2-ply Evans G2 heads complement the drums. The complementary tone of the bubinga provides the warmness I was looking for without having to use coated heads at this time.

However, I may experiment with them in the future, but right now I really love the tone of the drums and they are much more enjoyable to play. The hardware is easy to adjust, fine tune, with more options to get the position that is most comfortable for me.

The die cast hoops are sturdy, look very well made, and are staying in tune. They were easy to dial into what I consider the “sweet spot”. Finally, the finish is the “icing on the cake”. I ordered the Molton Brown Burst finish and it really stands out.

The finish is unique in that it has a free form design, is interesting to look at, and shiny. Overall, the drums are excellent quality and are really well made!.

I saw this set on the floor at a Guitar Center store (more about that later) while on vacation and knew I had to have these drums! They are NOTHING like the old “vintage” Ludwig’s of the ’60’s and 70’s.

So much better in every way! Workmanship is flawless. Shells are beautiful, all-maple, made in USA. Bearing edges are perfect and cut at a clean 45 degree angle. The Vintage Black Oyster wrap is vibrant, and looks very much like the old pre- 1969 stuff of the Ringo days.

Ludwig has made so many improvements since then, the quality of this kit is no comparison to the Ludwig’s of a by-gone era. The best part: these drums not only look fantastic, they sound incredible! I also got the matching 5×14 snare with this kit (a la Ringo’s Jazz Fest 8 lug, but this one is 10 lug for better tuning, and does NOT cost $5-10K!).

So much fun to play, and all heads were turning at the gig this past weekend. These drums are an attention getter! I LOVE this kit! A true “Ringo” kit that is much better quality and less money than a 60’s version.

I mean no disrespect to the vintage drum collectors out there. it’s totally cool to own a 60’s vintage Ludwig Ringo kit. I just didn’t want to spend the money it takes to get one in perfect condition, and wanted solid maple shells and better over-all quality! Thanks Ludwig and Ringo for making me want to play drums, and thanks to GC for giving me the opportunity to own a great kit at a reasonable price.

Very satisfied.

Purchased this kit used from Guitar Center online and was quite satisfied with my purchase. However, I was disappointed that some of the tension rods were so rough on the bass drum; I assumed with a high end kit that they would all be very smooth, but I had 2-3 that were so rough even after lubrication that I ended up ordering replacements.

Hopefully the replacement lugs will fix the problem and make tuning a little easier. Overall, I’m still very happy with my purchase and would recommend these drums as they sound incredible.

I wouldn’t describe this as a GREAT drum, but for the price, it’s fine. I haven’t replaced the heads or the snares, so have played it a little just as is. The sound is warm and I think with some different heads it is well worth the money.

Truthfully I only bought it because of the price and the desire to have yet another snare drum! I’m not sure where I might use it professionally, but I like to have as many different sounding drums with as many different types of shells as possible for a wide variety of sound.

I was looking a cheap basic 14×6. 5 snare because all Ive ever had is 14×5. So I saw this, listened to it on youtube, and bought it. Great snare for the price. Light weight. The color goes with about any color set.

Awesome all around drum and experience.

This thing is horrible. I bought this from guitar center a few months ago during a sale. It was 200$ off. They shipped it to my house and immediately after setting it up I realized it’s as bad as my old swingstar if not worse.

The bearing edge on the floor Tom was completely warped right out of the box. I tried putting on an Evans ec2 drum head and when I went to tighten the tension rods I couldn’t tighten two of them because of the warping.

It sounds like complete garbage too, the only drum that would acceptable is the snare. After throwing on an Evans heavyweight head and some pure sound snare wires, there are plenty of good drum sets out there for the price.

Personally I would go with a Yamaha stage custom or if you wanted to save up some more a crush drum set. I would say buying used is your best option. You get more for less money. Luckily I paid for the warranty to get it fixed.

I love Tamas hardware but there drums are horrible. Please save your money.

All I can say about the kit at the moment is; it look’s fantastic! I’ve bought it as a Christmas present for my son (12), so only managed to open the boxes to make sure I’ve got what I ordered. I am so looking forward to seeing his face when he opens everything up (cymbals and hardware).

PMT’s delivery service was equally as fantastic btw, and I will definitely be back for more gear for my son in future (and will be visiting the Birmingham store).

Omg!!!! I’m speechless!!! This set is absolutely stunning!!! I didn’t think it would have this much charm to it until my son opened it up for his 11th birthday!! Our eyes lit up as we unboxed it!! Once we put everything together the sound was AMAZING!!!!! AmericanMusical.

com is the BOMB for carrying such wonderful instruments such as this!!! The price was well worth what we got!! Do not hesitate to buy from this company!!! We definitely got our BANG for our buck!!! Also, the shipping was incredibly FAST!!!! I love this store and will forever shop with them!!!.