Saturday, May 17, 2014

A SONOR SIGNATURE EBONY MAKASSAR BOP DRUM KIT: WHERE CAN ONE BE FOUND?

I'm looking for a Signature Lite Bop kit in any finish, and likewise a regular Signature series or Phonic bop kit. With Ebony Makassar (spelled various ways) as first choice,  Rosewood would be my second choice and Bubinga a very close third. More like a 2.1.

I'm no Sonor expert, but I think the Signature series was made mostly during the 1980's. That's certainly when I saw several top drummers playing them around Houston. I remember that "Texas" Tim Root, a clinician for Simmons Electronic Drums in the 1980s as well as being employed by Keith Karnaky at The Drum Shop, kept his fine looking Signature set sometimes in the upper floor at their way old West Alabama location in Houston.

 There have been many other great looking Sonor Signature kits I've seen in Houston and Austin and L.A. over the years, and I've always been entranced by the ebony makassar wood which is one of the Signature Series choices, the others being Rosewood or Bubinga. They sound a bit different, perhaps moreso if you have the ears of a dog, but I find them very pleasing.

I had an opportunity a decade ago to buy a very nice minty (at least in photos and descriptions) a very nice Sonor Signature Lite ebony bop kit with matching snare from a drum shop in Germany called Magic Drum(s), who had the kit on their site for some time. I had bought a 16" Sonor HiLite orphan tom that matched my kit from them and they had minty stuff and I felt comfortable dealing with them. The owner or one of them spoke excellent english so I could talk via phone with him or email with no issues. But sadly, they seem to have vanished from the web.

I missed another great kit, a Rosewood Phonic with both a 22" and 18" bass drums, meaning Bop and Rock kit all in one. It got sold locally while I dallied on deciding. I've recently seen some great Phonic and Signature Lite kits at some live gigs, and remembered how much I like their sound and how gorgeous those kits are.

Sadly as well, Ebay is no longer the hub of Sonor Drum sales it once was, and the classifieds over at the Sonor Drum Museum are active but never with what I'm seeking. Back in the day, sonny boy, Ebay used to have all kinds of great kits and single/orphan drums and hardware from the Signature era, but not so much anymore.

I'd prefer a Signature Lite kit, which features shorter shells than the standard Signature line, with an 18" bass drum, a 12" tom and a 14" or 15" floor tom. And a matching snare if possible. That's a Bop kit, by the way. BUT, a like-sized (18/12/14/14sn) Phonic kit in Rosewood would be great also. Even a Sonorlite Bop kit would be a wonderful thing to enounter.

I've owned some great Sonor kits. A Sonorlite black lacquer kit in 22/12/13/16ft, A Sonor HiLite black lacquer kit in 22/10/12/14ft/16ft/14sn and a Sonor S Class kit in black lacquer in 20/10/12/14ft/14sn

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