Fusion vs. Standard

[akabacon]

First, a little history. I am an old guy (almost 50) who got away from drumming for a looong time. But, now I am back! I bought a cheap Ludwig set, but am not happy with it. Shouldn't have just picked the first thing that looked good. Anyway, I have decided that the SRX's are the way to go. They have the quality I am looking for, and the colors are great. (Marine Blue Fade is my choice). My question is, what is the deal with the fusion sets? With the proliferation of HUGE drums I see professionals using, who would want a set with a 10" tom? I looked at a set at a local dealer, and he tried to convince me that the 10 sounded deep enough that I would be happy with it. I think he was just trying to sell me what he had in stock! Also, is the 18" deep kick that much deeper sounding than the 16? Can you get the 18 in the standard set, not just in the fusion? Sorry about rambling, but like I said, I am an old guy!!!! Thanks for your help....:confused:

[Ambion]

Originally posted by akabacon
First, a little history. I am an old guy (almost 50) who got away from drumming for a looong time. But, now I am back! I bought a cheap Ludwig set, but am not happy with it. Shouldn't have just picked the first thing that looked good. Anyway, I have decided that the SRX's are the way to go. They have the quality I am looking for, and the colors are great. (Marine Blue Fade is my choice). My question is, what is the deal with the fusion sets? With the proliferation of HUGE drums I see professionals using, who would want a set with a 10" tom? I looked at a set at a local dealer, and he tried to convince me that the 10 sounded deep enough that I would be happy with it. I think he was just trying to sell me what he had in stock! Also, is the 18" deep kick that much deeper sounding than the 16? Can you get the 18 in the standard set, not just in the fusion? Sorry about rambling, but like I said, I am an old guy!!!! Thanks for your help....:confused:

Mr. Bacon:),
I highly recommend the fusion sizes. The standard sizes are 12, 13 and 16, but this doesn't give a whole lot of rack-tom diversity. If you go with the 10, you get a good high-end sound, and the other two toms meet the middle and low-end sounds. You can definitely tune the 10" low enough to give it a good rumble, but I don't advise tuning it too low, you want some high-end sound. The fusion sizes are also shallower, which give you better attack and stick definition, but they won't be as louder and they won't resonante as much (but the resonance difference will be very, very minute). The deeper bass drum will resonate more, and you will probably notice it on the lower tunings. If you like a punchy bass drum sound, I don't suggest the 18". If you like the bonham-y ka-BOOM of a bass drum go with the 18" depth. OCDP's website explains what depth and diameter have as far as effects on the drums in depth in their FAQ section. I don't believe you can get the 18" in the standard sized set, but i'm not sure with that. They would probably charge you a good deal more for it. Also, I don't see many professionals using huge toms unless they're playing heavy rock? Most professionals have the money to have a range of tom sizes, but if not then they usually go with fusion sizes. They do either 10 12 14 (with an occasional 16" floor tom) or 8 12 16 (which gives a great range of difference between toms, but the 8 inch tom is very high-pitched).

I hope that helps.

Oh and OCDP's website is ocdrum.com

[akabacon]

Thanks, I do like the Bonahm-y Ka BOOM, so 18 seems like the way to go with the kick. Since that is standard in tyhe fusion configuration, it looks like I have had the desion made for me. The professionals I was refering to mostly have only one rack tom, and it is usaully huge. Check out Abe Laboriel Jr.'s kit. Of course, he is playing for Paul McCartney, and playing in huge venues. I do't think I'll be paying in any situations like that any time soon!!! Your answer does make sense in terms of getting a larger range of sounds from the toms. Thanks again for your input. :D

[Jookbox]

this might be out on a limb, but i think the fusion sizes are a conspiracy! it has a nice deep kick with three nicely spaced toms, except that there's no low-end. have you noticed that pearl makes an add on pack, with a 14x16 tom + tom stand? if pearl wanted to make a 5 piece all-in-one kit, it would be something like:

8x10
9x12 or 10x13 or 11x13
13x15 or 14x16

with a 18x22 bass and 5 or 6.5x14 snare

they would also sell a 4 piece kit with 9x12 and 14x16 toms. the prepackaged kits seem to be missing a drum. the standard is missing a 12x14 and the fusion is missing a 14x16.

anyway, these are just my feelings. sorry about being more negative than usual.

[Andy @ MIT]

I would recommend the Fusion setup and then adding a 16" rack/floor tom. There is just not enough space in a 12,13,16 setup.

Also, when you order components (like some people seem to prefer) it gets more costly. With the right combination of heads, you can get plenty of low end out of a 14" tom


Cheers,
Andy

[1ordinary-guy]

Originally posted by Jookbox
this might be out on a limb, but i think the fusion sizes are a conspiracy! it has a nice deep kick with three nicely spaced toms, except that there's no low-end. have you noticed that pearl makes an add on pack, with a 14x16 tom + tom stand? if pearl wanted to make a 5 piece all-in-one kit, it would be something like:

8x10
9x12 or 10x13 or 11x13
13x15 or 14x16

with a 18x22 bass and 5 or 6.5x14 snare

they would also sell a 4 piece kit with 9x12 and 14x16 toms. the prepackaged kits seem to be missing a drum. the standard is missing a 12x14 and the fusion is missing a 14x16.

anyway, these are just my feelings. sorry about being more negative than usual.

Well, I'll jump on your bandwagon and say that I agree! I don't like either the traditional 12/13/16 OR the fusion 10/12/14 setups. I've had both, currently having the fusion setup and had to add a 16" x 14" tom for low end on my MRX kit not long after I bought it. Maybe a 14" birch tom would deliver better in the low end than maple does, but I'm just finding that between my MRX kit or the Sonor S-Class Maple kit I use frequently on a particular gig that the suspended 14" tom just doesn't deliver the low end that I want. On my MRX kit, I've moved the 14" tom to the left of my hi-hat and go with 10/12/16 in the traditional places.

If I ever have the opportunity to order a new Masters kit again, I'll probably go with 10/12/15/18 or a 10/13/16/18 setup. After 16 years of playing various kits, I've concluded that I hate 14" toms because they are too big to place as rack toms and suck as "floor" toms!

Interestingly enough, I recall reading in another thread a while back that Gene O doesn't particularly like 14" toms either! :)

[akabacon]

Whoa, looks like I opened a can of worms! Glad to see I am not the only one who doesn't like the packages that are available.Andy@massmusic, you must have gone to the same training that my local dealer did. He suggested the same thing. I figured he was just trying to sell me more stuff. I guess that is what I will do. I have to get my new kit soon, I just came from practicing, and I can't handle those crappy dums anymore!!! I do have another question. Is the "floor" tom a real floor tom, or is it suspnded from the cymbal stand I have seen it both ways, and am not sure which is "standard". I assume I will get more sustain if it hangs from the stand, but probably better low end if it is mounted on legs. Can I order it either way? :cool:

[weps]

If you look at the various popular band's videos over the last 10 years, most of the single front tom kits have JUMBO toms, with 14 and even 15" common. Even the ones with the single 12" (very rare) have a 16 for a floor, NOT a 14.

Short story, I put together a 8x10, 10x12, 12x14 hanging set and HAD to get a 14x16 to get the low end I desired.

Long kit developemental story, I got back into serious drumming about 9 years ago. I'm 48 now. While many deride the "standard " kit sizes, I prefer them over a fusion 5pc prepack. I went from a standard kit to a 9pc dbl bass with 10,12,13,14(hanging),16,18 floor toms. I could never get the 14 to fit in. It does take a while to get used to a 10 for the first time. Started serious gigging. Dropped the second bass for a dbl pedal and the 18 tom right away due to case and mic purchasing and space hauling limits/hassles. I wanted to get rid of the 14 but the other guys wanted me to keep it MAINLY for looks! After that band I split the 9pc kit in two. A 10,12,14 tom set and a 13,16,18 tom kit. I really tried to get into the fusion sizes, trying to see why it was SOOooo popular, but preferred the larger tom set. I ended up selling the whole shell kit.

I got a set of 11x13, 13x15 hanging & 16x18 floor session toms in natural. I ended up getting a RIMs floor cradle for the 15 to simplify the setup from a 2 sided small rack. But I wanted a 12". I got one, non matching color red. Then I got a red 10" and racked the 10,12,13 across the front with the 15 & 18 floors. I now think THIS is my current ideal "large" set. Got tired of the mismatch colors and found a 22 bass and 10 tom in red. So now I have a normal fusion set in red. As I said above, I HAD to add a 14x16 to fill it out. Even still I recently rearranged the toms to be 12,10,14,16 to be of better use to me. I still play the 13,15,18 tom kit for all my other jams and gigs from my main band and enjoy it greatly. 'Course the band name on the bass drum may affect that choice some ;>)

In closing, I recommend you get a standard sized 5pc kit for now, especially if you like a 4pc kit. You can find very nice quality used ones on ebay, and the price is even better for the standard top level used kits since many newer drummers are going for the fusion.

weps

[Les Hammond]

I have a fusion with the 22x18 kick and the 10/12/14 toms, I have also added a 16 hanging tom - now sounds really good. Has plenty of top end and a heap of grunt ! Ive also gone to Remo Powerstroke 4 batter heads on all but the kick, that has an Evans EQ3. All reso heads are what came with the kit, the kick reso head now has a 6 inch hole cut in it - sounds like a slamming door,bloody marvelous! ! The 10 inch tom is by no means a wimp , just dont string it too tight, and leave the reso real loose, like 3/4 turn from finger tight, it will cut through most surrounding noise un - mic'd unless you are working with someone like Motorthead or Guns and Roses ! Get the kit , experiment and be amazed !