Looking for an acrylic drumset

[baterax]

Hello drummer friends!

It's been a LONG time since I posted here.

On to business:

I'm looking to get a new drumset, and since I already have a wood set, I want to go for acrylic this time.
Now, I've noticed Pearl has quite a restricted number of shell sizes available...
The drumset I have in mind would be:
12x12 tom
14x14 tom
16x16 floor tom
18x18 floor tom
24x24 bass drum
24x24 bass drum

Now, a few considerations:

I sit quite low on my throne, I'm 5'6" and I like to have my knees close to 90 degrees. This makes it tough to place my snare at the height I want because I have an 8" deep snare. But with an extra short stand I can pull it off.
But, the other thing is tom placement. My current bass drum is 22". My toms are 12x10 and 13x11. I don't like the toms to be too high up, but right now I don't have a problem with this because they're on a double tom stand, so because they're not directly above the bass drum, they can sit a little lower, off to the left. This also allows me to bring the ride cymbal closer and more in front of me.

Now, for this new set I'm trying to go back to a configuration I had before, which had two bass drums. This would mean the toms would still sit on the double tom stand, but now between two bass drums. If I increase the bass drums size to 24", AND get deeper toms, I will HAVE to sit higher to get them where I like, right?
Also I had an issue of the hi hat being too far away, so I got one of those adapters to clamp the hihat stand to the left bass drum. This time I want to use a remote hihat stand to correct this. But, that means I'd need a rack, right? I don't want to do that. Need suggestions here.

Finally, you can tell I'm going for square sizes here. Doing a lot of reading and listening around, it seems like square sizes are worth it. But I'm still not sure, because it's such big sizes, especially the bass drums... Carrying them around, fitting them in cars and whatnot is going to be such a hassle. Combining that with the fact that I might have to change how high I sit on the throne, I'm not SURE they're worth it.

Also, I'm going for a specific look, because I already have black hardware. So I'd be getting all black hardware on these shells too. The works: Lugs, Rims. It'd match my hardware nicely. I'm even considering getting some Paiste 900 black cymbals to top it off.

So, questions:

What do you guys think? Square sizes worth it?
What brands do you recommend getting those sizes in? From all the major brands the only one I could find that offers those, is Sonor. But it's SO EXPENSIVE OMG... Oh, I should also mention I'm in the UK so I would prefer a local option.

[RushDrums24]

Hi, you're about 2 hours south of me (i'm near Geordie land, in Middlesbrough). Your best option for those specific sizes is a custom company like Forecast (who are midlands based) and will make any acrylic size you like https://www.forecastdrums.co.uk

[baterax]

Also, I guess posting pictures of my current setup the way I have it set, helps visualization. So here you go:

* Note that the snare with the setup is not the black 8" deep one. I also have that piccolo, the producer in that session requested the piccolo instead.

[baterax]

Hi, you're about 2 hours south of me (i'm near Geordie land, in Middlesbrough). Your best option for those specific sizes is a custom company like Forecast (who are midlands based) and will make any acrylic size you like https://www.forecastdrums.co.uk

Hey!

So I've found forecast's website last week, seems very legit!
I will check them out.
Thank you!

Anyone else have input on this or any of the other concerns?

[RushDrums24]

Also Liberty drums may be able to help https://www.libertydrums.com/product...nt=32525454026

[baterax]

Also Liberty drums may be able to help https://www.libertydrums.com/product...nt=32525454026

Thank you! Will check them out as well.

[baterax]

So, Liberty drums has a kit builder. I LOVE KIT BUILDERS.
But alas, in the builder you can't choose acrylic shells for some reason.

[Jerry Skiddz]

I had a kit with 10, 12, and 13" square toms over two 22" bass drums, and I had to have the toms at some pretty severe angles to play them comfortably (and I'm 6' tall). When I switched to shorter toms, it was like a whole new world of positioning options. I don't think square toms are worth it at all, personally. I guess you could always set up Mike Bordin style. Though that seems really awkward to me.

And if you plan on gigging, having two 24x24 bass drums is going to be a nightmare... Fitting them in your car; fitting on smaller stages; loading in and out of smaller venues (narrow hallways/doorways); loading your gear onto the stage while trying to squeeze past patrons that don't move out of the way when they see someone trying to get by... The list goes on.

As far as getting acrylic drums in those sizes, you're definitely going to have to go custom, which is not going to be cheap. Oh, and acrylic is pretty heavy compared to wood, so that's another factor to consider.

It sounds like you've already considered a lot of this. I just wanted to confirm that, yes, that kit will be a huge pain in the keister.

[baterax]

I had a kit with 10, 12, and 13" square toms over two 22" bass drums, and I had to have the toms at some pretty severe angles to play them comfortably (and I'm 6' tall). When I switched to shorter toms, it was like a whole new world of positioning options. I don't think square toms are worth it at all, personally. I guess you could always set up Mike Bordin style. Though that seems really awkward to me.

And if you plan on gigging, having two 24x24 bass drums is going to be a nightmare... Fitting them in your car; fitting on smaller stages; loading in and out of smaller venues (narrow hallways/doorways); loading your gear onto the stage while trying to squeeze past patrons that don't move out of the way when they see someone trying to get by... The list goes on.

As far as getting acrylic drums in those sizes, you're definitely going to have to go custom, which is not going to be cheap. Oh, and acrylic is pretty heavy compared to wood, so that's another factor to consider.

It sounds like you've already considered a lot of this. I just wanted to confirm that, yes, that kit will be a huge pain in the keister.

Dude thank you.
Let's wait for the two companies to reply, maybe the price tags will make the decision for me hehehe....
But yeah I'm leaning towards giving up on the huge *** drums. We will see.
I'll keep this posted! If anyone else has input, please bring it forth!

[Jerry Skiddz]

Dude thank you.
Let's wait for the two companies to reply, maybe the price tags will make the decision for me hehehe....
But yeah I'm leaning towards giving up on the huge *** drums. We will see.
I'll keep this posted! If anyone else has input, please bring it forth!

No worries.

Even if you go with the square toms, the bass drums could prove problematic in some venues. I used to use a 22x20 bass drum, and there were multiple load-ins that gave me some trouble. A couple of which, I had to take my bass drum out of the case to fit through. And if you're using acrylic (or wood with a lacquer finish), you run a pretty big risk of knocking your drum into things, potentially scratching or cracking your shell.

[baterax]

Updates!!!

Both the companies have replied.
I asked them both about a frosting finish because I want to install drumlite inside, and I thought it'd be cool if the drums didn't look like they're translucent when the lights are off. Then I could use the trigger option and SURPRISE!

Liberty drums was reachable on Facebook, which I appreciate.
They said they don't do frosted, but they do white shells which would work for my idea.
But, in white they only go up to 22" diameter.
In clear they can do 24".
They also said they take 12 weeks to build the drums, and that they can do black hardware (hoops, lugs).
They also told me the acrylic shells have a naturally deeper tone so the extra deep shells wouldn't be required. They suggested:
12x10, 14x12, 16x16, 18x16, 24x17, 24x17.
I find it weird that the bass drums would have odd depths, and if we're going shorter I might as well go down to 16". Probably makes it easier to find bags/cases too.

As for Forecast drums, they said the same thing about the sizes, apparently lots of people come to them with big size ideas but since they'e never played a kit in these sizes, they end up with a drumkit that doesn't sound as expected, AND those custom sizes are expensive so... Hmmm.
They do frosting, and black hardware as well.
I'll keep the talks going until I get final specs and a quote from both, and update this in the process. Should help anyone else looking for a similar kit eh?

:-)

[dale w miller]

I think you might regret those square size drums later.

[Josh Conover]

I think you might regret those square size drums later.

X2

[baterax]

So!

Liberty Drums gave me a price. £3,284 for:
12x10 Rack tom
14x12 Rack tom
16x16 Floor tom
18x16 Floor tom
24x16 Bass Drum
24x16 Bass Drum

All with black lugs, black diecast hoops and includes the heads (I didn't ask which heads). They did offer to not put any heads on them to bring the price down a bit.

What do you guys think? I think it's a pretty good price.
Let's see what Forecast can do.

[baterax]

Also, I just had a crazy idea...

I want to minimize setup time and make it as easy as possible to mike my drums, AND also guarantee I CAN mike them anywhere.
Would installing a MAY internal system be a good idea in acrylic drums?
I think it would look SICK, with the drumlite kit and the mikes inside.

Thoughts?