Acrylic drums!!!!!

lukey · #1 (**permalink**) 11-20-2008, 11:40 PM

Hey everybody. anyone have any experience or opinions about acrylic drum sets? my first set was an acrylic one my uncle gave me from like 1967 or something and i loved it and used for about 5 years. totally different sound from wood sets though. its kinda hard to tune em good, in my experience. but they're definately pretty cool sets.

slingerland59 · #2 (**permalink**) 11-21-2008, 01:54 AM

I've always wanted to try an acrylic set. Cobham used to use one and man was it punchy. I might be confused though; is acrylic the same as vistalite?

Thumpthdrum · #3 (**permalink**) 11-21-2008, 10:59 PM

I had a Ludwig vistalite kit that I bought in the 70s and played them till 99. They definitely have a different sound than wood. Mine were loud with lots of tone, in fact they too much tone. I used evans clear hydraulics on the top and bottoms of the toms. This toned them down well without "killing" the sound. They sound well, but different. If you are thinking of buying a kit, try to find a kit to try out first.....may or may not be your sound.

haldrums · #4 (**permalink**) 08-09-2009, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lukey

Hey everybody. anyone have any experience or opinions about acrylic drum sets? my first set was an acrylic one my uncle gave me from like 1967 or something and i loved it and used for about 5 years. totally different sound from wood sets though. its kinda hard to tune em good, in my experience. but they're definately pretty cool sets.

Yeah i like the sound from acrylic drums - more intense and quite different than wood. I read a cool ludwig vistalite review that sums it up well.

Infero Exicution · #5 (**permalink**) 08-10-2009, 12:00 PM

Acrylic drum sets are amazing!

I agree with the tuning pains though.
The Ludwig Vistalite sets are gorgeous!
All pretty expencive though.

AcryBIGBEAT · #6 (**permalink**) 08-12-2009, 05:05 AM

I agree with the hydrolic heads on the top, I don't know about having them for resonants, I tried double ply, coated and non, and found single sounded best on the bottom, but I didnt try a hydrolic on the bottoms.
Acrylics have a HUGE sound. I have had a hard time getting used to the difference. You dont really notice it untill you play with other people or you just find yourself slamming on them because they sound awesome played loud, Esp with larger drums.
With single heads, acrylics sound more open and bright than any other drum I have tried.
I think theyre tuning range is lower, as has been alluded to, but once you mess around with it you can find the sweet spot. When tuned high they sing and the volume seems to go up, along with the notes clairity. However I prefer them tuned lower, which with a hydraulic head, really brings out the depth and punchy tone. H heads completely kill the overtones but leave the initial note. Coated emperors were my seconds, then Evans X, then g1s, then Aquarian studio x, which I found to be a dissapointment. the tuning range was very limited, and it didnt have a stand out characteristic. The reverse dot heads sounded alot like the hydrolic but with a little more sustain. The H heads just stood out in my preference for what I was after.
I put a emad2 on my 24 in kick. It sounds thunderous and deep, with a slight sustain ring. Does anybody recommend any kick skins?
OR classic heads for acrylics? What the trend was in the 70s or any era.
IF you tune the resonant head high, you dont even need a pillow, it kills the resonance.
I detuned the front head and found a deeper, richer note boom.

SilverFoxDrummer · #7 (**permalink**) 06-09-2010, 12:22 PM

I love acrylic kits, Vistalites are beautiful, and sound heavenly. Another good "acrylic" company is RCI they make all acrylic kits and they sound awesome too. Sadly, they are all really F***ing expensive.

Bo Eder · #8 (**permalink**) 06-14-2010, 03:27 PM

Hi everybody,

I currently play a 1978 Ludwig solid black Vistalite (Charlie Watts configuration), and it sounds great. I, however, haven't suffered from the "too much tone" issue. I've used clear Remo Ambassadors, Evans G2's, Emperors on 'em, and there wasn't a big difference in their tone. I know, it sounds crazy. Maybe I got lucky with this set, but it almost doesn't matter what kind of heads are on 'em. I even did the Bonham thing and installed clear Ambassadors front and back on the bass drum with no muffling when I did an outside gig, and got a very Keith Carlock tone out of it - everybody loved it.

I'm debating on selling them right now to upgrade....

jagojp · #9 (**permalink**) 12-11-2010, 08:39 PM

I live in Australia and i got a custom acrylic kit made by these guys: Pansini Percussion

I really love it, bass drum is nice and punchy!

drumsagogo · #10 (**permalink**) 10-16-2011, 07:57 AM

I know this post is a bit old but still relevant. I bought some clear RCI Acrylic Heaven drums thru Precision Drum Co, who did the drilling and bearing edges also. The toms are fitted with a suspension/free floating system I had made from a company in Melbourne Aust. I usually only use single ply heads but found the sound of the toms to be too big, so at first used clear Emperors which sound good but then settled on black dots. I love the sound, very focussed tone and plenty of volume. I use an EMAD on the BD. They're all standards sizes 20(diam) x 14, 16 x 16 & 13 x 9. I was influenced more by Alan Dawson's use of them in Dave Brubeck but I find the sound of my drums are a bit too big for jazz. I play them with a Ludwig Supraphonic 14 x 5.5 or a heavier 14 x 6.5 aluminium snare, when I get the chance!