MusicRadar Verdict
Although this is really just one example of what can be achieved via the SQ2 configuration system, it's a lovely instrument in its own right. Capable of holding its own as a main snare with a little stroke accuracy, it stacks up well as an auxiliary snare, although the price puts it towards the higher end of the second snare market. That said, with a little judicious option-trimming on the SQ2 system, you too could configure your dream drum.
Pros
- +
Immaculate fit and finish. Projects well in a band setting.
Cons
- -
Quite expensive if it were to become your second snare.
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Imagine, if you will, the drum shop of the future, where your every whim, however outlandish, can be catered for. Want gold-plated hardware? No problem. Shells that increase in thickness with diameter? Easy. How about exotic wood finishes, inside and out? You got it. However, it's no futuristic pipe dream - by the power of the interweb, Sonor promise to make your dreams a reality.
Can they do it? Let's find out…
Build
Sonor have taken the notion of customer choice to the Nth degree through their SQ2 system - essentially you can choose every aspect of your drum (aside from shape - no Staccato shells here!) and put together your dream kit via their online configurator. This drum has been put together for Bonners of Eastbourne to sell, so treads a tasteful middle ground between convention and custom.
If you want to see the specifics of the options selected, plug in the code '4024724' into the SQ2 website.
Featuring a birch 4-ply 'Vintage' 12"x7" shell with re-rings, finished with a semi-gloss birdseye maple external veneer ply and chrome hardware, it displays elegant restraint, rather than a 'child in a sweetshop' raid of the options.
Hands on
The semi-gloss finish allows the figured maple veneer to glow through, almost creating a 3D moire effect. The bright chrome hardware sits on typically teutonically-engineered gaskets to increase shell resonance, and the medium weight single-ply coated batter and clear resonant head work with the 16-strand snares to give a distinctive voice.
At a medium tuning the drum would work well as a main snare, the thin shell projecting well in a band setting. When tensioned up, the independently adjustable snare strainers help to prevent choking. Backed off, they work with the birch shell to give a pleasantly woody fundamental note with easily-controlled overtones.
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