I was planning on upgrading my tama imperialstar drum set almost entirely because of the poplar shells (I was looking for all maple or birch shells) but then I realized...I don't really even know the difference between woods. What are some major differences, and are poplar shells considered "cheap"

poplar shells are entry level.

maple is more responsive and louder. usually prefered live.

birch is warm and has good highs and lows. usually prefered for studio.

that being said, you can use either kit live or in the studio and they will sound fine. more than likely you can have the the exact same kit setup side by side, one birch and one maple, tuned the same with the same heads, you would probably tell no difference what so ever.

it has to do with the tone really, i prefer maple. do your studie's, look in to them both, and play out a few kits and find what you really like. don't make a hasty decision, and just have to upgrade right now.

i would learn to tune better before upgrading, you can still get that kit sounding good. and if you can't, you won't be able to get a solid maple or birch kit to sound good either, because they are a little trickier to tune.

i suggest new heads and spend a lot of time tuning. its the player that makes the sound, not the kit. a pro could make an entry level kit sound good, and a noob could make a top of the line sound like crap.








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PDP, Tama, and Pearl Drums
DW, Pearl, and Gibraltar Hardware
Sabian, Zildjian, and Saluda Cymbals

www.myspace.com/EOTEband

I've owned a few Birch kit's over the years and I must say I never really got on with it. There is definatley a difference in the overall sound, although it's not always evident on a tap test as Eote pointed out, rather it's something you feel over time. My favorite right now are my old vintage "god knows what wood they're made of" Drums. I think a couple of the kit's are Maple............ I dunno actually I just love em. I have a DW VLT aswell which is Maple that's sweet.
To be honest I would ignore it all and dive in with your ears open. If you buy a kit and it don't work out, then flog it and move on. It's all part of the hobby.








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You can own the greatest drum ever made, but it won't change how well you can play it!

Audio Boy wrote:

I was planning on upgrading my tama imperialstar drum set almost entirely because of the poplar shells (I was looking for all maple or birch shells) but then I realized...I don't really even know the difference between woods. What are some major differences, and are poplar shells considered "cheap"

See, this is the problem when manufacturers start telling drummers what they need.

When I started out, a drum was a drum was a drum. Nobody talked about what the drums were made of. Ludwig used a variety of woods from era to era, and never discussed the difference, Gretsch had "that great Gretsch Sound", but they didn't actually advertise that they were maple.

Go throug old catalogues, you'll see no mention of what wood was used in construction. If a drum was Brass it was mentioned, that's about it.

Then came the 70's...

Fiberglass became all the rage, and Plexiglass came onto the scene. The first time I recall somebody making a big deal out of the wood that was used was when Pearl introduce Birch drums, and they had two lines of pro drums above the Exports... The Maple and the Birch.

These days, We have Birch and Maple, and Bubinga and Oak, and yes, Poplar as well as Luan.

So let's think about this... Those Drums that Bonham played... were they MAPLE? Well, in that era, they well could have been Poplar, or Luan, or whatever Ludwig had on hand! They might have been Poplar/Luan/Maple for all we know.

I'm saying that Poplar isn't a bad wood for drums. It sounds good actually. In this day and age of drums with Pedigrees where we know how many plies, and what wood those plys are made of, we can make selective choices, but don't make those choices just because the marketing department from some big company tells you what you should buy... Buy the drums that sound good... TO YOU!

As an artist and musican, you're creating YOUR sound, and what the drums are made of can certainly effect that sound, but do you LIKE the sound of poplar drums? Do your imperial star drums sound good? If they do, WHY CHANGE AT ALL?

Don't jump into the rat race unless you have to!








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Outstanding advice, Zen.








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Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

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Hey Zen I saw a stick juggler on you tube being featured on an american chat show(cant remember the show, or the link). Anyway his act was to juggle the sticks and play the kit at the same time. He was using a Trick kit and.......................IT SOUNDED GREAT!!!!








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You can own the greatest drum ever made, but it won't change how well you can play it!

That stick juggler was the one and only Chip Ritter, not only is he a pretty darn good juggler, the man can SERIOUSLY play the drums!








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Yeah thats the guy. I need to go see a circus trainer and gets some of that into my solo playing!!!!








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You can own the greatest drum ever made, but it won't change how well you can play it!

Steaky wrote:

Yeah thats the guy. I need to go see a circus trainer and gets some of that into my solo playing!!!!

Good luck with that!








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EOTE_drummer wrote:

poplar shells are entry level.

maple is more responsive and louder. usually prefered live.

birch is warm and has good highs and lows. usually prefered for studio.

that being said, you can use either kit live or in the studio and they will sound fine. more than likely you can have the the exact same kit setup side by side, one birch and one maple, tuned the same with the same heads, you would probably tell no difference what so ever.

it has to do with the tone really, i prefer maple. do your studie's, look in to them both, and play out a few kits and find what you really like. don't make a hasty decision, and just have to upgrade right now.

i would learn to tune better before upgrading, you can still get that kit sounding good. and if you can't, you won't be able to get a solid maple or birch kit to sound good either, because they are a little trickier to tune.

i suggest new heads and spend a lot of time tuning. its the player that makes the sound, not the kit. a pro could make an entry level kit sound good, and a noob could make a top of the line sound like crap.

Completely Poplar shells, yeah that sounds entry level However most of your favorite 50's and 60's Chicago drums: i.e. Gretsch, Ludwig, Slingerland, were all Mahogany Poplar Mahogany for a very long time... And they sound fantastic. Sure Maple is great but Poplar is not entry level. I wouldn't say much of any wood is entry level unless it's pine!