Paiste Masters Thin Cymbals These are, in short, really nice cymbals. I thought I’d just get that out of the way first. Paiste’s Masters Thin cymbals are, as the name suggests, thin models but in [largely] bigger sizes, and that thin aspect is very apparent when you play them; even in the hihats. These cymbals tell

Vic Firth Rute-X ‘The feel and response of a drumstick with the volume control and alternative sounds of a rod product.’ I think if I could just leave the review at that sentiment from the Vic Firth website, I would. It pretty much says what you need to know really. I hate to think how

One of the several new products from Gretsch for 2021 - which seems strange to say in October 2021 - was the Gergo Borlai signature snare drum. The drum has a 14x4.25” 1.2mm sand blasted brass shell with 45’ bearing edges, eight small double-sided lugs, 40-strand snare wires and 4mm die cast hoops. You also get a Lightning

I’m sat here with what seems to be a riot shield in my hand. In all seriousness, obviously I know what it’s for and the type of thing you’d play on it. But, as someone who doesn’t really play percussion beyond a tambourine, it seems huge compared to the X-Click that I recently looked at

I’ve reviewed a fair amount of drum dampening products over the years. But, now I come to think of it, I don’t think I ever had much call for this sort of thing until more recently and I’m wondering whether that’s because I was better at tuning before - unlikely - or that I just

There’s an obvious reason for the name of this little practice pad. The base of the Pucpad is made of hard rubber and is 76mm (wide) x 25mm (deep) in size. On top of that is a 65mm x 15mm playing surface made of soft foam.  As you can see, there’s a piece of string

Meinl Accessories So in this final instalment of gear from Meinl, we’ll be looking at some accessories. Bass Drum Microphone Clamp I’ve never tried a kick drum mic attachment like this. I’ve created something myself that was similar in principle - i.e. drum mounted instead of using a separate stand - but it didn’t last

Ok, so picking up from last time, this little selection mainly features models that were new for 2021, plus the Chris Coleman ‘C2’ ride that came out last year. 22” Byzance Traditional Extra Thin Hammered Crash I found this to almost be a cross between a china, a crash and a gong. Bit of a

I’ll admit that at this point, with so many drums and kits under my belt, there’s not a whole that makes me go ‘oooooh…’ inside, but when I picked up the 12” tom from this kit, I did just that. And the reason for that reaction was the thin nature of the shell and the