Trick Aluminium Drum Kit And Copper Snare
Most people have to be reasonably aware of, or at least familiar with, the Trick GS007 snare strainer; it’s been included on so many high end drums for years that you have to at least have seen one.
And then there’s Trick’s pedals; if you’re into playing faster music or metal, then you’ll be familiar with the company’s offerings in that regard. I reviewed a Dominator pedal recently and you can find that here – http://mikedolbear.com/reviews/trick-dominator-bass-drum-pedal.
I’ve played a few metal drum kits over the years and they’ve all been different. The DW steel kit was bright and full sounding, heavy in weight and heavy duty overall; really great drums with personality. The Tama SLP steel kit on the other hand was really light and warm sounding. This kit falls in the middle of these two.
The shells on this kit are made from aerospace-grade aluminium which makes them extremely durable and rugged. They’re not the heaviest drums, I have wood drums from the 1980s which are heavier, but maybe not a light as you might think given the material.
The kit Includes a 22×14” bass drum, 13×9” rack tom (which came with a colour-matching suspension mount, although I didn’t use it) and a 16×16 floor tom, all finished in a Maffloy, candy apple red finish. It’s a cool looking finish; the red is deep and changes with how light hits it. And, as well as the outside of the drum being this lovely red, the inside of the shell is also finished the same red.
The bass drum features telescoping spurs, tuning knobs and die cast claws and aluminium hoops. These are all really solid and I think contribute to the overall vibe of the kit.
On the toms are 2.3mm triple flanged hoops and double 45’ degree bearing edges. The floor tom has 10.5mm legs.
All of the drums have milled aluminium badges, solid milled aluminium lugs, chrome hardware and premium powder coated finish.
This is a great looking kit. The hardware is solid and the inclusion of the colour-matched suspension mount is a nice touch.
The 3.1mm shells offer great projection, with a warm, thick sound and they played very nicely. They sound like metal drums but to my ear they’re not overly metallic or ringy.
I found that they could handle a higher tensioning, although I’m not sure I would actually have metal shells pitched that high. At the lower end, they were fat and had a nice ‘70s’ vibe to them. I think in a more mid-range tensioning the drums worked really well and I would be happy using them for anything.
I have to make special mention of the bass drum which was great fun to play and had a very solid feel and punchy sound.
I should add that the drums originally shipped with Aquarian coated/clear heads on, but I changed these out to Remo CS Dots to begin with and then the Pinstripes you can see in the video. These were over Remo clear Ambassadors. The bass drum had a smooth white PS3 batter and the original Trick logo front head.
The CS Dot heads produced a nice controlled sound – unsurprisingly – but I felt the drums were just a little too muffled with them on. With the Pinstripes, I think the drums had a nice balanced tone with no too much ring or muffling.
My one issue with it was that it didn’t come with any type of bass drum hoop protection, which, with a high-end kit, seems like missing out on a basic detail. Other than that though, this is a wonderful kit.
More over at – https://trickdrums.com/product-category/custom-drums/
The snare with the kit is one of Trick’s copper drums.
This 14×6.5” drum has a unique finish to it which Trick uses a proprietary process to create. The shell is 3mm thick and has the same single point, aluminium lugs as the kit. It also has 2.3mm triple flanged hoops, the GS007 strainer and 20-strand Trick wires.
I have a number of 3 to 5mm thick metal shelled snare drums. They’re something I like because of the way they feel to play and the sound they produce. This drum is no different. It feels very solid under the stick. It’s loud and cuts through, as you’d probably expect it to do.
Although the finish may be a little polarising – you’re probably either going to like it or hate it – I do quite like it. It looks like it should be all rough but it’s actually been lacquered so it’s very smooth.
All in all, I’d say despite this being a heavy, thick shelled drum, you could probably use it for any type of musical situation as it has plenty of sensitivity and ghost notes come out well on it.
Find out more at – https://trickdrums.com/product/scorched-copper-6-5×14-snare-drum/
David Bateman
May 2023