Ultimate Vintage Drums Comparison

[@demonicsweaters]

Slingerlands always sound so freaking good. There's just something magical about those drums.

[@carlupthegrove262]

The big surprise for me was the SwingStar.... they really sounded quite good for a "cheap" Japanese kit.... Thanks for this great video

[@jarhead7206]

Carl Upthegrove Most important are drum heads and tuning techniques. Throw a cheap or worn out set of heads on a vintage set and it sounds like crap, just like a less expensive set with bad heads. Throw a set of new/name brand heads on either set and they sound better.

[@andsoandsoandso]

I thought they sounded best...they'd sit so easily in a mix.

[@giannibadeau3344]

Yeah, I noticed that too!!

[@nathanzaworski2780]

It’s crazy what you can get away with cheaper drums and good heads/tuning.

[@Paisteconvert]

@@nathanzaworski2780 But it's much harder to get "cheap" snare drums to sound like the traditional ones that we all know and love!

[@ocho611]

maybe the best sounding Vistalites i've ever heard. and those Swingstars sound straight-up amazing

[@mwdollar]

Agreed

[@jpcampos]

I have a 1966 Ludwig super classic in mahogany just like yours except in champagne sparkle. Love that kit so much! Just last week I got a Slingerland Radio King with mahogany shells from 1960 in Blue sparkle. Mine is a 22” kick not 24” like yours. I’m really enjoying that kit as well. This video helped me decide to go ahead and get it! Thank you so much!!!

[@bobdadruma]

The Ludwig Super Classics and the 60's Slingerlands are my favs. The Sonor kit also sounded awesome.

[@DrumsBonedo]

Thanks! :-)

[@MM-pd5zi]

The '48 Radio King sounds amazing!! My personal choice

[@MiguelKooreman76]

That swingstar bassdrum... It's just sooo nice!

[@billbrandt1106]

WOW! I really enjoyed this video. It is great to be able to hear the different vintage kits next to each other & the background info is interesting. Thank you VERY MUCH for making this video. Now I know that there are two more drum sets I must add to my collection - Sonor with beech wood & Ludwig vistalite.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Man, that is a sweet collection of drums! Great comparisons! Cheers

[@burnradio9681]

11:26 Radio King 1948 11:32 Sound Kind 1972 11:37 Ludwig Super Classic 1967 11:43 Ludwig Vistalite 1976 11:50 Swingstar late 60's 11:57 Sonor Champion 70's

[@rypetkypar]

Anyone else a little surprised how well the vistalite recorded? Especially the kick sounded nice and thumpy to me, that being said all the kits here are AWESOME. great video guys 👍🏼

[@DrumsBonedo]

thanks!

[@bartni]

not only you have wonderful drum kits here, but they are also mic'ed and mixed really well!

[@FishingforFisher]

Great content, I absolutely love vintage drums, this professional presentation really let them shine.

[@z512345]

I have been a drummer for about 50 years, I have a set of 1970 vintage Rogers. To me all the kits sound very similar, but great video.

[@diverdave4056]

playing 55 years and YES I agree .. if you know how to tune drums and pick the right heads - you can make a cheap set sound good

[@ronaldzeoli7528]

Gretsch has a long history. You should include them

[@DrumsBonedo]

We are planning to do a second part.

[@ivanbajovic3476]

@@DrumsBonedo That is fantastic! I can't wait!

[@Paisteconvert]

Maybe "Drums Bonedo" wants to restrict his comparison to companies that actually made their own drum shells?

[@westleedrums]

Big time

[@tobiaswinter1358]

Cooles Video, sehr aufschlußreich! Aber die Sitzposition ist mit das seltsamste was ich im Schlagzeugbereich je gesehen habe :D

[@danielschwarz5335]

The Slingerland kit sounds really very nice. I like !

[@Stephendohringphotographer]

awesome job, loved the RK's - hand crafted with quality, other than the vistalite you really got "your" sound out of all them.

[@markusaxt]

incredible collection of kits! impressed af. all of them sound amazing. especially the radio king was killin me. thanks for this well produced video.

[@DrumsBonedo]

Markus Axt Dankeschön

[@Darrylizer1]

I had as my gigging kit for the entirety of the 80s and into the early 90s my dad's Slingerland Radio Kings that he bought used in 1952. They're a little beat up and I don't play out with them anymore but they still sound great.

[@mariotelaro]

Fantastic video. Great recording, tuning, and playing. All these kits sound sublime

[@Streichholztasche]

Thank you so much for this impressive presentation! Very well done, great explanations, fat sound! Love it. :-)

[@mwdollar]

Love the 67 Ludwigs. I have the same they are awesome in the studio. Also, that 13" vistalite tom is a goodie.

[@DannyO-j4q]

The 1972 Slingerland Sound King was my favorite with the 1967 Ludwig Super Classic as a very close second. However, I love that Sonor bass drum.

[@philipnestor5034]

Excellent video. It would be nice to see you demonstrate 1960’s drum sets from Gretsch,Ludwig Rogers and Slingerland with 18,12,1,4 jazz sizes. Also could you’d do a video of all the companies besides Sonor that built marching drums for the Wehrmacht,Luftwaffe,HJ, and SS marching bands? I have seen these drums with their painted rims and it seems sometimes the different colors of the triangles on the wood or metal rims was for a different branch of the German military. Thanks again.

[@corneliusknudsen670]

cool studio. and the late 60s swingstar sounds awsome!

[@ChristopherSmithNYC]

Swingstar was my favorite! Wow.

[@AlexanderOspanov]

Thanx a lot! Really amazing job! Actually all of them sounds fantastic in your gold hands! :)

[@BartSoundsGood]

wow, what a great video, wonderful kits and great recording setup

[@TheQuestion31]

The Super Classic and Sound King for me. The Swingstar also sounded surprisingly good!

[@rogerwelsh2335]

That vistalite bass drum is killer

[@darrylfulgham8]

All these are awesome sounding drums, each with it's unique sound. Love the tone of the radio kings.

[@DrumsBonedo]

thanks!

[@the_katman2181]

Amazing drums, and very well recorded. I think I'll take the Sonor, thanks :)

[@rhythmista7707]

I love Ludwig, and I'm actually a Sonor guy, but that Slingerland Radio King....😲 is just insane..However, if I was to leave with a kit from this comparison, it would be the Sonor .. Great video comparison, and everything was extremely well done. Cheers 👍

[@andygingerichdrums]

This video is fantastic! I kinda wish the bass drums where opened up just a bit but wow everything sounded great.

[@donsak111]

wow this is epic!!!keep 'em coming

[@that-avr-drummer]

I actually liked them all

[@dspinka]

Excellent video! Interesting historical facts I did not know about. I liked the Ludwig Vistalite set the best.

[@danhoyland142]

From my experience people don’t give slingerlands enough credit, especially their 70s stuff. Their hoops make them harder to tune but once you get how to seat them flat they sound great. Also, hands down best bass drums.

[@Paisteconvert]

Just don't use Slingeland's Set-o-Matic tom holder (see above-noted comment).

[@itchyvinyl]

Great demo! Wish you had a Rogers in there.

[@DrumsBonedo]

It's on our bucket list for the next one...

[@finnchristensen527]

Wow, incredibaly nice video, thanks - must have been a work 👌 All the kits sound great, which leads me to believe that factors like heads, tuning, recording technique etc. have a maybe bigger impact on the sound than the shells´ wood, lugs or coating. Would have been nice with a description of the bearing edge shapes of the different kits, not easy to determine from the pics. Apart from the kits sounding surprisingly equal (good), the Vistalites differ a bit, I think + the Sonor; FT especially as well as the Bassdrum, - had the Sonor-kit just had a 13" Tom..:)

[@CelsoEduardo]

My choice, 1967 Ludwig Super Classic 22“ x 14“, 13“ x 9“, 16“ x 16“ in Blue Oyster Pearl

[@madebymarco]

Me too! You can tell the big difference.

[@FishingforFisher]

I loved the Radioking, Super Classic, and Swingstar best

[@kristiannygaard6034]

The sonor set sounds amazing

[@GIGMUSIC-o6z]

Great comparison. Nicely done

[@ccadp1219]

Incredible video....thanks. Please do more like this👍🏻

[@thomasmoje5926]

All the drums sound great..very little difference to my ear given the equal tuning of them and same head selection. The Ludwig Vistalite drums do have a noticeable difference from the wood-shell drums but still a pleasant sound. Speaking of 1960's-1970's Japanese 'import' drums: I had a five-piece 'Whitehall' brand drum set which was my first 'real' drum set which I purchased back in 1971: turns out they were actually a private-brand set made by Pearl. They were excellent drums (aside from some of the hardware which was minimal quality); they were in a sort of 'white onyx' wrap finish with black striations (sort of a reverse of black onyx); quite a unique and nice looking finish. Wish I still had them as the later 'Whitehall' brand drums weren't nearly as well made as the earlier ones. Be that as it may, I have a weakness for all 'vintage' drums and this was a fun video to watch. Only thing is: too bad no Rogers drums in this video. Surely no vintage drum collection is complete without USA-made Rogers drums from the late 1950's through 1970's period.

[@Scrimjer]

I like that you are using a stand for the tom

[@grahamserle7930]

Honestly, a one off listen with all the drums miced up is a bit like splitting hairs and comes down to a personal preference. They all sounded okay and you can make any drum sound reasonable given the time to do so. The rest comes down to the quality of the build.

[@lacucharecords]

Swingstar and sonor bass drums sound amazing!

[@pawelmorrison]

Fantastic video!! Thank you very much for the effort

[@mellilore]

4:55 No man! It's the same thing in the end but it's the other way: Slingerland Radio King shells were similar to Ludwig ones, Ludwig&Ludwig starting the manufacturing of mahogany-poplar-mahogany with maple re-rings shells around 1924. Back then Slingerland was exclusively into banjos and ukuleles.

[@hippydippy]

Surprisingly, I thought the Sonor's sounded the worst. The Radio Kings were the sweetest to me. Very nice overtones on the toms.

[@brianczach]

Great comparison video!

[@maximilianwohrer8396]

I have the same STAR (Swingstar) Aisia Pearl Drum Kit with the setup 20"x14, 16"x16, 14"x14, 12"x8; And Remo Heads. It is superb :)

[@hellorockerta]

Goes to show if you know how to tune a drum for it's own tone, any drum can sound great. Excellent recording as well.

[@larrymysliwiec6301]

Pretty much sound similar. Especially the Floor toms. All sound good!

[@james35856]

Sonor always the best . Just has a different sound that I love .

[@roybeckerman9253]

No wonder Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, loved the Slingerland Radio Kings.. I have the Slingerland Sound Kings and mahogany Ludwig Super Classic ...both great kits.

[@Monsterdrumma]

Strange that my favorite kit is the swingstars then again I prefer the sound and liveliness of smaller sizes which they were so that might have helped. After those the Ludwig super classics for me.

[@samuelsummers5342]

the start of this video made me scroll up profusely

[@pumpdumpster]

Thank yoiu for that very interesting video. It would also be interesting to compare new with vintage drums.

[@Ben_Jammin_]

that's why I love modern drums....

[@michaeldonaldllewellyn6294]

And they love you

[@raulpozadamunoz396]

That Swingstar 😍

[@motorrebell]

Premier Drums and Trixon are very interesting too !

[@markusthedrummer8143]

Every single one of these drum kits sounds 100 times better than the new mass produced garbage today. That goes for the drums and the music these days. That Sonor kit (as always) sounds better and warmer than everything else.

[@shawnbruce6934]

I'm with You on the first 2 statements..

[@carloscrosara6931]

amazing drums

[@juliussolovideo]

maybe some rogers holiday would be a great add to this comparison

[@gregchapman3519]

incredible recording!!

[@bittchwilson5628]

The 12" Swingstar tom sounds the best.

[@AndyPutt1]

I don't think the quality of the Japanese kits was sometimes bad. All the vintage MIJ kits I've seen have been no worse than American made stuff. In fact I have seen many ludwig shells with seperations. Can't say the same for MIJ.

[@fetengineer9151]

And if you had tested any snare drum or set of CAMCO OAKLAWN DRUMS in any size... hands down... they would have been overall the best looking, the best made and the best sounding and the highest price.

[@seppoinnanen5577]

All the kits sounded decent to impressive. Oversized vintage drums might still have limitations compared to modern drums. Thanks for the comparison

[@shawnbruce6934]

I think the old drums are better. More Character just like antique cars. Better Looking and Cooler than the mass produced things and no 2 kits of same model and size sounded identical. They All had personality.

[@justinlee2268]

I wish I still had my first drum set from 35 years ago...with my current knowledge,that is. It was a Majestic. It was gorgeous but I had little knowledge of drums. I was 11. It was from a pawn shop and came with a broken Ludwig Speed King pedal.. I went through so many clothes hangers on that pedal,being 11 and not knowing how to fix it. I was dismissive of those Majestics,considering how horrible CB 700’s were as a replacement. 20/20 hindsight.

[@juliussolovideo]

i really dig those swing star!!!

[@sebuteo]

What a great video. And what a lot of cool gear. I'm not jealous at all... Thanks for all the info, and thanks for sharing. BTW, what's the little metal doodad on the snare rim?

[@DrumsBonedo]

Hi, thanks for your kind comment. :-) The little metal dampener is called snareweight.

[@thomaskleinhans2384]

Please do it again with different tunes: low, medium, high. Thanks!

[@scbgardien3931]

Man amazing video! The swing star surprised me a lot but nothing equal the tone of the superclassic (my number one favorite) Can’t wait for a second volume with Gretsch/Rogers/Camco/ Premier or Olympic/Berverly/Ajax 😉 How do you tune your drums, I would to know how you can reach all this low end with a little kit like the swing star and how about the others kits?

[@rogerwelsh2335]

The ludwigs here sound amazing

[@nothinglastsforever77]

Man you need a Premier 70's with Mahogany shells in your collection.

[@alanduncan1980]

Wow! Very cool video! 👍

[@kushking420]

The 1967 ludwig, and sonor were my favorite

[@fab5720]

Pretty interesting. Sonor has that typical short note on toms that is still their signature sound, while the Tama-predecessor is just the opposite, a wide open singing, almost barking tom sound, that you can still hear today with Tama drums. And those Slingerland Sound King and Ludwig Superclassic toms are sonically not that distinct. Surprise surprise...

[@roybeckerman7843]

SLINGERLAND RADIO KINGS and SOUND KINGS, were favourites of both GENE KRUPA and BUDDY RICH. Still sound the best here..

[@davidhill5976]

Great job, very informative!

[@giannibadeau3344]

Great video, thank you!

[@dancalabrese3523]

How could Rogers, Gretsch and Camco be left out?

[@fatbugz2919]

Ludwig Tom's with Sound King bass.... but, the true winner is that ride!!

[@r.a.8590]

Did standard Remo heads fit easily on the 1972 Slingerland kit? I'm looking to get a late 1960s Slingerland Modern Jazz kit but not sure if I will need classic fit heads to accommodate the potentially larger shells? Sometimes it sucks to tune them when the head won't seat easily on the edge.

[@cliverodell3056]

No Hayman? They'd knock the socks off some of these!

[@MrKevinhaze]

That power stroke bass head kills the bass drum although the modern approach to bass drum sounds is to get a dead "thud " Where as in the past the bass drum was treated more like the rest of the kit and therefore more resonance

[@aristotle5698]

Slingerlands sounding best!

[@johncollins5552]

Yeah, dream video, well done. Love all those kits, have played a couple of them, the Sonor I played once was a Phonic in standard rock sizes with natural finish, great fun. What makes it different from this kit?

[@adamzaslavsky4283]

fantastic , really helpful.

[@michaelhurwitz56]

Great video, sounds fantastic. I'd love to chat with you about mics, setup, daw settings, etc

[@deniskarlash]

Sonor ♥️

[@jamesmccarthy6370]

Great video one complaint . Tuned drums too low?

[@SaS-Music]

Superb video. Nicely presented. I want them all, but that would be greedy, and it would lead to divorce! 🙄

[@DrumsBonedo]

haha!

[@shawnbruce6934]

So Which one of the Kits Would You Like?? Yes...

[@SydneyDrums]

How do you do a vintage kit comparison without a Rogers? There's always someone nearby with a Rogers