Everything you need to know about the SONOR Designer drum series!

[@TC-lk2ev]

This is the kind of nerdy sonor shit I'm absolutely here for. Great video.

[@drumtuningworkshops5751]

Lug screws: Very important, as you describe, they go BACK IN THE LUG POSITION THEY CAME FROM! They are 'self-tapping' TORX screws - the fit is UNIQUE / ONE TIME! Number / mark each the screws and lugs. Lay out only a few lugs and screws at a time so you know which screw goes in which hole - no need to take them all off at once - clean, if you have to, AS YOU GO! My advice? Don't change anything unless something is actually broken so don't take the screws out. Clean the lugs ON the drum. It will never be the same again if you remove them and no longer be "factory correct". ❤🎉😎✅

[@DavidChapman-xo3ue]

Absolutely FANTASTIC! I've been playing for 60 years this year. It has always been a dream to own and play a Sonor kit. dreams,,,

[@dave_sanderson]

I wasn’t really ready for the poignant reminiscing at the end of the video, but I choked back tears all the same. My own connection to, and fascination with Sonor comes from my father too. These drums aren’t just instruments, they’re family and the love for them runs very, very deep. I admire and honour what you’re doing here keeping these magnificent drums alive. ❤

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot! Yeah the end is quite different from the rest of the video, but I had to include it 😊

[@dave_sanderson]

@@stdrumsgmbh and I’m very glad you did. Makes one hopeless Sonor romantic down in NZ feel like he’s not alone. I salute you, and your father 🫡

[@christopherjobe2260]

Phewwww. Got me at the end too. 🥹❤

[@idigbebop]

A beautiful sentiment to your Dad. These drums are so beautiful too. I always thought the hardware was more marketing hype than function and that the true genius of the veneer finishing choices was under appreciated. I first saw a kit at Sam Ash in the early 90’s. I was mesmerized at the details and quality. But the price and weight were eye watering. And then the market changed, thin and light were in, big hair was gone. Thanks for the well researched post.

[@christopherjobe2260]

I was thinking that this was immediately a new favorite Sonor related video long before getting to the end. The tribute to your father and the Sonor introduction hit home so hard. My Dad introduced me to Sonor in the late 90’s and it would have been his birthday two days ago on the 25th. Thanks so much for this piece as well as your commitment to producing parts that Sonor no longer offers so that maybe one day these heirloom caliber drums can be cherished and enjoyed by our children.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thank you so much for your kind words!! ❤

[@goekmendurak]

Unglaublich tolles Video mit einem unerwarteten und traurigen Ende. Habe es nicht mitbekommen. Seit ich Schlagzeug spiele ist Sonor etwas Besonderes für mich und Gerd Stegner als großer Teil der Sonor Community. RIP

[@carlosbernalism]

Love your presentation, especially honoring your dad.

[@tmaddrummer]

I believe that the Sonor Designer 8 piece kit that I once had was probably the best sounding Drums that I have ever played or owned. I do like all Drums, but for me, Sonor is what I prefer. By the way, "UNKAPUTTBAR" can be found, and in English it is "INDESTRUCTIBLE" Indeed it is! I am sorry for your loss of your Dad, Gerd Stegner.... much too young to be called away. You are a good Son! Thanks and Blessings!

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thank you so much for the nice comment!

[@Decksmaster67]

Top your video !!! Thanks a lot ❤❤❤❤ I love SONOR for many years now (more than 35 years) and I have 2 SQ2 kits and a lot of SONOR snare and it’s a pleaser to see vids on it !!! ❤

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot for the nice comment!

[@OlmezDrums]

Many cool things shown in this video but I'm blown away with the tom leg mounts 🤯 Thanks for your contribution to this community 🙏🏼

[@maurofuentes5141]

The Sonor kits from the 80s and 90s are most beautiful, durable and with an exquisite sound. I always liked those power toms and those big bass drums. Thanks for the video, greetings from Chile.

[@shanekinney1205]

Absolutely incredible video! Thank you for doing this. Very touching tribute as well.

[@einjarjar]

Absolutely love the geeking. Keep it up! Actually it would be nice to have this kind of video of all the Soner sets. Even the Force-series.

[@tomashorenin1294]

Or Ascent series for that matter, my personal favourite

[@ruifaustino]

How sweet. I love Sonor, have tons of it, and I have loved the video. Fathers are special.

[@raymondkarlsson9794]

What a wealth of info here! I stick to Sonor HiLite and Designer. Two kits from 1990 and 1998 respectively. Great sound and top quality.

[@Sundaydrumday]

I loved this whole video but the end part about your dad was really special, best part of the video to me! I would love to have a Sonor kit one day!

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot for the nice feedback!

[@nickj2508]

love it. @24:31. Actually, it was several independent drums stores that were considered "five star" dealers. For example, I believe Bentley's Drum Shop in Fresno, California was a Five Star Dealer.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Wow thank a lot for the comment! I wasn't aware of that!

[@Ebut191]

EXCELLENT! THANK YOU. PLAYING SONOR DRUMS ... BETTER THAN BREATHING!

[@analogkid4557]

I am a Yamaha guy but always wanted a Sonor. Great sounding drums.

[@DirkLeibenguth]

Ein tolles Video mit einem sehr rührenden Ende. Danke für dafür und deine Worte über deinen Vater sind wundervoll. Einfach nur Bravo 👏

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Vielen Dank!

[@SaS-Music]

What a beautiful video and tribute to your Dad. 🙏🏻

[@drumlabtaipei]

Thank you for making this video. well explained!

[@bassplate]

Great detailed video! Designer drums have such a precise, powerful, and modern sound.

[@MPCmanNL]

Thanks for putting all the effort into this video. I really enjoyed it. I'm currently not able to play drums but still dream of a high end Sonor double bass kit, maybe in blue sparkle. I think I still have a bunch of 90s Sonor brochures in a box at my mom's. Look forward to future uploads, keep up the good work! 😀

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thank you for this nice comment 😊 I am also looking forward - we are planning on a phonic video next

[@MPCmanNL]

@@stdrumsgmbh perfect!

[@drumstudio1]

Ein ganz toll und sympathisch gemachtes Video. Dein Vater wird total stolz sein auf Dich und das Drumwissen-Erbe das Du so wundervoll weiterträgst.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Vielen Dank für den netten Kommentar! ☺

[@wimsreppoc3134]

Great video! I'm lucky enough to own both a designer and SQ2 kit and they are both such great sets and they never ever let me down. Best drums around!

[@tillmartensmeier880]

Great video! The Designer was my dream kit when I was a kid in the 90s. A visit to the Sonor factory with my drum teacher at the time was the foundation of this special relationship with Sonor. I ended up buying a Pearl Masters Custom MMX in 1998, which I still play today (I later became a professional designer instead of a drummer, so maybe the name of the series had an influence on that)

[@SONORSQ2guy]

I love the rocket launcher design. I use it on my SQ2 kit. 👍

[@joachimserra1066]

Ihr seit großartig! Thanks for this Video!

[@981284434]

Great vid! I too love my Designers.. first generation glue badge..long lug, maple light in birdseye natural. Been using this kit much more since finding a 12x10 rack..seeing as they are square sized, now can just put the 12x12 to the left. Wicked drums!

[@drumvlado]

Great video, Lovely drums, but I have couple of comments: 1. One of the most important and unique characteristic of the Designer was the "wave cut" for the joint of the plies in the shells. Early Designer at least had that; 2. The 4,25" snares have their lugs tilted because of the rubber inserts in the holes, that would allow the torque created by the two ofsetted bolts to rotate them counterclockwise.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot for the additional information!

[@tripacer2005]

I have the Sonor Player kit, great made and sounding drums for their size,

[@SmilefortheJudge]

I remember being turned off by sonor because I would need to get a bunch of new tuning keys. But I appreciate them so much.

[@daveh7050]

Beautiful video and wonderful sentiments at the end that I relate with so much. Thank you for what you do to keep these amazing instruments--and the memories attached to them--alive!

[@af7119]

Hell yes. High quality video on a very interesting topic.

[@WolframSchidlo]

Klasse Video, Gratulation!

[@DaveGoodman]

Thank you for this wonderful video on these wonderful drums! I owned a set of Designer drums in the second Bubinga finish from 1999 to 2011. By the time I’d finished with it, the set comprised 19 drums including three snare drums Sonor made especially for me with the “staggered” single lugs now found on SQ2 drums. These snares were 10x5, 14x5, & 14x6.5 with Hella hoops. Lovely drums!!! One tiny detail I noticed on my floor tom legs was that the slotted screws for the memory locks on each of the three legs per drum were each a slightly different length making it easier to remember which leg went into which bracket. A nice little touch that I’ve not seen anywhere else and that I’ve not mentioned anywhere other than this comment.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Thanks a lot for the nice comment! Wow! That sounds like an awesome kit! Also thanks for the info about the memory lock: Now that you mentioned it, the 3 piece set in the video that we had here also had different screws on the memory locks, but I thought that some of the screws were maybe exchanged because the got lost, and a previous owner just used whatever length he had there. But now it makes a lot of sense! Thank you for adding that detail 😁

[@LDdrums20]

Great video! Your dad would be very proud!

[@scmcarthur]

I used to own a Sonor snare with the black chrome hardware, it was a Long & Mcquade limited edition snare I believe from 2011.. Love the video, Keep it up!

[@SmilefortheJudge]

That bass drum brackets whatever it is. That giant rail thing. Ugh. So much nostalgia. I know I’m not the only one totally feeling on this. Hope you do Ludwig’s

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot for your nice comments! We are actually working on a video about ludwig snares!😁

[@sergeymarchenko6252]

Thank you! This is awesome. Please more videos like this of Sonor Drums. One on Phonics would be awesome!

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Thanks for the nice comment! I am actually doing research and script-preparation for a Phonic video rightnow 😁 but before that a couple of other videos are already in the making

[@RDRMM]

Thank you for this great video ! The in-depth analysis is something you don't stumble across so easily these days. I love the Designer series, they are beautiful drums. Unfortunately I don't own a Designer kit yet, but a guy can dream, right :) ? I do own a Sonor Birch Infinite kit and I'm in love with it. I have the 05/06 Complete Sonor Guidebook, too, and I was glad to see it featured in your video ❤.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks for the nice comment! The Sonor Birch Infinite are also gorgeous!

[@LeonStofmeel]

What an incredibly beautiful documentary. Insanely detailed and at the same time smoothly delivered. Watched 3 times already. Wonderful. I recently got a Sonor Designer Drukmit and learned a lot from it. And surprise: it turns out to be a Designer Vintage Maple. Great that I can find my spare parts at St Drum. Good for years of playing pleasure! Thanks for all the work and effort. Keep up the good work :)

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot for the nice feedback! And WOW! I wouldn't have thought that anybody would watch it more than 1 time except me during editing😅 thanks a lot!

[@pannocchio]

I've been buying from you for years now, you are the best.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot! We really appreciate that!💪

[@Camcodrummer]

Great video !!

[@MMaatthhiieeuu]

In 2005-2006, when they ran the proto SQ2 "Drum Design" Designer, you could also get beech shells (labeled as Maple Light), and have veneer inside of shells.

[@michaelbruhl4425]

Klasse Video, weiter so, und gerne öfter. LG

[@padraigtansey]

Great video thanks, you forgot to mention the memory locks on the bass drum legs, they have a tiny grub screw, once positioned that's it

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Thanks a lot for the comment! I realized they had these small grub screws in there but I didn't even realize what they were made for... next time we have a designer in our shop, I will do a second part to the video 😁

[@blueavadis22]

I own a HiLite Red kit,very nice 10,12,13,16,22 also I got a bebop kit with 10” and 14”Designer long lugs and a 18 bass drum DeLite all in Birdseye’s Maple Light Amber , very nice finish. Because I liked so much this kit I war looking for a 12” Designer Tom but it was impossible to find it .Later I got lucky and I found a 12” DeLite Tom in the same finish, then later I found a 8” Designer short lugs . In the meantime I found a 22” Bass drum DeLite In Birdseye Azure . I forgot to mention that I have also a 12” Hilite snare drum in Piano Black . So that’s my Sonor treasure 😊

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Wow! Nice gear! The Hilites are also extremely nice sets!

[@SmilefortheJudge]

Danke Gerd

[@jingdaxu-q4e]

the limited edition of designer shown at 25:25，i do have one set by chance！

[@daniel.lopresti]

"You get what you want!" For some reason I pictured Thomas Lang barking that in a disciplinary tone as a rebuke for not practising 10 hours a day.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I hope AI technology will enable us to make a video like that one day🤣

[@surfsubotnikerfurt2278]

Danke für dieses informative & sehr persönliche Video über die DESIGNER-Serie von Sonor. Eine Frage: Verfügt ein Designer-Vintage Version über runde Bearing Edges?

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Danke für den netten Kommentar! Soweit ich weiß hatten alle Designers 45° Gratungen, auch die mit den Verstärkungsringen. Die abgerundete Gratung findet sich bei Sonor heute an den Buchenkesseln der Vintage Serie, aber ansonsten soweit ich weiß nicht

[@padraigtansey]

I'm lucky enough to own 2 designers, One early blue sparkle with maple light shells and one of the last designers made with vintage maple shell's with designers badges, its in a green figured veneer, I'm lead to believe that there's was only 5 ever made in that finish, 3 in Europe and 2 in the US.

[@FrankGodiva]

Great video, but I think you forgot one big elephant in the room. The introduction of the Designer series marked the end of the beech shell at Sonor. That’s hard to believe as there was decades of only beech and is a reflection of the new ownership group, the international design team and globalization moving away from everything made in Germany. The 2003 price guide shows beech as a shell option but I have only ever seen a snare that was badged Designer beech shell.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Thanks for the comment! You are right! I didn't even know about the beechshell detail. I learned so much in the comments of the video already, I think we need to make another short designer to include that info aswell 😁

[@saschabeul2382]

Bestes Schlagzeug 💪🏼

[@MM-pd5zi]

Großartig!!

[@tomashorenin1294]

I have the same strainer as the snare in 22:55 on my D454 but the butt end just keeps loosening. I'd like to replace the strainer with a common one you can find on the AQ series (and most of the Force series earlier) but the holes don't line up. Do you think it's possible to drill and tap another hole in the strainer and use it instead of the old one (I noticed there might be a guide pin in the way...)? I know there are strainers with the same spacing out there but I'd like to keep it Sonor. Thank you.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Thanks for the comment! Well is it the buttend with the thumpscrew that loosens, or is it the strainer with the trumpet-lever? The strainer actually has two small screws in the back that you can adjust once the strainer is removed from the shell - this could solve the issue. However if it's the buttend, maybe you can add a spring under it to keep it pushed to the outside a bit. If you want to exchange it with another strainer / buttend, you would have to measure your particular hole to hole distance and let us know via email. I think the D454 buttend has 12mm distance - I don't know of another part with that hole distance. Also most modern buttends have horizontal drillings, so probably it is necessary to drill new holes. But try the spring and the screw on the back first please 😉

[@tomashorenin1294]

@@stdrumsgmbh The butt end loosens, I already have a spring underneath but with heavy rim shots it still loosens over a very short period of time. I resorted to a piece of gaffers tape holding the thumbwheel in place, tho it's ugly and I hate it... I thought I would replace the trumpet handle strainer with a modern one with string tightness adjustment and leave the butt end out of the adjustment equation completely. The hole spacing is 22mm and fits a Trick GS007 throw off, tho I'd much prefer a Sonor brand one. That's why I'd like to know if it's possible to modify hole spacing on the Sonor Select Force style throw off it's self, make it 22mm instead of the factory 16mm. I observed that drilling and tapping a new hole might intefere with a guide pin and it's plastic rails... what do you think? Or is there a Sonor throw off without the guide pin? (there might be one off a marching snare, but I'm not sure and I don't want to get in too deep financially...)

[@stdrumsgmbh]

@@tomashorenin1294 Yes with the one they use on the larger Select Force and also AQX and other cheaper models, you might be able to drill another hole in the strainers back and cut a thread for a fixing screw in there. I think it might be possible to disassamble it to the point of just having the back of the strainer to modify the hole distance

[@Dan-hc1ow]

I love my Designers. I have two kits in Maple Light, both gifts from my wife. The first one is a 1999 Stain Black with 10x9, 12x10, 14x12 and 16x14 toms with a 22x16 bass drum. I later ordered a 16x16 floor Tom with legs to replace the 14 & 16 hanging toms. The other kit is a 2005 with 10x8, 12x9, 14x14 floor tom, 22x18 bass drum and 14x5 snare. That one was lightly used and has a custom ordered Blue Violet sparkle finish. Sonor wouldn't make me a smaller bass drum in that finish, which was disappointing to say the least. Both kits are now home practice kits, since they are both too heavy to carry to gigs now. The Acoustigate on my 10x9 tom just broke recently 😭

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Wow! Blue violet custom finish sounds amazing! I would love to see some pictures 😁 And regarding the acoustigate: Is it just the rubber that broke or part of the metal aswell?

[@Dan-hc1ow]

@@stdrumsgmbh it is the black plastic part that the knurled screw threads into. It just split in the middle, leaving the ends still plugged into the holes of the bottom part of the H mount.

[@Dan-hc1ow]

@@stdrumsgmbh Would love to send photos but don't know where to send them.

[@gadymarcus2362]

Bello/Magnifico.🙏✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️👑

[@SonorGeek05]

If I'm understanding correctly, the Green Sparkle was discontinued in 1997.?

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Yes I think the green and red sparkle were discontinued. But they did offer custom colors later, so probably they were still able to make these colors on request in the 2000s

[@rhythmista7707]

As great as and innovative as the Sonor drum company is, they really had, albeit not many, but a few "What were they thinking" moments, such as slotted tension rods, which can only be used with their specially designed slotted drum key, and if you don't have one, good luck cause it's special order. Their design for slightly undersized shells, designed with the timpani concept for perfect head seating make for perfect tuning, which is a fantastic innovation. Metal hoops on some of their earlier 60s and 70s drums, making the shells even heavier, and unwanted, unnecessary noisy reverberation, was also a crappy decision, and their extremely oversized power toms (think Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden) were also inconvenient and I'm sure, an awful pain to set up and lug around. There are other little design flaws that i can't remember at the moment, but every company has them. Creativity in design will always be accompanied by flaws to ultimately achieve a flawless design, and out of all drum manufacturers, Sonor is second to none. I only wish I can afford an SQ 2 vintage maple set, but that's only in dream land for most of us workhorse drummers. Great segment and historical information on these great drums !

[@stdrumsgmbh]

Thanks a lot for the comment! Yes, things like the slotted screws with their own thread and other details are usually comming from a historic background of the brand, that they held on to for a long time. But I guess changing the tensionrods to the standard but still offering slotted versions on request was a great decision of Sonor. Yeah from the 70s to the 90s most of the highend sonor drums were extremely heavy - I guess during that time they focused on mechanical durability and sound first, before they thought about the workhorse drummers, who did't have roadies to carry their stuff 😅

[@MultiSkyman1]

Are theses drums or Tiger Tanks!

[@janmartensson9744]

Super.

[@krusher74]

I love my hilite kit, but have always thought of owning a Designer too, but its a shame that all of the stands (protect) etc I have collected would not work with the designer, Its impossible to find the rocket launcher mountable cymbal arms etc. Sonor have basically has the SQ2 in production since 1996 and it funny that when other companies keep trying to make something new (cough pearl) they are usually a copy of something Sonor made for the designer. Its a shame in the modern world that everything Sonor did in the 70/80/90's is slowing getting reduced in the name of price competition. I doubt we will ever see a parallel action snare mechanism put back into production.

[@hellion605]

when i saw Designer series for the first time, those bass drum spurs looked to me very sexy then ;) like lady’s legs in black nylons

[@simonbroke-smith7783]

🤘😎🥁👍

[@5Antvin]

too many parts and too much part failure for them to keep up with is what I heard ended this series .but man was this set fun!

[@boristomakic5995]

Resonance, resonance...and then they drill the large holes in the shells and fill them with rubber parts...if that 's not dampening I don't know what it is...Overall, just like the Signature set Designer is overcomplicated and overengineered product with many features like rubbers you mentioned that will often fail in use...maybe it's the kit for the studio and little tweaking, but not for the road...especially it was very heavy for hauling

[@erichkulling5116]

You are absolutely right. In Germany we have a word for this kind of engineering - verschlimmbessern - trying really hard to improve things, but the result is worse than before. Sonor has taken many wrong paths over the years. I prefere the KISS philosophy - Keep it simple and stupid. For this reason I'm more than satisfied with my Yamaha Recordings for 40 Years now. And they look so elegant. Timeless, unobtrusive, not pretentious design. Regardless, the people at ST Drums are doing a great job and the video is also great.

[@the6ig6adwolf]

Anything built pre 1990 would be considered vintage, IMO.

[@MultiSkyman1]

Sorry your Father died. He was still young.

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thank you for your nice words!

[@jingdaxu-q4e]

and Sonor is actually my favorite drum brand！BTW，dear stdrum，if you send me an email address，i can send you some photos of my drums，which is the limited edition shown at 25:25 in this video，i am definitely not joking！

[@stdrumsgmbh]

thanks a lot for the comment! Wow! please send to [e-mail]