Sonor SQ1 Drum Kit
Sonor is one of the leading drum and percussion manufacturers in the world. Formed in Germany, they make a myriad of different drum kits, snares, hardware, and accessories. In addition, they endorse many well-known drummers such as Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) and Benny Greb (Stoppok, Jerobeam).
Sonor is known for its high-quality drum kits and hardware. If you’re looking to buy a Sonor drum set, you probably came across the SQ1 kit. This kit was introduced in 2017 and Sonor promotes this kit as a “new dimension in sound.” But does it live up to its expectations?
Here’s our review of Sonor’s SQI drum kit.
Sonor goes above and beyond with different and innovative features. For starters, they introduced the Sound Sustainer. This is an improvement in their tom mounting system, optimizing the acoustic sound and performance.
The secret lies in a 2-component connection, which is rubber and metal. In other words, there is no contact between metal and wood. Sonor uses rubber lining and brushings. This isolates the metal mount and wooden shell, resulting in a clean sound. This technology applies to both tom toms and floor toms.
We can’t write an SQ1 review without mentioning their use of birch. Sonor created the drum shells from European Birch. Birch is a versatile wood and sounds amazing in both recording and live settings. In addition, you can easily tune the drums for the perfect sound.
There’s another advantage to touring and gigging drummers. While these drums are durable, they’re also lightweight. This makes them easy to transport and their lightweight also makes them easy to set up and break down.
During the production process, Sonor tested several combinations of Birch-based shell materials. 100% Birch provided the most versatile and powerful sound, which is what all drummers can expect when playing this drum kit.
In the SQ1 kit, the bass drum is 10mm and the toms and snare drum are 7 ply/7mm. You can easily detach the snare thanks to Sonor’s DualGlide snare system.
You can choose one of four finishes: hot rod red with natural beech hoops, cruiser blue with natural walnut hoops, GT black with natural beech hoops, and roadster green with natural walnut hoops.
You can also choose one of these sizes:
Toms: 8×7, 10×7, 12×8, 13×9, 14×13 (FT), 16×15(FT) & 18×17(FT)
Bass drums: 20×16, 22×17.5 and 24×14
The snare is only available in 14×6.5
What about the SQ2 kit? They’re very similar in performance, though the SQ1 is a little higher quality. The main benefit of the SQ2 kit is the user has the ability to customize the kit, whereas they’re limited with the SQ1 kit.
Overall, any drummer will be impressed by Sonor’s SQ1 drum kit. Any Sonor drum set is made with quality in mind. But Sonor went above and beyond with the SQ1. From the tom mounting system to their use of 100% birch, both recording, and touring drummers.
The only disadvantage is the lack of customization opportunities. If high-end customization is what you’re looking for in a drum kit, you’ll be more satisfied with the SQ2.
However, the SQ1 is definitely a staple in Sonor’s drum set line that will satisfy the majority of working drummers.
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Author: GospelChops Contributor
