Help! Bearing Edges on Maple Custom Absolutes

[YamahaPlayer]

IOne of them, after telling me that he's played all 3 kits I mentioned made a suggestion. He said, all of my drums had die cast hoops. Why not go out buy yourself a set of Gibraltar 2.3mm flanged hoops. I put a set of flanged hoops I had laying around as a test. Walla! The drum opened up, started to sing, and was way easier to tune. No more wierd over tones, no more thin/brittle tone, no more raised pitch.

Oh for sure, Die-Cast are tone killers. Tama being the worst with their frankenrimmounting.

Check out some even lighter hoops, like Yamaha's aluminum rims. They REALLY open the drums up. (same concept with the lighter hardare, etc).

[DSOP]

I had a set of maple custom absolutes in vintage finish, and they sounded killer. Once I put the aluminum die cast hoops on them they sounded even better.

[drumnhands]

There is a guy in NY named John Frondelli that does great work, and has been doing edges a long time. He's lso a custom builder. I can put you in touch with him if you like.

[Henry II]

A previous thread discussed re-cutting the edges on Yamaha MCA's to get them sounding more like the Maple Customs. Im really bummed that I can't get these drums to really sing especially when clubs are too small to mic the drums. I feel like im getting lost in the mix when it comes to the toms. They just sound so thin. Im wishin I would have stayed with the regular Maple Customs but it's too late.

My questions are: Has anybody done this? (Had the edges re-cut). If you did what edges did you put on the drums? Was it a re-cut of a 45/45 or something different?

The drums are nice but just dont sing even with various head changes etc.. Would like some advice before I consider selling these if I can't get the right tone. Thanks for the help.

If your bearing edges are flat (on a flat plane - test them on a glass table top), and sharp, then I don't see how re-cutting them is going to make much difference. Maple Customs are thicker shells that tend to produce a louder, narrower, tone than the thinner shell of a MCA which produces a more ambiguous, mellower, resonant tone. There are some things you can do to increase the attack of MCA's, but, it still won't quite have the power and tone of a MC tom.

I'm not sure how many toms you're talking about, but, it might be worth it to buy a few extra toms that suit your current situation better. That way you'll have two options: (1) mellow and resonant, and (2) loud and penetrating, as needed depending on the gig you're playing.

[Old Pit Guy]

I don't think re-edging is your solution. I've purchased (commercially and personally) a lot of drums over the years, and Yamaha's edges were easily among the best in quality and, more importantly, consistency. Also, with a few exceptions, they're quite similar.

Example: I own a MCA set (circa '09) and an 8000 Series Birch (circa '84) and the edges are so close in cut, shape and finish as to be imperceptible without a magnifying glass. The shell thickness, depth, hoops, and material - in that order - makes the difference between these two sets.

The MCA are tonally warm, resonant and sensitive, while the older 8000 series are focused and with more attack (I prefer throat, but most people say attack). I don't mean slap; I'm referring to depth, volume and oomph.

For further comparison, I bought a Sonor 3007 maple set for a song a few years ago, and while a very good value, they're all slap with much less tone than the YMCA. The edges on the Sonor are very sharp and with zero outside round-over; you get practically everything from the heads and very little from the shell other than an ambient chamber.

I'd seriously consider a combination of heads and rims before re-edging the MCAs. Personally, I wouldn't change the edges on an MCA kit if I could sell it and buy something more to my liking or another set (selling in this market blows).

[Matus]

Exactly what are you missing on your MCAs? I don't really get what you mean by "making them sing", as MCs are by definition punchier drums than MCAs due to their overall shell construction. Edge re-cutting won't really get you anywhere if that's what you're looking for.
Personally, sometimes my MCAs even sing way too much for some venues/studios. I have to use moongel on my 12" tom a lot of times because it will hold the fundamental pitch forever.

[Old Pit Guy]

I don't get it either. The MCAs I'm referring to are the Absolute Maple Nouveau with lightweight aluminum diecast hoops, and they sing like a mother.

[Matus]

Mine are regular Absolutes (didn't like the look of Noveau lugs) with sparkle finish AND aluminium die cast hoops. Bigger hardware and thicker paint should be against me but...
The old MCs may have more prevalent higher overtones going on due to their thickness and triple flanged hoops, but I guess you can achieve that through thinner heads, brighter tuning and maybe a change of hoops. They also had a higher tuning range, for the same reasons.

[Andy Vermiglio]

Mpdrums, what heads are you using on your MCA toms?

For my MCAs I'm using coated ambassadors for the batter and clear ambassadors for the resonant side for the small toms. For the floors, I'm using coated emperors for the batter and clear amb on the resonant side. Very little muffling is applied and they deliver a fairly huge sound!

[Mpdrums]

Thanks for all the replies. Im currently using G1'S and Genera res. on the toms. I did have Ambassadors on previously. I know everybody has thier own prefrence, im just looking for the best tone. I did say the toms dont "sing" and what I mean is they seem somewhat void of warm tonal characteristics across the drums. Even the 16 sounds more like a thud than a round tone. I do know how to tune and I really don't think thats the issue although im running out of answers. They sound very thin and im looking for that fatter tone, which is why I asked about the edges. Im sure they did a good job @ Yamaha but wasn't sure if a different angle cut would help the tone. I know the drums are thin shelled but I have heard better sound out of drums made of the same plies and thickness. In defense of the toms they do have what looks to be a pretty heavy lacquer. Didnt think it would be a major issue but im sure its not helping. Just lookin for some help before I break down and start looking for another kit.