Birch vs Beech vs Maple

[Bringit2ThePit]

Ok, Well I'm in the market for a new Yamaha Absolute kit, thats the brand I'm set on.

 

However now the question of what type of wood to get, maple, birch, or beech? I'm leaning towards Beech wood. It seems like a happy medium between the maple and birch. But I have to go into it almost blindly. I've played on Maple, The Birch I really like. I just wanted to know if anyone has the Beech Custom what their opinon is.

 

Some help would be GREATLY appreciated. I play mostly harder music, however I'm a light kind finese player. I don't really wail on my drums.

 

SIGNED, LOST IN THE SAUCE.

[ulank]

Originally posted by Bringit2ThePit Ok, Well I'm in the market for a new Yamaha Absolute kit, thats the brand I'm set on. However now the question of what type of wood to get, maple, birch, or beech? I'm leaning towards Beech wood. It seems like a happy medium between the maple and birch. But I have to go into it almost blindly. I've played on Maple, The Birch I really like. I just wanted to know if anyone has the Beech Custom what their opinon is. Some help would be GREATLY appreciated. I play mostly harder music, however I'm a light kind finese player. I don't really wail on my drums. SIGNED, LOST IN THE SAUCE.

 

You have great taste!

 

I own a Beech Custom Absolut. The biggest thing to keep in mind about this one is the shells are thicker than the birch and maple counterparts. Therefore, it takes a little more effort for the toms to "open up" when you hit em. On the other hand, it also means you get less resonance from one drum to the next (i.e. with real thin shells, you hit one tom and the adjacent tom will resonate like a mofo; with a thicker the shell, this impact will be decreased.) So the isolation is better, and you get a fatter, punchier sound IMO.

 

I bought the Beech because I wanted a big, fat rich tom sound and I'd say it delivers in that category. I have heard, as you stated, that the Beech is a nice balance between maple and birch. You get the low end warmth of maple, but the attack of Birch. Since the shell thickness also plays a factor, it's hard for me to truly gauge that, but I will say I'm happy as hell with this kit. Overall, I'd say they're punchy and fat.

 

My kick is 18x22 and freaking RIPS. The snare is great as well, but so much tweaking can be done with heads and tuning and snare tension that I've eeked out everything from fat and round sounding, to a thinner crack sound, and everything in between. So there's certainly a lot of versatility there.

 

You and I sound like similar players...we play harder music, but I use light sticks and only hit moderately hard so I've been thinking about moving towards thinner ply heads (Maybe Aquarian double thins). I've tried Aquarian Response 2's and Evans G2's on them and I like the Evans better because the attack is more prominent. The Response 2's were much warmer overall.

 

All in all, I don't think you can go wrong with that line of drums. Really, I'd say the shell thickness is the biggest factor to consider for your playing style.

 

This song was recorded with my Beech kit and has some tom work on it. I used the Response 2's on this one, but we just recorded a full length with me using the Evans G2's on the toms. The CD is not officially released yet, but I'll see if I can pull up a small clip of some tom work for you as reference.

 

Taken Away

 

I'll also see if I can dig up some of my old literature that talks about the shells. I can't remember exactly, I wanna say the birch and maple toms are 7mm and the Beech ones are 9mm, but don't quote me on that. The snare and kick shells are also thicker.

[burque]

 

Originally posted by Bringit2ThePit Ok, Well I'm in the market for a new Yamaha Absolute kit, thats the brand I'm set on. However now the question of what type of wood to get, maple, birch, or beech? I'm leaning towards Beech wood. It seems like a happy medium between the maple and birch. But I have to go into it almost blindly. I've played on Maple, The Birch I really like. I just wanted to know if anyone has the Beech Custom what their opinon is. Some help would be GREATLY appreciated. I play mostly harder music, however I'm a light kind finese player. I don't really wail on my drums. SIGNED, LOST IN THE SAUCE.

 

 

I believe Yamaha is the only company that offers the same finishes in all three of those lines, specifically so someone who knows what they're doing can mix and match- as in birch for the higher toms, maple for the lower ones and bass, and beech in the middle.

[ulank]

Here's the specs on the Beech

 

 

-100% Beech shells made with Air Seal System

-Absolute-style lug casings: chrome, one-bolt design

-8-ply, 10mm BD and 6-ply, 7.5mm toms, floor toms and snare drums (8 and 10 toms are 6-ply, 6mm)

-18" adjustable BD lift, allows the beater to strike the center of the head

-All bass drums have 5 air-holes for faster venting and a punchy sound

-Aluminum Die Cast hoops on all toms and snare drums

-Hand-rubbed Vintage interior finish

-Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System (YESS) mounts

-These drums have the attack and presence of Maple and the bottom-end throaty sound of Birch

-45 finishes available, 11 core colors (1 wrap) and 34 custom order finishes (6 wraps)

 

 

Notice the shell difference compared to maple and birch:

 

-7-ply 7MM BD and 6-ply 6MM toms and snare drums

[LowandLoudx97]

the beech series really sounds awsome, i have a birch recording custom with yess mounts in aqua , a maple custom snare, and a musashi snare , i love yamaha's products... either way you cant go wrong, i say go for the beech's