North drums

[agent of change]

Found mention of North drums scattered through a thread here and there, but thought I'd post here. This is my latest kit. I was looking at Vistalites because I wanted something that would retain most of its value, rather than buying a new kit and then instantly it's worth a lot less because it's "used." Then I randomly came across this guy an hour from me selling this kit for $850. Apparently that's a steal, as most of them are going online for $1100 or more.



It sounds pretty thunderous, especially the kick drum. From behind the kit, the higher toms sound like roto-toms, but they sound fuller out front, where the sound is designed to project. It is kind of a beast to break down and set up; as you can see I've got the positions of all the stands and shit marked out on my rug. I actually need a wrench to break down the rack.

I'd really like to find another black North bass drum, if y'all want to keep an eye out at pawn shops. I just added an older Gibraltar double kick pedal, which I'm liking so far. Occasionally there are separate pieces listed on Ebay or Craigslist, but so far no kick drum on its own. There's a guy in Manhattan who has a white kick + two toms, but he wants $650 for all 3 and won't break up.

Anyhoodle, this kit is really loud, fun to play. Never had more than 3 toms and it comes with 5 standard.

[deleted account]

I'm kinda baffled by those circular-lookin' things out front.  what's up with those?

[RAGER]

There's a reason they never caught on.  Not my thing.  Gotta have bottom heads.

[agent of change]

I'm kinda baffled by those circular-lookin' things out front.  what's up with those?

Look at the rack tom on the far left - that's how they're all shaped.

[deleted account]

holy Jesus!  who designed those, Salvador Dali?

[Jake]

If "fugly" means "fuckable but ugly," then those are that.

I've seen pics of Bonham with them, so I guess they sound pretty good. My only put off is the sheer number of drums you've got there. But that's hypocritical of me since I like to run through assloads of speakers.

Nice goddamned Xmas score.

[liquidsmoke]

Awesome! I always like seeing oddball stuff on stage.

[apekillman]

does each tom have its own stand except for the one above the kick?

[agent of change]

Normally there are 4 rack toms and 1 floor tom. But the guy who sold me the set had 2 on the rack and 2 on a separate stand. I'll have to make rack mounts to get all 4 back on the rack.

[EddieMullet]

Those are awesome, there was another company called Staccato that made drums like that but they were shaped a bit different. I'd settle for either if I could find a kit I could afford. 

Those kind of drums are right up there with aluminum necked Kramers on my list of weird looking things from a bygone time that I have an overwhelming urge to own.

Then I'd just need a nice AMC Pacer to haul them around in.

[agent of change]

Yep, Staccatos are even weirder-looking. Never seen a set live or heard one though.

[VOLVO)))]

Lee from the Body plays North drums. His sound awesome.

[mortlock]

they are cool as hell. dr suess style..

[EddieMullet]

I've never seen a Staccato set live either, but the sheer weirdness of them intrigues me.

Back in the 80's the local drum shop had North drums and I also remember seeing Alex Van Halen use them back in the early Van Hagar era.

Given the rareness and cost of either chances are slim I'll ever own a North or Staccato set, but one can always dream.

[liquidsmoke]

Yep, Staccatos are even weirder-looking. Never seen a set live or heard one though.

Wow, even more awesome looking!

[Headshrinker]

Congrats with those North drums. They are certainly different...

[deleted account]

^^finding replacement heads for that bass drum would be really easy and super cheap

[liquidsmoke]

'Oval'? Ain't that a rounded square?

[mortlock]

it almost looks like a beer cooler turned on its side..haha

[RAGER]

Total jibberish idea here, but what if each individual drum was a modeling amp of sorts with a speaker.  You just dial in the drum sound you want and turn them to what ever volume you wanted.  Kind of a 70's-80's space age idea.  A precursor to drum modules. Surprised it was never done that I know of.

[Mr. Foxen]

Total jibberish idea here, but what if each individual drum was a modeling amp of sorts with a speaker.  You just dial in the drum sound you want and turn them to what ever volume you wanted.  Kind of a 70's-80's space age idea.  A precursor to drum modules. Surprised it was never done that I know of.

Think jsut going right to synth type outputs saved a lot of micing, it would be like micing an amp for every drum.

[RAGER]

I know it's totally ridiculous but I'm just surprised it hasn't been done.  Would be fun to do as an art performance thing.  Bunch of little practice amps on stands with a trigger pad and lfo's, oscillators, and such in each amp.

[agent of change]

After our last show, a fan suggested putting pinwheels in the mouth of each tom. A brilliant idea! I just have to see if they mute the sound at all and figure out how to mount them.

[agent of change]

http://www.staccato-drums.de/seiten/north.html

Some cool photos of various North drum setups, some brochures and other review articles.

[RAGER]

Fuck!  We had a couple pinwheels at work I was gonna take home and I forgot them. Dammit.