TRAPS DRUMS A400

GEAR REVIEW
| DECEMBER 2011 WWW.RHYTHMMAGAZINE.CO.UK
114
GEAR REVIEW
£299 Could this sub-£300 kit be the Holy Grail of portable drums?
T
raps A400 is a compact, lightweight
and highly-portable fi ve-piece kit,
available in two basic formats: either
with a set of starter-type cymbals or,
as in the case of this review set, without. This
set comprises a 12" snare, 20" bass drum, 10",
12" and 14" toms, drum rack, hi-hat stand, snare
basket and a pair of sticks.
Build
All three toms are fi tted with a single UT PS
(Chinese-made Pinstripe equivalent) mounted
on an ABS frame. This acts like
the top of a drum rim which has a shaped
bearing edge and fi xing points for the tuning
bolts, triple-fl anged hoop and mounting
bracket. Having two heads, the bass drum is
slightly more conventional, with a pair of steel
hoops, but it has a shallow 5cm-deep ‘shell’.
For dampening, a small piece of circular felt is
glued to the inside of the front head, while the
batter (similar to a Remo Powerstroke 3) has a
perimeter-type dampening strip built into the
head itself.
Having a slightly shallower depth of 4.5cm,
the snare features some ingenious design
aspects to accommodate the throw-off and
adjuster. This has a large plastic lever which
operates a cam by raising, lowering and
tightening the snare. The batter is attached by
a standard steel hoop, however the snare
head (lower side) is held in position by a hoop
constructed from ABS.
Constructed from standard 1½" chromed
steel tubing, the rack comes complete with all
the necessary tom-mounting brackets, clamps
etc. It features two boom-type cymbal mounts
which slot into the top of the posts of the ‘H’
shaped rack. Attaching the snare to the rack is
the uppermost section of a snare basket
which, like the toms, is fully adjustable. The
TRAPS
DRUMS A400
WORDS: DAVE HOLMES
THOUGH LACKING IN PROJECTION,
THE KIT DOES SOUND GOOD – THINK
1970S HEAVILY-DAMPED DRUMS
VERDICT: Throughout the review I
have had to keep reminding myself
that I have a complete kit here for
under £300 – fi ve drums and a rack
(which could also be used for an
add-on to a standard acoustic set-up
too). It’s excellent value for money.
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
RATING
1
YAMAHA MANU
KATCHE HIPGIG
JUNIOR
We say: “The smallest
and cheapest Hipgig.
With ‘floating’ 16"
bass drum, warm
Philippines mahogany
shells and complete
hardware set.”
2
PEARL RHYTHM
TRAVELER
We say: “Capable,
compact kit includes
mesh heads as well
as standard plastic
for silent practice
and live gigs too.”
Also try…
bass drum is locked into position by two
clamps which are fi xed to the ‘shell’ of the
bass drum for attachment to the rack.
Hands-on
Even if you are not used to drum racks, setting
up the kit is easy, perhaps with the only
slightly awkward task getting the bass drum
to sit to the right height before fi nally
tightening its two clamps. Once in place, the
rack becomes extremely rigid and, with the
aid of large rubber feet, the whole assembly
sits fi rmly on the stage fl oor.
Considering the snare is nearly entirely
plastic, it sounds remarkably good – piccolo-
like, of course, but its depth makes it more
sensitive too. The snare wires picking up each
ghosted note and fi lling in gaps between a
slightly ragged buzz roll. While the pedal
response from the bass drum is immediate, sat
behind the kit it appears to lack substance.
A drummer friend is coerced into playing
the kit while I go out front, where the bass
drum sounds much better. Though lacking in
projection (particularly with the toms) the
whole kit does sound good – think 1970s
heavily damped drums and you would not be
far out.
RHY197.gear_traps.indd 114 10/28/11 12:48:31 PM