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Sonic Acoustic Drum set

Front view of assembled Sonic Drum set
Back view of assembled Sonic Drum set

Out of the box-

List of contents-

• Drum shells : 1 x Bass drum, 1 x floor tom, 2 x rack tom, 1 x snare Some drums may come fully assembled, but they may still need tuning. Refer to Drum Tuning. View image.
• Drum heads(skin)s: 1 clear bass drum head, 1 black bass drum head, 2 clear floor tom heads, 2 clear heads for each of the rack toms, totaling 4, 1 clear snare drum head, 1 coated (white) snare drum head. Again, some of the drums may come fully assembled. View image.
• Hoops: 2 plastic/wooden bass drum hoops, 2 metal hoops for each tom, totaling 6, 1 snare hoop similar to the tom hoops, and 1 snare with slots for the snare wires to fit through. View image.
• The number of tension rods and washers you have should equal or be greater han the number of lug casings on the drums. View image.

SD3225
8 bass drum claws
8 long tension rods/washers
48 shorter tension rods/washers

SD5225
10 bass drum claws
10 tension rods/washers
56 shorter tension rods/washers

SD2225/SD2205
8 bass drum claws
8 long tension rods/washers
48 shorter tension rods

SD2185
6 bass drum claws
6 long tension rods/washers
44 shorter tension rods/washers

SD1225
6 bass drum claws
6 long tension rods/washers
38 shorter tension rods/washers

• 1 x hihat stand.View image.
• 1 x snare drum stand.View image.
• 1 x straight cymbal stand.View image.
• 1 x bass drum pedal and beaterView image.
• 1 x hihat clutchView image.
• 1 x drum key View image.
• Tom attachments:

SD3225
1 x tom platform
2 x tom arms
View image.

SD5225
1 x ball tom mount
View image.

SD2225/SD2205/SD2185/SD1225
2 x tom arms
View image.

• 3 x floor tom legs
• SD2225, SD2205, SD2185, SD1225 also include 1 crash/ride cymbal and 1 pair of hihat cymbals. View image.

Set Up Instructions-

Putting the drum heads on the drums-

1. Place the drum head onto the drum shell of the corresponding size (eg/ 12” drum head on 12” drum shell).
2. Now place the hoop on top of the drum head of the corresponding size.
3. Place the metal or plastic washer onto the tension rod.View image.
4. For bass drum, insert the tension rod into the claw hook and hang off the hoop, lining up the tension rod with the lug casing. For other drum (toms and snare), place the tension rod through the hole in the hoop. Again, line up the tension rods up with the lug casings. View image.
5. With your fingers first and then a drum key, tighten each tension rod moving in a diagonal pattern.
View image. For complete instructions refer to Drum Tuning.
6. Repeat for each drum on the top and bottom.

Bass drum set up-

7. Loosen the wing nuts that secure the legs (spurs) on the bass drum and rotate the spurs so that the bass drum is supported at the front by them and not the hoop. Make sure the bass drum sits slightly above the ground. Tighten the wing nuts to secure the spurs in place. View image.

Bass drum pedal set up and assembly-

8. Take the bass drum pedal and beater out of the box. For the SD5225 the bass drum pedal comes with a foot board that does not need assembly. For the SD3225, SD2225, SD2205, SD2185 and SD1225 the pedal needs to be assembled by notching the radius rod on each side into the base of the bass drum pedal.
9. Secure the bass drum beater into the notch provided on the top of the bass drum pedal by tightening the key bolt with the drum key. View image.
10. Slide bass drum pedal onto the bass drum hoop on the back side of the drum and secure by tightening the wing nut provided on the clamp at the base of the bass drum pedal. Make sure that the pedal sits flat on the floor. View image.

Tom set up-

11. Loosen the wing nut(s) on the bracket provided on the top of the bass drum. For the SD5225 insert the ball tom mount in the bracket provided on the bass drum. Tighten the wing nut provided on the bracket on the bass drum to secure. Adjust the tom arms by loosening the wing nuts on the top of the ball tom mount and rotating the ball until the tom arm is facing upwards. View image. For the SD3225 insert the tom platform into the bracket on the bass drum and tighten the wing nut to secure. Then insert the tom arms into the platform, again, tightening the wing nuts to secure. View image. For the SD2225, SD2205, SD2185 and SD1225 insert each tom arm into the bracket on the top of the bass drum. Tighten the wing nut on the bracket to secure the tom arms in place. There is no tom platform provided with the SD2225, SD2205, SD2185 and SD1225 drum sets. View image.
12. If you have the SD5225 skip this step and continue at step 13. For the SD3225, SD2225, SD2205, SD2185 and SD1225 loosen the wing nut at the “L” in the tom arm and rotate the angle of the tom arm wide enough to make room for the tom to slide onto the arm. Tighten the wing nut.
13. Loosen the wing nut on the bracket provided on the side of each tom drum. Slide each tom onto the tom arms, securing them by tightening the same wing nuts. (Sometimes it is easier to put the tom over the tom arm when the tom is upside down. Afterwards, rotate tom right side up if you put the drum onto the arm upside down.) Adjust them to what feels comfortable while you are seated behind the drum set. View image.

*To ensure that the positioning of the toms remain stationary while playing and during any additional times the drums are set up, use the memory clamps provided on the tom arms. Once the desired position is reached secure the memory locks, using the drum key, at the end of the arm on either side, notching the memory clamp into the brackets.*

Snare drum set up-

14. On the snare drum stand loosen the wing nut and spread the tripod legs at the bottom. Do not move wing nut all the way to the bottom of the stand, this splays the legs too far and will take up too much room, instead, keep the legs at approximately a 45 degree angle. Tighten the wing nut to secure in place. View image.
15. Unfold the snare basket at the top of the stand and place the snare drum in the basket. Adjust the basket using the black plastic nut at the base of the basket. Tighten enough to securely hold the snare drum in place, but not so tight it chokes the sound of the snare drum. (The most common set up puts the snare drum on the left side of the bass drum pedal, between the player’s legs when you are seated behind the bass drum.) View image.

Floor tom set up-

16. Loosen the wing nuts on each of the three brackets on the side and at the bottom of the floor. Insert the floor tom legs into the bracket and secure by tightening the wing nuts. View image. ( The most common set up puts the floor tom on the right side of the bass drum pedal when you are seated behind the bass drum.) The floor tom and snare drum should sit at approximately the same height. View image. For the SD5225 there are memory locks on the floor tom legs that should be used to ensure that the height of the floor tom remains the same while playing and during any additional times the drums are set up.

Hihat cymbals and stand setup (including hihat clutch)-

*The SD5225 and SD3225 do not come with cymbals but do include the hardware (stands) to mount them.*

17. On the hihat stand spread the tripod legs at the bottom. Do not move wing nut all the way to the bottom of the stand, this splays the legs too far and will take up too much room, instead, keep the legs at approximately a 45 degree angle. Tighten the wing nut at the top of the tripod to secure in place.
18. Notch the radius rod of the pedal on each side into the base of the hihat stand pedal. View image.
19. Take the hihat clutch and unscrew the nut at the bottom. Remove the nut and one cymbal felt (this may be made of felt or rubber). Place one of the hihat cymbals onto the clutch and put the cymbal felt followed by the nut back onto the clutch. View image.
20. On the erected hihat stand place the large metal washer followed by the large cymbal felt over the pull rod.
21. Next, place the remaining hihat cymbal on top of the large felt.
22. Now put the hihat clutch onto the pull rod and secure in place by tightening the wing nut provided at the top of the clutch. (The most common set up puts the cymbal in the clutch about 1 - 2 inches above the bottom hihat cymbal. And the hihat stand on the left of the snare drum when you are seated behind the bass drum.) View image.
23. Adjust the height of the hihat stand using the wing nut provided half way up the shaft of the stand. The hihat cymbals should sit about 5 -7- inches above the snare drum.

*To ensure that the height of the hihat stand remains the same while playing and during any additional times the drums are set up, use the memory clamp provided on the body of the hihat stand. Once the desired position is reached secure the memory locks, using the drum key, at the end of the arm on either side, notching the memory clamp into the space provided.*

Cymbal and cymbal stand set up-

*The SD5225 and SD3225 do not come with cymbals but do include the hardware (stands) to mount them.*

24. On the cymbal stand loosen the wing nut and spread the tripod legs on the bottom. Do not move wing nut all the way to the bottom of the stand, this splays the legs too far and will take up too much room, instead, keep the legs at approximately a 45 degree angle. Tighten the wing nut to secure in place. View image.
25. Unscrew the black plastic wing nut from the top of the cymbal stand. Remove the wing nut and one cymbal felt. Place the cymbal onto the cymbal stand and replace the felt washer followed by the wing nut. The cymbal should be seated between the two felt washers. View image.
26. The angle of the cymbal can be adjusted by the cymbal tilter located on the cymbal stand just underneath where the cymbal is seated. Loosen the wing nut provided on the cymbal tilter, adjust to what feels comfortable while you are seated behind the drum set, and tighten the wing nut to secure. (The most common set up puts the cymbal stand to the right of the middle tom, just above the floor tom.)

Drum throne (seat) assembly and set up-

*The SD5225 and SD3225 do not come with drum thrones.*

28. On the drum throne loosen the wing nut and spread the tripod legs at the bottom. Do not move wing nut all the way to the bottom of the stand, this splays the legs too far and will take up too much room, instead, keep the legs at approximately a 45 degree angle. Tighten the wing nut to secure in place.
29. Loosen the wingnut on the seat of the drum throne and place the seat onto the tripod base. Tighten the wingnut to secure. Adjust the height of the drum throne to what feels comfortable and tighten the wingnut to secure. (The most common set up is when seated with your feet on the pedals your legs are at an angle just above 90 degrees.) View image.

*You are now set to play! Here is a diagram of the most common set up that you can refer to, but you can set your drum set any way you want to!. There are no rules. View image.*

*For how to care for your drumset please refer to Care of Acoustic Drum Set.*

*Remember that protecting your ears is very important if you want to keep your hearing. Custom fit ear plugs can be purchased through a variety of companies, but even the foam ear plugs that you can purchase at the pharmacy are better then nothing.*

*Also drum lessons are great way to start out! It is important that you earn the correct techniques right away so as not to develop poor technique. This could possibly lead to injuries such as tendonitus or carpal tunnel syndrome. You can check out the Tom Lee Music Academy for a look at Tom Lee's music lesson program and our great instructors! Or visit the nearest location of Tom Lee Music for information.*

*If lessons don't appeal to you but you want a little bit of guidance Tom Lee Music also offers a wide variety of instruction books and DVDs to help get you started.*