As posted on Philmusic.com's Pinoydrums Forum, under the Reverse9 Basix drums @ the EveryMusic Store thread...
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I just checked out the Reverse9 Basix drumkit at the EveryMusic Store.
Appearance-wise, the drums really look great. The natural birch finish is elegant. The finish is smooth and well-done. The Basix logo on the drum shells are stickers, which may peel off in due time. The guy in the store even joked that you can take off the logo sticker and put a sticker of a different brand hehehe, or your name on it! If this kit were mine, I like it without the decal, in order to show more of the natural birch grain and finish.
The hardware provided is of good quality. The cymbal stands are decent and solid. The bass drum and hi-hat pedals are also of decent quality, though its footboards have side-to-side motion (which I'm really finicky with). The tom mounts use a ball joint system, and they're pretty solid and user-friendly. As an added bonus, the rack toms are mounted using RIMS-style suspension mounts.
I never had the chance to test it, and I didn't bother asking anymore if I can, because the stock drumheads (which are all provided by Remo) are still clean; I don't want to somehow spoil its showroom appeal (and maybe that's why they set it up awkwardly; so that we wouldn't be able to test it haha). But I tapped the drums (yes, it's not a "don't tap the drum" shop) and it produced a wonderful, musical timbre.
I also like the fact that its 22" bass drum and 14" snare drum have 10 lugs per side, which gives the kit a more professional look (most entry-level and mid-level kits have 8 lugs on their 22" kicks and 14" snares, for cost-cutting purpose), and is better for tuning purposes. The snare drum's throw-off mechanism is quite bulky for my taste, but it does its job nicely. I also love the fusion size toms. The 14" floor tom looks pretty. I lifted it to check how it weighs. It's not so heavy, which is a good thing for the gigging drummer. This is a really Pogi kit - and that's Pogi with a capital P!
According to the EveryMusic website, the price of this kit is Php64,500. At the shop, the tag price is Php50K. But right now, it's on sale for Php40K. I asked the guy is we can buy the kit without the snare drum (since some of us drummers already have a bunch of snare drums)... No, we can't. I asked if we can have some add-on toms ordered, in case we wish to expand the kit... No, we can't. What we see is what we get. The Reverse9 Basix kit is only sold as a whole set.
And the dude said that Reverse9 is a Korean company, but their factory is in Indonesia. He even mentioned Yamaha, which also has an Indonesian factory for their entry-level kits. I reckon that these drums may be manufactured in that same plant where Yamaha entry-level drums are made. In fact, I think the Basix kit has a Yamaha resemblance, which may be a positive thing. What can you say about that, guys? By the way, the guy from the store seems to be very friendly.
Bottomline... This is a great-buy 100% birch drumkit. Pwede!
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Philmusic.Com's Pinoydrums Forum
http://talk.philmusic.com/board/index.php/board,153.0Reverse9 Website
http://www.reverse9.com/EveryMusic Website
http://www.everymusicph.com/
