A little history is in order I think.  This kit is a direct descendant of the Arbiter Flats kit, however  the basic design has been changed and many of the original ideas have been revamped to the point that the new Traps kit is superior and more contemporary than its predecessor.

I was given a full A400 to take away and play with and while I didn''t use it on a gig  I did use it at a full band rehearsal.  This is what I found:

Drums
The snare - The key to any kit.  This snare is a 12 affair and doesn''t have a shell per se. As you''ll see from the photos, it has what you could probably deem a top and a bottom without actually having a shell in the traditional sense.  It has a throwoff and facility to alter the tension of the snare wires which is a pretty cool thing considering its depth and design.  Each head has 8 lugs and the drum and throwoff are made of heavy duty plastic.

Sound-wise it obviously doesn''t have the depth and character of a Craviotto, but it does sound like a snare drum and it is sensitive enough to play subtle ghost notes on with no problem.  It gets a bit ringy when you rimshot it hard, but hey, you''re probably not going to be playing the new Wembley stadium with it, so what does it matter?

Traps Kit

Toms
These are single headed and mounted directly off the rack and because of this are quite sturdy to play.  Sizes are 10, 12 and 14”.  They come with Remo Pinstripe heads which give a deep tone with little in the way of overtones.  I did also try the 10” with an Aquarian clear Double Thin head which I personally found brought the drum to life a bit more.  As it was, the Pinstripes when amplified sounded full and I was quite impressed by this.  When unamplified they sounded a little dull to my ears, but having said that, I''m not a real fan of Pinstripes, so that''s probably why.

Bass drum
This is a 20” double-headed drum again without a shell; pretty much the same as the snare.  It comes with pre-muffled heads which reduces the need for any further muffling should you not want it. 

The drum itself mounts between the upright posts of the rack via two clamps and on the bottom of the drum is a mounting plate for the bass drum pedal.  A brief time spent tuning allowed me to get a useable tone without much problem and left me with something I was quite happy with.  Again, when mic''ed up, this drum really livened up a lot - it made a real difference.  It feels like a real bass drum when played and reacted like one too.  Again, obviously it''s not going to have the punch of a deep shell, but it''s not designed for that.

Hard stuff
The stands/hardware package come from relatively new British company Big Dog.  As their gear has been already reviewed, I won''t go into detail about it here.  Suffice to say it''s study and works well and compliments the kit.  The mounting arms go from the rack into the blocks on the drums and because of the toothed/ribbed design on the block (I''m clearly not an engineer) there is no real chance of slippage once tightened.  This means you can hit the drums hard and not have to worry about them slipping or falling off.

The rack is lightweight, sturdy and black.  There''s not really a lot more I can say about it really.  It''s the same sort of thing that came with the old Simmons electronic kits in the 1980''s for those old enough to remember them.

Heads
All drums have Remo heads fitted as standard, which, if you know anything about drum heads, will let you know you''re on to a winner.  They''ve clearly been chosen to make the drums as practical as possible straight out of the box and in that respect do a good job.

Cymbals
Yep, you get cymbals too.  Nothing flash here, but again, that''s not the point.  You get 13” hihats, a 14” crash and an 18” ride and the latter two mounting off the rack. 

Thoughts
All in all, I''ve been well impressed with this kit.  It''s lightweight, portable and inexpensive.  It''s obvious that a lot of thought has gone into the design and manufacture process and given that an absolute beginner can pick up one of these kits and have everything they need, must make it well worth a look for everyone in that position - you even get a pair of sticks thrown in.  The fact that all the drums have ''normal'' hoops and tuning is nice and they actually feel like ''real'' drums too, which to me makes it a step above similar kits. 

One important thing which I think will be invaluable to anyone picking up the kit for the first time and more particularly, is new to drumming, is that you get instructions on how to put the whole thing together.  We''re not talking a ragged bit of paper here either, these are clear photographs with written details and come on a laminated page.  Another nice touch, I think.  I''ll go as far and say this one aspect alone makes the kit idiot proof, although there weren''t any guitarists around at the time to try that theory on, so I''ll leave it unproven for now.

I know I''ve harped on a bit about the beginner aspect of the kit, after all that''s how it came to me, but I also know for a fact that Kinks drummer Bob Henrit has been out using his kit on professional gigs as well.  And then there''s the recording and practice aspects to consider too for the more seasoned guys wanting a portable kit.  There is also a phase two planned for the kit, which, while I''m not going to spoil it for the company, is the explanation for the little odd bits either side of the mounting bracket on each drum.

I''ll also add that even the website looks pretty cool - very uncluttered, informative and let''s you know who you can deal with at the company.  There is a sub-section of the site where you can hear what the kit sounds like individually or get part numbers for different configurations, like if you only want the drums but no hardware.

For more info head over to http://www.trapsdrums.com/ or http://www.trapsdrums.com/A400microsite.htm 

On a final note, I''ll add one thing which I noticed when I took the kit out - it was fun to play.  I can''t think of a better reason to recommend a kit.

RRP: £365 ?

David Bateman
July 2005