Traps Drums Review - 2018

Posted in Drums | Last Updated on October 4, 2018

 

Traps drums manufacturers acoustic and electronic sets that are basically a molded rim to hold a drum hoop and a head. They don't actually have a shell. Much like a practice pad set. This of course makes them extremely easy to pack and travel with. Of course having no shell at all gives you pretty unique tone as well.

HISTORY

Traps was started by Alchemy in Dorset, UK. They specialized in plastic molds which they created for a drum manufacturer. Arbiter Group PLC put all these parts together to create the "Flats" set in late 2004.

At this time, Nigel Robinson from Arbiter and Chris Fletcher from Alchemy fused their resources together to come up with a new design. Traps was born.

Since the toms could not be mounted from the bass drum shell, (Because there ISN'T one) a simple rack is used to secure the bass drum, snare, toms and cymbals.

By November 2005, a deal was signed to distribute Traps drums to the United states and Canada under the Cappello Music. Co.

Keep in mind that the prices listed here are just a general ball park. Each retailer's price may vary to some degree due to promotions, or sales, or whatever. Today it's a common practice to sell "Shell packs", meaning that no hardware is included. These, obviously, can be found for less than an entire kit with hardware and goodies included.

Traps Drums A-400 Review

The Traps A-400 NC Acoustic set is the flagship set of Traps. The goal was to make them extremely easy to transport while maintaining the sound a of a regular drum kit. The rims are made from A.B.S. (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene - it's a fancy term for high grade plastic)

The set comes with a 12" snare, a 10" and 12" rack tom, and a 14" floor tom. The bass drum is 20". The set comes equipped with Remo drum heads and the chrome rack. When you're done, just fold it up and set it anywhere.

There is also an electronic version of the A-400 we'll cover on another page.

The lack of shells is not really that noticeable outside of the fatter tone you get from the toms. The resonance isn't any more or less than a standard drum kit. The only major difference is they are about 1/2 as loud. The snare has a nice crisp snap to it and the bass is a bit more boomy but you can still get a pretty nice punch out of it too.

This is all of course, if they are tuned properly. They do shake and creak a bit and trying to do a cross stick is challenging but you get more flexibility with moving the toms because they are easy to move and you aren't kicking as many things with your feet underneath.