Description

Price: €300. I'm open to swaps, trades or part-exchange so let me know what you have. Please check my other ads for more drum stuff.

DESCRIPTION:
10" / 12" / 14" Toms.
20" Bass Drum with legs.
(No snare drum with sale.)

NOTE: Sale at this price does not include the carrying bag.

All genuine Arbiter Flats Pro Drums, from around 1998-1999. Plastic hardware mounts, meaning these drums are from the second generation of Arbiter's Flats Pro kits. There was earlier-made Arbiter Flats Pro drums which had all-metal mounts, which made them heavier, but much more sturdy/road-worthy.
Like all Arbiter drums, they feature a revolutionary tuning system, which involves ONE tension rod for tightening or loosening the tension on the drum head. These drums were part of Arbiter's quite revolutionary "Flats" range, which were shell-less drums, a bit like Roto-Toms, but with the Arbiter tuning system. Arbiter later produced the Arbiter Flats Lite, which although in principle were similar, they were all-plastic in construction and really were not road-worthy at all, so please remember that important distinction if interested in buying.

There's genuine Arbiter "Flats Lite" branded drum heads on the 10", 12" and 14" toms. Note: these are not Flats "Lite" drums, but the tom heads are. The toms sound lively and melodic, with a lot of tone coming from the heads, if tuned right. I've used Remo Coated Emperor heads on these with similar results, but with them on, they're a little bit more ringy. All toms are best mounted using an "L" Rod or similar.
The 20" bass drum has a dented drum head which is playable, but will need replacement. If I can find a better 20" head from my used heads, I'll throw it in with the sale. There's quite a surprising lovely round Boom off the bass drum, and at low volume, it functions really well as a bass drum.

Overall, shell-less drums will not have the type of body, guts and balls that regular drums have, but they do offer a lot for certain gigs where an emphasis on all of that isn't what's demanded from the drums. Depending on the context, these drums have their place and can actually be a really good fit!

CONDITION:
Pretty good. There's some dings and scratches, and occasional age-related rust spots on the chrome, which I will spend time eliminating as much as possible before sale.

REASON FOR SELLING:
I've decided to sell off all of my quite extensive collection of Arbiter drums as I'm not really using them, and haven't really used them that much, so it's time for someone else to enjoy them. I was initially attracted and fascinated by Arbiter's tuning system.
I've used all of these drums, for very light use-I've literally just tipped it playing on musical theatre gigs. For me they're not really drums that I could use on anything else that I'm doing at the moment. This kit with mesh heads would make an excellent practice kit, or for converting to an e-kit. On a live gig these drums have their advantages: considering that the drums are shell-less, the whole kit takes up less space on stage and also in transit. There's not any other acoustic kit that I know (comprised of a bass drum and THREE toms) that can be carried with one hand.