Sonor AQ2 Bop 4-piece Shell Pack with Snare - White Marine Pearl Reviews

Love this kit! Purchased it in November with no regrets.
I was looking for a new gigging kit that would be lighter and an easier in and out.
I paired the kit with the Crosstown hardware from Yamaha because of the lighter weight and stability.
I play Jazz, Blues and Rock and this kit with it's maple shells compliment the genres perfectly.
Sweetwater has great prices and fast shipping. But more importantly GREATTTTTT!! Customer service.
My gear specialist was Zack..his communication and friendly follow up was a breath of fresh air!
I will definitely buy from Sweetwater in the future.

I bought this kit pretty much on a whim. I hadn't thought about Sonor drums and knew little about them. I had watched a Sweetwater video tour of the Sonor drum factory and was impressed with what I saw. Other than that, I had read a few reviews, all of which were very favorable. I was apprehensive about getting this kit until I began unpacking them. As I opened the boxes, I was rewarded by absolutely beautiful, high end White Marine Pearl wrapped drums, flawless diagonal seam shells with smooth, sharp bearing edges and shiny chrome cast lugs aplenty. The tom holder and cymbal arm are rock solid. After changing out the heads (Remo Coated Ambassadors top and bottom on the toms, Coated Diplomat over Hazy Ambassador on the snare, and PS3 on the 18" bass batter) I tuned to my liking and WOW! This kit is hands-down my favorite of the 12 kits (entry level, intermediate and pro) I've owned through my musical journey. Warm, resonant maple sound and sizes designed for ease of playing. The 6x14 10 lug snare is snappy, solid and crisp. The toms are lively, warm and resonant. The 14x18 bass drum belies it's dimensions with punchy pure pleasure! Although I no longer gig, I would not have hesitated to take these out on the stage, certainly with mics when needed. They are also the perfect size and sound for my home basement studio. I almost pulled the trigger on a well known birch bop kit, but knew I would soon miss the sound of maple shells. These drums check all the boxes from appearance to performance. Although it took some fiddling to get the bass drum sounding punchy and big, persistence paid off. I couldn't be happier with these Sonor AQ2's. They are an absolute blast to play. The only minor negative I have is the black Sonor badges. They look a bit overpowering on these drum sizes, but then again, I'm happy and proud to display the Sonor name.

I'm a middle aged, guitar player with a recent interest in drumming. I've played in bands for the past 5-6 years and have seen a wide variety of kits and drummers. Following a month or so of shopping, I decided to go with a "better" grade of shell kit rather than a beginner's all in one package. After inspecting and assembling, I can't say that I'm disappointed in any way. No fit or finish flaws and the 18" kick is just the size I was looking for. Perfect for my home studio (bonus room). The white pearl wrap is stylish and understated. I don't think I'll need to upgrade to a different kit in the future, only expand it a bit. Thanks to my Sales Engineer, Kingsley Davis for helping me pull the trigger.

These drums sound fantastic. The stage appeal , with the beautiful white pearl wrap, along with the beautiful chrome lugs, hardware etc just gives the kit an elegant appeal. I have had many compliments on the look and sound. Don't be fooled by the 18" bass drum. With a Lockport it can handle just about any gig. From Jazz in an intimate room , to full on dance / R&B to rock!! Worst case, Mike them up. These drums do not let you down. 7/Ply maple really has an outstanding resonance. I like them so much I'm getting the 20" bass drum
And I'm going to order another floor Tom 16x16".

Going old school !!!! And , Sweetwater has been very helpful and supportive!

I just purchased the Sonor Bop kit after looking at a bunch of others, both online and in stores. I had almost decided to go with the Ludwig brand and not pay the extra for the Sonor. I am glad I made this decision. I really like the hardware on this kit. It is definitely a step up in quality of the metal itself as well as the design. I like the method used to secure the tom to the bass as well as having a cymbal arm without having to have another stand. I purchased these because my other kit is a full-size Tama and takes up too much room in the house. The Sonor fits nicely in the corner of the room and still has great sound. I am having to get used to pushing the bass pedal a bit harder as it is a shorter throw. Because the bass is smaller, I had to cut part of the stem off the bass pedal beater so that it would not hit the head. I also turned it around so that the hard side of the beater is used and not the felt side.
The kit came shipped in two boxes and took me no time to put it together. If you have never had drums though, you will need a little help. Finally, the crew at Sweetwater is very quick to respond to your calls and also helpful with technical questions. I had looked at others online and their service was outstanding.

Got this kit and replaced the stock heads with evans all around and they tune easily and sound about as smooth as my DW collector kit , at a third of the price, they are quite solid and taking them on the road in a few days.

In the couple weeks I've had it I've loved this drumset, with the right heads you can make then sound amazing. The Tom and cymbal arm cuts down a lot of tear down and setup time. The kit as a whole is also very easy to setup quickly.

Very nice kit with all the Sonor quality still there,for the price. 18 in bass drum punches just enough, but not too loud for smaller venues.
Only issue is I had to replace all the stock heads, because the UT remo chinese heads are terrible.

I'm the rare guy whose wife encourages him to golf, buys him an electric guitar for his birthday, AND doesn't object when he entertained the thought of getting drums. A rare bird is she that thanks you for being so thoughtful outfitting those drums with silent stroke heads, and low volume cymbals. Maybe she should really be thanking my Sweetwater connection Chris Lewis - he's been my Sweetwater expert for at least 12 years, and I look forward to many more. Now, RLRR LRLL RL...

I'm really glad I ordered from Sweetwater. Why?

I ordered in 2021. It became available in 2022. We had to move across country suddenly after we lost our jobs and housing. Kit was accidentally sent to old address. Sweetwater took care of all that, no problems!

It wasn't until late summer/early fall last year that I could finally unbox, examine and assemble. I was dismayed to find the bearing edge of the kick drum had been crushed. I took the heads off the other drums and found some significant but smaller flaws in the floor tom. Sweetwater swapped out the shells, no problem.

A couple weeks later, I was assembling the kit. One foot of the kick spurs was stripped, so it didn't tighten. Sweetwater again to the rescue.

Finally, several weeks later I felt like I was really fighting the RT and FT. They just would not stay in tune. So I went over them really thoroughly and found something really surprising, that I haven't seen or heard anyone talk about before. The hoops were malformed. Not out of round, but the primary flange that you tighten the tension rods and washers against wasn't bent up fully to a 90 degree angle on several of the lugs...the same ones that seemed to be constantly going out of tune! I checked the snare and found several on the snare as well. Think I got a bad batch of hoops. Again Sweetwater to the rescue, new batch of hoops. These ones were tighter fitting overall. One was bent pretty badly out of round but I could take care of that myself. At that point I finally had a working drum kit!

See pics for examples.

It honestly sounds great and looks really cool. I lucked out that the white marble wrap is also the least expensive option, because it honestly looks the coolest to my eyes.

People complain about the stock heads but they are IMO just a little lighter in construction than eg your std single ply and more sensitive to tuning issues that create unpleasant overtones. I'm a big proponent of fixing issues at their source (no post production will save a poorly tuned kit and a poor performance).

Now that I have finally jad some time to get to know this kit...I can say this kit really sings. The maple snare has a great tuning range and is really easy to work with. It's not an AMAZING snare but a real versatile workhorse. I would say the same for kick. It has a surprisingly wide tuning range. I can get a nice deep thump, or a more jungle/jazz sound. I actually feel most limited by the toms and they have a pretty standard tuning range too. Balance and dynamic range gives me plenty of room to mix the kit. Tuning on all drums is buttery smooth. Sometimes I think I'd prefer a 20x12 kick but only by a hair. I'm a pretty short guy so I think the 18x14 suits me better and it's only 2 more inches of precious floorspace.

I don't play super loud music, though. Blues, acoustic jazz, fusion, r&b/neo-soul, indie folk rock. Put it all in a blender. This kit would need to be mic'd for anything louder. I don't play anything that a 5-10 watt tube amp through a 1x12 or 2x8 can't handle. I'll be using it mostly for arranging and recording demos. Primary instruments are guitar, bass, piano, mandolin.

Now that I'm familiar with it all, the hardware is excellent. Feels really solid, well engineered and easy to work with, highly adjustable. Love the tom-cymbal mount. The memory locks are a nice touch but they do make adjustments a little more finicky until you have it dialed in.

I also got the 2000LT hardware pack. Hardly lightweight but great value. Some minor stripping on the wingnut threads of the cymbal stand but nothing that I felt like complaining about.

I purchased these drums last year when they were out of stock. They were available again in March iirc. Then we moved across country earlier this year. Then Sweetwater accidentally sent them to the wrong (old) address (which they took care of, no problems!). Finally got them set up a few months ago.

I'll mainly be using them to record demos. They sound and look great. The hardware and design is fantastic. Everything feels solid, and even with the (let's admit, UT ambassadors aren't terrible, folks...) stock heads they sound good. The snare of itself is a great value. Good shell, hoops and throw-off. I haven't upgraded the heads yet, because I've been dealing with a string of manufacturing defects.

First, the kick came with a bearing edge with a major flaw. FT came with a smaller flaw. Sweetwater replaced those shells no issue. Second, one of the threaded plasted kick spur feet sleeve sets were stripped and just wouldn't snug down. Again Sweetwater sent me a replacement, no problem. Now I am dealing with the 1.6mm hoops being incorrectly formed, where the main flange was never bent up to a full 90 degree angle. I suspect they'll replace those hoops. Lastly, there are some minor flaws in cymbal hardware threads on both the cymbal arm and the 2000 series hardware pack I bought with the shells that can make it difficult to start the wing nut, but is minor enough to live with.

I am really glad I got the 18" instead of the 16" for more standard sizes but sometimes do wish it were a 14 x 20. Not a huge deal, the 18 has a fairly wide tuning range. It sings and with a little selective muffling it'll give a decent thump. So I tune the batter to pitch and feel, and tune the reso to the sound I want for the room. I use that approach for all the drums and it works well (shout out to Steve Maxwell and Sounds Like a Drum for great tuning tutorials!).

5 stars to Sweetwater! Even though the discovery of these faults has been annoying, that is all it has been becaise Sweetwater does such a good job woth service and support! Without any of these QC issues, i would give the drums 4.5-5 stars.

The drums sound pretty good (though the floor tom is a bit too 'boomy".

Note: I've had several of the lug nuts fail, with the floor tom falling over. There has been NO response from Sonor even weeks after inquiries. So, keep some M8 wing nuts on hand. Just in case...