This is not the first time I've looked at a 200 series set from Trak, but this one has Power toms and a deep bass drum. In common with all the Oriental companies HRK, who make the drums, have brought out a cheap set with fashionable, slightly deeper shells. HRK is a consortium, and those letters are the initials of the famous companies who comprise it. (H is a shell-maker, K makes the stands, and R is responsible for distribution.) I've written before that there's such a wealth of experience within the consortium that they should know what they're up to.

The 200 series shells have nine ply shells without glue-rings made from an Oriental hardwood called Luan. The interiors are coated in something called Zola which is a flecked paint rather like one sees on the communal walls of apartment buildings. It's there to seal the pores, and make sure that both the insides and outsides react evenly to humidity and extremes of heat. All the bearing edges are smooth and clean, and the joints within the shell are set at an acute angle. These individual laminates are glued together under pressure in a heated environment.

Bass drum

200 bass drums measure 22" x 16" with the usual metal hoops inlaid with plastic and a rubber block on the batter side to accommodate the bass drum pedal. There's a total of 16 wedge, or more accurately, chisel shaped nut boxes which are bedded onto rubber with a rubber insert within to keep the swivel nut in place. The claws are cast as are the off-set 'T' handled tensioners. The two bass drum spurs are set well forward for good support — they mount to a block which is a large boss with splines set into itself. There's a similar set of splines formed into the spur proper and a large wing bolt fitted with a spring locking the two parts together. The business end of the spur can be either spiked or rubber tipped and there's a threaded portion which can be adjusted should you want the front of your brass drum to be even higher.

Trak supply a felt strip damper for the batter head which, like all the other heads on the wooden shelled drums, is a copy of one of Remo's Weather Masters with a silver spot and a plastic self hoop. I must say these heads are a slight improvement on the old coated ones they used to use. However, the bass drum sound could be more convincing if a double-ply head were to be fitted. It could do with a little more thump, but you could always fit one when the original wore out. The double tom holder block is diamond shaped, an inch or so high, set towards the front of the drum (so the toms can be set close together yet still at a comfortable distance away from the player) with a pair of slots machined into it to locate its memory locking clamp.

Toms

The two mounted drums are extra deep, whereas the floor tom isn't. The smallest drums measure 12" x 10", and 13" x 11"; both have six square headed tension screws and chisel shaped nut boxes per head. The floor tom, which measures the usual 16" x 16" has the normal eight. All these drums have triple-flange hoops and the mounted drums have cast holder blocks with internal eye-bolts fixed to their shells. This is unusual since it's cheaper to fit blocks with screws tapped directly into them (like the three leg holders of the floor tom). All drums have the usual hole drilled into their shells to help dissipate the air and allow the heads to respond evenly. The toms and snare drum have internal, under-batter-head operating dampers fitted which are made from spring steel. They have neat, solid-looking control knobs set outside the shell. Soundwise, these toms too would benefit from better quality, more resilient heads. (The tone is already deeper than before because of the elongated shells, but as I said they could easily be improved.)

Snare

I found it rather strange that Trak could go to the lengths of making a deeper set without supplying 6½" shelled snare drum. The one they supply is called SD5-2 and has a 5" metal shell, but since it's available with a slightly deeper shell I can't see why they don't include it in the set.

Anyway, the shell is quite heavy for an economy priced drum. It would appear to be ever so slightly thicker than usual with roll over bearing edges, a slight snare bed and a pair of strengthening beads formed into the side. It has eight double-ended nut boxes with a total of 16 square headed tension screws. I liked the snare mechanism which is made from pressed steel, but very positive. It works on the same principle as a hinge or a case-clasp with a cam section away from the drum. It's adjustable, of course, and its butt end is pressed steel with a pair of Philips screws to secure the plastic strip which joins the strainer to the 16 strand snares. This drum too has an internal damper and while it doesn't sound too cheap, a better batter head and a see through snare head would make a great deal of difference. Even so, it's still quite a 'bright' sounding instrument.

Accessories

All the 200 series stands have single braced, flat steel legs with large wedge shaped feet and wear resisting nylon blocks fitted at the height adjustment points. All screws are large and 'T' shaped to lock the positions solidly.

The snare drum stand works on the old 'Buck Rogers' principle with an adjustment basket holding mechanism. A capstan nut runs up a cast thread beneath the basket arms which are sheathed in rubber at their very ends. The holding mechanism uses the sort of sprung ratchet filter normally found on cymbal filters. A large 'T' bolt locks the playing angle solid, and as far as I can see this is one of the lowest stands I've seen. The hi-hat stand has a centre-pull mechanism with a Tripod base and those wear resisting inserts. It has a two piece case footplate to match the bass drum pedals and is fitted with an adjustable toe-stop. The frame itself is cast with a tapped in, screw-adjustable sprung spur in the centre below the 'plate'. All the tubes are substantial (for a budget set) and the mechanism is joined by a metal strip. The top cymbal clutch is larger than almost anybody else's with a reasonably substantial adjustable bottom cymbal clutch. This is not too bad a pedal at all and reasonably smooth.

I'd like to be able to say that the bass drum pedal was smooth, too, but unfortunately it isn't. To all intents and purposes it's the same as the one I saw a couple of years ago which they said at the time they were updating. In essence, it's a twin-post, twin expansion spring model with a cast two piece footboard, a man made fibre strap and toe stop. (The strap loops around a saddle which has a spigot protruding from it which locates and is locked into the adjustable cam block which as usual retains the felt better). Underneath the footplate we find an 'open-jaw' clamp which fixes (via a wing bolt) the pedal to the hoop. I'm afraid it really is a very fiddly piece of machinery and not at all in keeping with the rest of the set.

My catalogue shows only one three stage cymbal stand supplied with the power tom set. It has exactly the same tripod base as the other stands with all the other features like the wear resisting blocks and large 'T' screws. The tubes are substantial enough for today's players and the filter has a cast ratchet with a spring inside and the usual collection of washers and cymbal topping wing nuts. It will go plenty high enough for normal playing.

Traks' tom holder is as far as I can see the same for all the different priced sets. It's based on the omni-sphere principle with a plastic ball trapped inside a cage and held fast by a large wing bolt. The ball has an extralong splined 'L' shaped arm protruding which goes into the holder block affixed to the tom shell. The holder block's position on the 'L' arm is remembered by a 'drum-key-operated-memory clamp' so you consistently retain the same height and playing angle. There's a further hole at the front of the tom holder to locate the top portion of a boom stand or perhaps another tom holder. There's a down tube, of course, which locates into that cast block fixed to the bass drum's shell.

To sum up, there are three different colours available for the latest 2000 series sets; including solid black and white. The set now looks less of a budget priced one too. Its interiors are clean where many of the mid priced sets aren't). The price seems to have escalated a little since 1983 (it listed at £389 then) but you are getting a few more inches for your money and I'm very hard pushed to think of any other product which hasn't had a price increase over the past couple of years.

For: Price; power toms
Against: Cheap heads, foot pedal

TRAK DRUMCHECKTRAK 205 (deep shells) - RRP: £489