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Transparent double-ply heads are fi tted on the toms, which sound melodic, punchy and fat

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• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

On the rack

The big news is that Flats Lite now comes with its own rack mount. Previously there were two floor stands and, because the drums are so light, it sometimes felt as though they were liable to get knocked over. The heavy gauge steel rack, which is made in house, gives you complete confidence to thrash away. It also means you can lift the whole kit and move it around with relative ease.

The horizontal curved mounting bar not only looks cool, it has a practical advantage. When you tighten the mounting clamps they grab better, which makes the toms more stable. We're told that's why racks have curved bars - something we'd not considered before.

The snare drum is mounted on a cradle which is attached to the frame upright (on left or right, so no problems if you're a lefty). The two cymbal arms slot into the two outer vertical posts of the rack and the rack has four monster feet for non-slip grip. Along with the rack you get bass drum and hi-hat pedals, two cymbal arms and a stool.

These are the same CB models you find on the budget CB drum kits which have been a great success for Arbiter in recent years. The stands and stool are lightweight, which is fine. But the pedals, although there's nothing wrong with them, are starting to look rather dated, especially in comparison with the rest of the kit.

Completing the kit there's an 18" ride/crash, 14" crash and a pair of 13" hi-hats, made by a certain Canadian cymbal company. They're inevitably cheap brass efforts, but good enough to get you started. The 14" is short on sustain, the 18" rides well but is a bit of a clanger and the hi-hats are fine, particularly when played closed.

Comparison

The major difference between the Traps kit and Flats is the tuning system. Flats has the unique Arbiter single-lug tuning and V clamp construction, whereas breakaway company Traps has reverted to the traditional steel rims and multi-lugs of normal drums. With drummers being a conservative lot, the latter will appeal to many.

We also found that the Traps snare drum worked better, but then the single lug tuning of the Flats toms is a great help for new drummers.

Flats also has the attractive curved rack bar, while Traps scores with its double-headed bass drum and better quality Big Dog hardware. This is, however, reflected in Traps' marginally higher recommended retail price.

The AT tension system was a major passion of its inventor Ivor Arbiter. Mr Arbiter felt that all drummers would benefit from single-bolt tuning. It is certainly something that could be a godsend to many youngsters, not to mention schools and drum teachers.