Best Buys from NAMM 2014?

RobertM

Platinum Member
After reviewing the seemingly slim pickings from NAMM this year, I'll venture an opinion that the revised Yamaha Stage Custom (birch) kits and the Crush Eminent Birch or Acrylic kits are the best quality-to-purchase options. These kits seem to have super solid quality at very affordable prices, and they all sound pretty darn good.

  • The Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple: far too overpriced, especially for its Chinese-made location/labor. $2,999.00 for the most basic 4 pc. kit? Really??
  • Tama, to my knowledge, has zero kits to offer--nothing in Starclassic range--and no new finishes, really, in the SC range. Only the 40th Anniversary snare line looks cool.
  • Pearl has the BCX kits, which are affordably priced around $1499, but a meager three finish options that each leave something to be desired (the bronze and silver glitter lacquer are eye-destroyingly bright).
  • The Mapex Armory line and the new bearing edges sound cool, but, again, the finishes are hideous or average/decent at best.

What do folks think? I'm really hard pressed to see anything that beats the Stage Customs or Crush Eminents/Acrylics, and of this grouping the new Stage Customs would seem to be the winner: they sound good, quality/hardware has been improved, finishes are pretty good, and drums sizes good and flexible (e.g., Crush Eminents offer no 18", I believe).
 
...The Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple: far too overpriced, especially for its Chinese-made location/labor. $2,999.00 for the most basic 4 pc. kit? Really??...

...What do folks think?...


I think I'd like to see a link to where you're getting that price.

I have Stage Customs, so my thoughts on those are probably biased (I like 'em, and the new ones too.)

Not drums, but I think that new 20" Zildjian Dark Thin Crash is gonna' be nice.
 
I noticed that there wasn't really a "this years product" everyone was talking about.

The Signet from Ludwig had some talk, but other than that, not much seems to be going on other than some different edges or whatever (Mapex), some nice finishes.

The new Yamaha YESS with 4 holes is just dumb IMO. They should just go back to the mount on the drum. Their mount never inhibited the resonance when I played them back in the day.

Pearl's new snares seem real nice. New lugs and a new strainer.

The one thing I WILL get this year is the new Gibraltar flat base snare stand with the Ultra Adjust basket.
This is what Ludwig SHOULD HAVE DONE with their ATLAS flat base snare stand.

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/?fa=detail&mid=3163&sid=683&cid=123
 

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[*]The Mapex Armory line and the new bearing edges sound cool, but, again, the finishes are hideous or average/decent at best.

They had a couple of finishes that were nice. The Armory series doesn't cost and arm and leg though. I don't recall the exact price I was told, but it was much cheaper than I anticipated for the quality of the product.

What do folks think? I'm really hard pressed to see anything that beats the Stage Customs or Crush Eminents/Acrylics,

In terms of pure cost, the Premier XPK. 7 pc all birch shells for $799 MAP was the best value I saw.



Didnt I just read that the starclassic will have an option coming in the Onyx Wrap finish?

Indeed

The pic I took
Tama_01.jpg
 
....The Armory series doesn't cost and arm and leg though. I don't recall the exact price I was told, but it was much cheaper than I anticipated for the quality of the product.....

One of the big box stores has the 5 piece Armory for $829, and the 6 piece for $899.
the 5 piece Mars is $599





I really don't see the point of the Marquee, when the Renowns are available.
 
One of the big box stores has the 5 piece Armory for $829, and the 6 piece for $899.
the 5 piece Mars is $599
.

Holly cow!

In person, The Armory looked like a $1600-2000 type of drum kit.

It's ridiculous how much cheaper drums are compared to 10-20 years ago.

I don't need another drum kit, but if an Armory fell into my lap, I'd certainly play it.
 
The one thing I WILL get this year is the new Gibraltar flat base snare stand with the Ultra Adjust basket.
This is what Ludwig SHOULD HAVE DONE with their ATLAS flat base snare stand.

Woa, this is the first I have seen of the new Gibraltar stuff. I'm not really on the market for a new kit or cymbals but I would always love some new hardware. I have the flat base cymbal stands and I love them. Wondering what these sexy new snare stands will retail for...
 
Red Menace:
Probably around an $85 or $90 street price--comparing it to the 8606 version with the 7/8-3/4 tubing.

There is also a 8706 regular toothed stand coming out.
Looks like this, and the Ultra Adjust stands have slightly larger tubing (like the ATLAS stuff has) than the 8600 series.
 
In another thread they are saying that the Ludwig Signet got best in show for drums...
 
After reviewing the seemingly slim pickings from NAMM this year, I'll venture an opinion that the revised Yamaha Stage Custom (birch) kits and the Crush Eminent Birch or Acrylic kits are the best quality-to-purchase options. These kits seem to have super solid quality at very affordable prices, and they all sound pretty darn good.

  • The Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple: far too overpriced, especially for its Chinese-made location/labor. $2,999.00 for the most basic 4 pc. kit? Really??
  • Tama, to my knowledge, has zero kits to offer--nothing in Starclassic range--and no new finishes, really, in the SC range. Only the 40th Anniversary snare line looks cool.
  • Pearl has the BCX kits, which are affordably priced around $1499, but a meager three finish options that each leave something to be desired (the bronze and silver glitter lacquer are eye-destroyingly bright).
  • The Mapex Armory line and the new bearing edges sound cool, but, again, the finishes are hideous or average/decent at best.

What do folks think? I'm really hard pressed to see anything that beats the Stage Customs or Crush Eminents/Acrylics, and of this grouping the new Stage Customs would seem to be the winner: they sound good, quality/hardware has been improved, finishes are pretty good, and drums sizes good and flexible (e.g., Crush Eminents offer no 18", I believe).

Sonor Prolite starts at that price; $2,999.99. I really dig the new Sonor finishes and the option of shallower kicks in pre-configured set. You get an SQ2 sounding kit, same build quality but at a great price point.

Ludwig did a great job I thought with the signet line. A US made drumset for under $800??!!

Meinl has a ton of great offerings to include great additions to their Jazz line that actually sound like the great old school Turkish Jazz cymbals. Also they are selling them at a price point bellow an equivalent Zildjian cymbal.
 
I noticed that there wasn't really a "this years product" everyone was talking about.

The Signet from Ludwig had some talk, but other than that, not much seems to be going on other than some different edges or whatever (Mapex), some nice finishes.

The new Yamaha YESS with 4 holes is just dumb IMO. They should just go back to the mount on the drum. Their mount never inhibited the resonance when I played them back in the day.

Pearl's new snares seem real nice. New lugs and a new strainer.

The one thing I WILL get this year is the new Gibraltar flat base snare stand with the Ultra Adjust basket.
This is what Ludwig SHOULD HAVE DONE with their ATLAS flat base snare stand.

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/?fa=detail&mid=3163&sid=683&cid=123

Very cool! I have been using their flat base gear for a while now and I love it. I still have not found a new flat base stand that I enjoy more than a real vintage hi hat stand but the Gibraltar and Ludwig offerings are not bad.

What is great about this design is it fixes the problem of tightening the snare basket when you have it sitting at near flat angle.
 
Maybe they look better in person. Nothing much special to them as far as I can see:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/mapex-armory-series-5-piece-jazz-rock-shell-pack

Just saying, back in the late 80s/early 90's, such a kit with maple and birch shells would have cost closer to $2k.

The fact that they can spit it out for $829 is amazing (granted, it's all made in China).

In 1993, if you only had $829 to spend on a shall pack, you were getting a kit made of undisclosed wood with no suspension mounts, and no one talked about the bearing edge.
 
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