which drums are made in USA & Canada?

L

lovemysonors

Senior Member
just curious which kits/companies MANUFACTURE in the US and/or Canada. the only one i know is Ayotte and Canwood from Canada...

would the biggest difference btwn. making a kit in North America vs. Asia, etc. be labour rates (ie. more $$ in NA, cheaper elsewhere)? quality the same though??

which companies produce where (outside of North America)?

when researching about duties/taxes for bringing gear into Canada, i found out that you pay no duty on North American manufactured goods, but 6% on stuff made outside...
 
The quality can vary. Companies will advertise that their kits are made with "100% Canadian maple" because it is more desirable than any Asian maple. The colder the climate, the better the wood will be, so watch for that. Chinese or Asian companies will advertise "maple drum kits", but in reality it's not quite as good as what you may be looking for.

I know Gretsch is made in the US.
Sabian is Canadian, made in New Brunswick I believe?
Zildjian was founded in Turkey, but I think is produced in the US.
Pro-Mark is American.
DW - American.
Ludwig, you can guess this one!
Pintech, Pork Pie, Remo, Slingerland, Spaun, all American!
Sonor is German, but I think they build some stuff in the US.

Don't quote me on any of these.

The list goes on and on.
 
It depends largely on the lines.

The high-end Gretsch, DW and Ludwigs are all made in the US, as are most Pork Pie kits and most of the 'custom' manufacturers that use Keller shells. Tama is Japanese (lower end in China), Mapex is Chinese, Premier is British (with lower end in China), Pearl is Japanese, Sonor is German (lower end in China), Yamaha is Japanese (again, lower end in China) so actually buying American-made drums does limit your choices quite considerably. Obviously I've managed to miss a couple of the US companies, so feel free to add - but remember that all the companies lower-end kits are made abroad, so you're going to have to look at the top-end kits if you want to take advantage of the tax law.

Cymbal-wise. Zildjian is American, Sabian is Canadian, Saluda are American, Paiste are Swiss (lower end in Germany), Meinl are German, Istanbul (Agop/Mehmet) are Turkish, UFIP are Italian and Wuhan are Chinese - so you're very limited there. Remo, Evans, Aquarian and Attack heads are made in the US, Vic Firth, Pro Mark, Regal Tip, Zildjian and Vater sticks are all American. So really, you're looking to buy the accessories. Of the companies you have the choice of buying the drums from (based on my list) I'd take a closer look at Gretsch personally - but obviously Ludwig and DW make good drums too - it's win-win in the high end whichever company you choose.
 
You can get some really high end european stuff too. Think Sonor. But then again theres some great japanese drum out there so yeah.
 
sandman1231 said:
You can get some really high end european stuff too. Think Sonor. But then again theres some great japanese drum out there so yeah.
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Read the original question: American drums aren't taxed over the Canadian border - so we're looking for American drums. Personally, I'm a Sonor/Gretsch/Premier fan and given the circumstances asked, I'd buy Gretsch.
 
yeah sorry. but i think there should be more important things than tax when considering a drum purchase. but if it comes down to it some awesome drum are made in the US.
 
sandman1231 said:
yeah sorry. but i think there should be more important things than tax when considering a drum purchase. but if it comes down to it some awesome drum are made in the US.
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hey, no worries. my question was just to see which makers made things where. the additional 6% if they're made outside of NA...well, if they're worth it and i love them, i'll gladly pay the 6%.
 
lovemysonors said:
hey, no worries. my question was just to see which makers made things where. the additional 6% if they're made outside of NA...well, if they're worth it and i love them, i'll gladly pay the 6%.
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Well you might still end up saving money if you buy imported drums. Mapex, for instance, make great kits for relatively little money. I attended a gig the other week and the drummer was playing a Mapex Saturn and it sounded absolutely fantastic. I'm a Sonor guy, as I've already mentioned, but their top-end is prohibitively expensive so it might well be out when you consider the 6% tax. Something like a Yamaha Oak/Beech/Tour Custom might not be however, and they are another great drum maker.
 
Mediocrefunkybeat said:
Well you might still end up saving money if you buy imported drums. Mapex, for instance, make great kits for relatively little money. I attended a gig the other week and the drummer was playing a Mapex Saturn and it sounded absolutely fantastic.
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The new limited edition birch/walnut Saturn sounds fantastic, unless I hear something better, I'll picking that up once a few more hundred come to my pocket.

About the Canadian border, it's kind of disgustingly confusing. We get almost all Pearl products up to 25% cheaper than the US, but we have to pay almost 20% more for Tama. Long story short, look at Pearl before you look at American drums. Just stay away from Tama!
 
Four USA Companies that make great sounding snare drums
  • Noble and Cooley-Massachusetts
  • GMS-New York
  • Joyful Noise-Colorado
  • Craviotto-California
 
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Ironcobra said:
The quality can vary. Companies will advertise that their kits are made with "100% Canadian maple" because it is more desirable than any Asian maple. The colder the climate, the better the wood will be, so watch for that. Chinese or Asian companies will advertise "maple drum kits", but in reality it's not quite as good as what you may be looking for.

I know Gretsch is made in the US.
Sabian is Canadian, made in New Brunswick I believe?
Zildjian was founded in Turkey, but I think is produced in the US.
Pro-Mark is American.
DW - American.
Ludwig, you can guess this one!Pintech, Pork Pie, Remo, Slingerland, Spaun, all American!
Sonor is German, but I think they build some stuff in the US.

Don't quote me on any of these.

The list goes on and on.
Click to expand...

Where might that guess be? As a young boy I thought Germany...foolish boy that I was was SHOCKED to find out USA go figure

OH and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU (according to your sig)
 
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^ Nope, but they were rumoured to haven taken ideas from the Germans!

Axis and Trick are also USA brands.

There is little to no difference in quality inside to outside the US. If a chinese builder is claiming 100% North American Maple shells (As Mapex's ProM does) then its going to be of similar quality as that level of kit made in the US. There will be a noticable difference in price though.
 
DamoSyzygy said:
There is little to no difference in quality inside to outside the US. If a chinese builder is claiming 100% North American Maple shells (As Mapex's ProM does) then its going to be of similar quality as that level of kit made in the US. There will be a noticable difference in price though.
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Totally agree with Damo. Gone are the days when China & Taiwan meant inferior technology or construction.
Today there is technological parity in most parts of the world, and most products are almost as good as their competitors, regardless of where they are made. Today's consumer demands an uncompromised level of quality, and the manufacterers have to deliver it or lose the customer. The huge difference then becomes price. China's got this gig perfected. For a couple of decades there was a gap in what they wanted to produce versus what came out, but no more. All the tech in the world, and a huge undemanding workforce = cheap drums, cars, tvs, whatever......

Watch out, here cometh the Chinese Drangon and its going to eat us all up alive !
 
Ironcobra said:
The quality can vary. Companies will advertise that their kits are made with "100% Canadian maple" because it is more desirable than any Asian maple. The colder the climate, the better the wood will be, so watch for that. Chinese or Asian companies will advertise "maple drum kits", but in reality it's not quite as good as what you may be looking for.

I know Gretsch is made in the US.
Sabian is Canadian, made in New Brunswick I believe?
Zildjian was founded in Turkey, but I think is produced in the US.
Pro-Mark is American.
DW - American.
Ludwig, you can guess this one!
Pintech, Pork Pie, Remo, Slingerland, Spaun, all American!
Sonor is German, but I think they build some stuff in the US.

Don't quote me on any of these.

The list goes on and on.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, this is all spot on!!
 
lovemysonors said:
when researching about duties/taxes for bringing gear into Canada, i found out that you pay no duty on North American manufactured goods, but 6% on stuff made outside...
Click to expand...

The reason why we Canadians pay no duty on North American made goods is because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). The tricky thing is that we still have to pay OUR full sales tax on all NAFTA-qualified goods - 13% in most of Canada.

Where did you find out about the 6% on non-NA-made goods? I was under the impression that it varied depending on which country, what the item is, the item's value, etc. I checked the Canada Customs website and it was somewhat vague on this issue (on purpose, I'm sure).
 
Ironcobra said:
I know Gretsch is made in the US.
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Gretsch's high-end kits are Keller, so yes on the U.S. for that. But their lower lines are from Taiwan or China.

Add to the list:

Vaughncraft
Cooperman
Longo
Impact (fiberglass)
Tempus (fiberglass & carbon fiber)

Bermuda
 
Mikey Dangerous said:
The reason why we Canadians pay no duty on North American made goods is because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). The tricky thing is that we still have to pay OUR full sales tax on all NAFTA-qualified goods - 13% in most of Canada.

Where did you find out about the 6% on non-NA-made goods? I was under the impression that it varied depending on which country, what the item is, the item's value, etc. I checked the Canada Customs website and it was somewhat vague on this issue (on purpose, I'm sure).
Click to expand...
i got the 6% info from calling the border patrol...i talked to two people, one guy seemed confident in his knowledge and the other sounded like he just smoked a big fat one. hey, that's great but i hope he knew his stuff...
 
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