Drum Shop in Rhode Island

pgcdrum

Junior Member
Hi,

I am looking to purchase a new Yamaha Stage Custom in natural with 20" kick. Also stands, pedal, and Zildjian K and A's.

I know there is Guitar Center, but would be nice to support a local shop that does a great job.

Thanks, and I am loving the site. Learn a ton every time I come on.
 
I live in Phoenix but if I lived anywhere near RI, I would buy all my stuff from Al Drew's Music Center. It's in Woonsocket (where do them come up with these strange names in the East Coast?). They are the go-to for vintage stuff, I'm sure they can get you outfitted proper with your Stage Custom stuff too.
 
If I was anywhere vaguely in the Northeast-ish, I'd either buy from Steve Maxwell or Drum Center of New Hampshire. But I understand dealing someone in your state. I just lost my local music store this year, I'm going to miss having a place in town to visit.
 
Thanks Guys,

I will take some time in the next week and visit the local shops. Being small guy in business, I love supporting the small shops.
 
Village Drum Shop 17 Silk Ln Scituate RI.

Beat me to it. I prefer Village to Al Drew. Its cleaner, has a better selection and the staff is more knowledgeable. I only got out to Woonsocket if I am looking to go dig around through piles of obscure stuff. For Yammys', pedals and cymbals Village is a better option.
 
For Red Menace: "where do they come up with these strange names in the East Coast?"

Many places/objects (towns, rivers, etc.) on the East Coast retain their original Algonquian name--this is especially true with New England, New York, New Jersey, PA, and Delaware. Algonquian is the language-family that the Northern woodland Indians spoke who resided there long before Whitey came.

"Woonsocket" with its various spellings comes from the dialect of the native tribes who resided in-and-around modern day Southern Eastern Mass and Rhode Island. They consisted of the Narragansetts, the Nipmucs (Cowesetts), and the Wampanoags. If you have ever heard of King Phillips War - these are the native tribes involved in that conflict -along with the Pequots of Conn. All of these tribes are/were considered to be apart of the Eastern Abenaki tribes--which in whole makes up the (W)Abenaki confederation.

As for the specific meaning of Woonsocket - there is a debate on this but its definitely a compound word (woon-socket) and can mean "hill" and "falls." Again, this meaning was very local as there are many other places throughout New England that have localized versions of "(water) falls" with far different english spellings. Machias comes to mind, which is a town in Northern New England--and its Abenaki meaning is "Bad Little Falls" (and in the center of this town there is a water fall in which route 1 goes over via a bridge.).
 
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I also recommend the Village Drum & Music in Scituate, RI. Great place that is truly geared for drummers. Anthony, the owner, is also a drummer and a genuine great guy who is very fair to deal with. To me, it's like a candy store - he's got used gear, new gear, and everything in-between. I do agree with mattyfatty76 as I don't believe he is a Yamaha dealer. It's worth checking out. Tell him Mike St. Pierre sent you! The staff is great as well - in fact, one of his employees, Bart, used to be the drummer for the Dixie Chicks.
 
Wow, those are fantastic recommendation for Village Drum & Music. I am not set on Yamaha, I was just thinking it would be a good kit to get me going again. But looking at their site they have a lot of options. And dealing with the same person each time would be treat compared to GC.

So this afternoon I head to Village Drum & Music. Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again, this really is a great community.

Yup, Hockeylifer, tradition in NE is one of the many reasons I love living here.
 
Wow, those are fantastic recommendation for Village Drum & Music. I am not set on Yamaha, I was just thinking it would be a good kit to get me going again. But looking at their site they have a lot of options. And dealing with the same person each time would be treat compared to GC.

So this afternoon I head to Village Drum & Music. Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again, this really is a great community.

Yup, Hockeylifer, tradition in NE is one of the many reasons I love living here.

I was just there yesterday! Make sure you mention that Mike St. Pierre sent you (he'll get a kick out of that as I practically live there and probably sent his kids through college). In fact, he does have a 3 piece gray (or grey) Yamaha kit for sale. Anthony is the best - I'll give you an example. I recently purchased an old mahogany kit (called The Hogs) that includes (2) 1920's Ludwig Pioneer 25.75" diameter bass drums. Yes, not 26", but rather 25.75". He purchased some 26" wood hoops for me and stained/finished them to match the finish of the original hoops. He only charged me for the cost of the hoops! He does stuff like this all the time.
 
Thank you, Mike, and everyone who recommended The Village Drum & Music shop you were spot on. Anthony and Bart are fantastic!

Bart walked me around all the kits and we talked what I like for sound, being able to listen to each. Then they let me look and play downstairs with snares, cymbals, and pedals. Such a nice atmosphere and some really cool gear. And between both of them and customers who came in, the knowledge is wow, school for me.

So did I buy anything, you bet? When Bart was showing me the Tama Starclassic Birch/Bobinga kit I was hooked. Love the sound better then anything else in the shop. Having had a Tama Starclassic 18 years ago full birch, I really like there sound.

So it is now in my studio, along with a Zyldjian K ride (used), Dark K, 17” crash, 14” K hats, Cobra 200 hat stand, and 200 single pedal. Two use Tama boom stands. For snare, which was the toughest choice for me, I grabbed a Pearl Limited Edition thin shell 14” x 6”.

I was there 3 ½ hours and it felt like 45 min. Fun, fun, fun.

Glad I have been doing pad work for the last month, which will continue. But now kit playing is back in my life, AH time to get back in the song.

I highly recommend The Village Drum & Music Shop, a local shop with knowledge and fun place to visit, with a wide range of new and quality used gear. When you see the guys waiting on you, go in the open room behind the counter and work on shells, you know you are in the right place. Stop by give them a visit and tell them Mike St. Pierre sent you. They did get a nice smile from that Mike. Thank you. Now to find a great instructor for a beginner/intermediate drummer, who just loves playing. Because my drum shop choice is set.
 
Thank you, Mike, and everyone who recommended The Village Drum & Music shop you were spot on. Anthony and Bart are fantastic!

Congrats on the new kit. Sounds like when I went and visited Lonestar Percussion here, it was my second time and I went to check out some Dream cymbals. They just took me back to the warehouse and let me go and play on their inventory to pick out which ones I wanted.
 
Thanks mattyfatty76 and Berthedrummer,

Just home from being away and finally get to setup and play the kit. Fun times.
 
Thank you, Mike, and everyone who recommended The Village Drum & Music shop you were spot on. Anthony and Bart are fantastic!

Bart walked me around all the kits and we talked what I like for sound, being able to listen to each. Then they let me look and play downstairs with snares, cymbals, and pedals. Such a nice atmosphere and some really cool gear. And between both of them and customers who came in, the knowledge is wow, school for me.

So did I buy anything, you bet? When Bart was showing me the Tama Starclassic Birch/Bobinga kit I was hooked. Love the sound better then anything else in the shop. Having had a Tama Starclassic 18 years ago full birch, I really like there sound.

So it is now in my studio, along with a Zyldjian K ride (used), Dark K, 17” crash, 14” K hats, Cobra 200 hat stand, and 200 single pedal. Two use Tama boom stands. For snare, which was the toughest choice for me, I grabbed a Pearl Limited Edition thin shell 14” x 6”.

I was there 3 ½ hours and it felt like 45 min. Fun, fun, fun.

Glad I have been doing pad work for the last month, which will continue. But now kit playing is back in my life, AH time to get back in the song.

I highly recommend The Village Drum & Music Shop, a local shop with knowledge and fun place to visit, with a wide range of new and quality used gear. When you see the guys waiting on you, go in the open room behind the counter and work on shells, you know you are in the right place. Stop by give them a visit and tell them Mike St. Pierre sent you. They did get a nice smile from that Mike. Thank you. Now to find a great instructor for a beginner/intermediate drummer, who just loves playing. Because my drum shop choice is set.

Glad you liked the shop! I don't know if you saw the 70's Ludwig Blue Oyster (aka Bowling Ball) Pearl kit stacked up where they work on shells, etc. , but that is my next kit. Anthony and Bart are, by far, great people to deal with. I am always checking in to see what he has available because his stock changes from week to week.
 
Cool, that is the kit I saw them working on, Nice.

Guess I just missed you again, just back from there today. I traded in the Pearl Limited Edition snare for a upgrade to Tama 14" x 6" S.L.R., 12 ply, 10mm G-Bubinga. Love the sound, and will match my kit well. Also a set of Aquarian Studio X for my toms, and Evans Genera Dry for the snare.

I have a small sound proof room that is set up very dry for my video production company recordings, and now the drums take up half. Ah, fun times.

Let me know were you play out and I will come and cheer. Bart is Thursdays in Newport, might check that out soon.
 
Cool, that is the kit I saw them working on, Nice.

Guess I just missed you again, just back from there today. I traded in the Pearl Limited Edition snare for a upgrade to Tama 14" x 6" S.L.R., 12 ply, 10mm G-Bubinga. Love the sound, and will match my kit well. Also a set of Aquarian Studio X for my toms, and Evans Genera Dry for the snare.

I have a small sound proof room that is set up very dry for my video production company recordings, and now the drums take up half. Ah, fun times.

Let me know were you play out and I will come and cheer. Bart is Thursdays in Newport, might check that out soon.

I play for a band named The Senders. We play out literally every weekend, so maybe some time you can catch a show. Definitely make a point to see Bart play - you will not be disappointed...
 
Cool Mike,

I will come and check both of you out. Time of year when I can get a night out and not have to wake up at 5am.

Might even catch up at Village. Will be up there next week again. The addiction is deep, since a kid. Love it.
 
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