Have you ever ben told to stop hiting things at a drum shop?

Never been asked to stop. Probably because I've never been a dick about what I've hit and when I've hit it.

Nail on the head, pocket.

If you are laying out 1000s on a kit or cymbals, of course you would make an appointment to spend a day trying things out, but I sometimes just go to my local drum shop for a browse, strange as It may seem. The cash I have spent on impulse buys is large, dont tell the wife, but If the shop had not allowed me to try stuff in passing it is money I would probably not have spent, at least not at that shop.
Oh and the Newcastle Drum Ctr has a holder with lots of used sticks, of most sizes, so there is no need to "steal" a new pair If you want to hear what a new, for you, cymbal sounds like.
 
They don't like anyone to play their kits "Because it marks the heads". So what? Are we supposed to value virgin kits just because they are without a mark on the head? ... I have made the point to them before, that people can hardly be expected to part with large wads of money on a kit they haven't even tried but I have been told that I have to buy the kit before I can try it!

I'll bet it doesn't go over very well, and probably encourages customers to shop online for the best price, since they're buying blind anyway.

That's a rather extreme approach to just allowing people to bash drums, but that is a legitimate problem as well. At some point, heads do need to be replaced in order to sell the kit, and that's not just the cost of doing business, that comes out of the store's pocket. And when someone whacks a rack tom and it slips and scratches the kick, that's not acceptable either. Can the shop sell that kit? Is the "customer" going to buy it or pay for the repair?

The problem isn't with drummers looking for gear being able to try it, it's with the public coming in bashing gear because they think it's a playground. As I said, permitting that is the fault of the store and its employees, and that's where it needs to be addressed. A "do not touch" policy wouldn't be necessary if the employees simply do their jobs and run the department. But, most employees in the big stores don't care. This is where the independent shops excel, because the employees are more committed, and often the owner is present.

I'd love to know what percentage of the afterschool/weekend bashers actually buy any of the kits they "try". I'll bet it's right around zero.

Bermuda
 
Are you one of those people?

Of course!!!!

Every time we go to a drumshop, my wife lets me free and I run down the shop like a headless chicken and I hit each and every drums and cymbals in my best Moonie lookalike fashion :)
 

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That being said I have no idea how the Sam Ash deal with all the noise.

The Sam Ash in our area had a separate drum room that usually had 2 or 3 kits set up as DEMO, away from the main area where business was transacted.

The term DEMO usually means(like the auto industry) the manufacturer is bearing a substantial cost to market their product and retail outlets are made "whole" when that kit is eventually sold. As far as the heads getting beat up, most retail stores will include free replacement heads on a demo or used kit, and if they don't just make it a condition of purchase.

Our local GC has one high-end acoustic kit setup, the rest eDrums that kids like to bang on. The cymbals are in a glass-enclosed room with plenty of demo options for all brands and levels. The "real" drummers who work there will offer a cymbal stand to demo the cymbal, and will set it up outside the room if you want to test it with a snare crack or kick boom.

"back in the day", before these stores, our area had a PRO level shoppe where all of us as drummers, would hang at times and trade chops on a demo kit and share the wealth(learn) with each other.

When you bring your wallet into an establishment seeking gear, you should be able to play the kit, strike the cymbals(properly), and even re-tune them as if they were your own.

If these stores were smart, they would have a "kids area" room where a cheap set of SP's, or any other intro acoustic set, as well as a cheap eKIT set up and let them bang away. If one of every 10 kids gets jacked and feels the beat, you gain a customer at a low marketing cost.

But experienced drummers must also respect the demo kits. If a kit is set up and it is a brand you never intend to purchase, then NO NEED to hit them.
 
When you bring your wallet into an establishment seeking gear, you should be able to play the kit, strike the cymbals(properly), and even re-tune them as if they were your own.

Agreed, but the vast majority, I would venture to say almost 100% of people playing these kits, are not there to buy the kit, or anything else. They serve only to create a noisy environment that 1) deters potential customers and makes transacting business problematic, and 2) takes a toll on the gear.

Seriously, when you see the kids bashing, are they playing well? Usually not. When you see a drummer who's genuinely considering buying a kit or snare or cymbal, are they bashing them? Usually not.

I'd like to add that I buy a fair amount of gear outside of my dealings with the companies I endorse, and the last 3 kits I bought at GC (two of them in the last 4 months) were purchased without my needing to set them up and play. At the worst, I picked up a tom or snare and tapped it with my fingers, no sticks - or noise - required. In fact, I can't remember ever bashing a kit or playing endlessly/needlessly in order to make a purchase.*

But I will also turn around and walk out of a GC when the noise is loud and gratuitous (such as kids being dropped off after school to burn off energy so they don't make noise and create havoc at home.) And, I'll let the store manager know, since the staff in the drum departments obviously doesn't care.

Bermuda


* I remember the first two kits I bought at GC back in the '80s - Yamaha and Sonor - and there was no need to set those up bash away either, even though I was younger and might have been prone to do so in those days. Maybe it was the pro in me, or maybe that I was there to actually buy something, not let off steam at the store's or other customers' expense.
 
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Thrashing on drums in a store is analogous to taking a car for a test drive, going off-road, and bringing it back dirty and beat up. And of course, there is usually never an intention to buy them.

It would be the same, except that at a dealership, a little pre-qualifying is done to make sure the person is actually looking to buy a vehicle, before allowing them to get behind the wheel.

If more of the staff at GC cared about what they do and the environment they create, they would be able to curtail the noise and perhaps keep those non-customers out of the store altogether, and make the shopping experience more productive for everyone. A good salesman determines the customer's needs, and helps guide them through the decision-making and purchase process. I know that most GC departments are devoid of knowledgeable, experienced (or trained) salespeople, and that's a crucial area that needs improvement. But Bain won't invest in their people.

Don't mean to turn this into a GC thread, but in the US, they are the worst violators in terms of allowing pointless, non-sales-producing bashing of drums.

Bermuda
 
I love the car dealership analogy. I've gone so far as to ask people if they'd let their kids act this way in a dealership. Of course not! You'd be thrown out. I think it also stems from a general disrespect for or ignorance of the value (not just monetary) of musical instruments held by the "unwashed masses", especially when it comes to drums.

Just the other day I literally saw two kids come in, pick up demo sticks and walk around the department, touching EVERY item with them. Just doing laps around the department, I mean with haste, hitting rims of drums, the occasional conga (with a stick!), the counter... it was appalling and of course they were unsupervised.
 
Personally, I found the 'I can't play this loud at home' (Direct quote) crowd were worse offenders at my local GC than people suffering from general ignorance.

Unfortunately, with drums I feel it goes with the territory. We play an instrument you hit with sticks therefore, the hoi-polloi, feel justified to 'have a go'; especially at private functions.


But thats another thread completely.
 
Just the other day I literally saw two kids come in, pick up demo sticks and walk around the department, touching EVERY item with them. Just doing laps around the department, I mean with haste, hitting rims of drums, the occasional conga (with a stick!), the counter... it was appalling and of course they were unsupervised.

Nevermind that the parents are clueless or irresponsible for their kids, the real problem is when the staff doesn't step in and put a stop to the behavior.

GC is notorious for having employees with a lackadaisical attitude about their department. They have no sense of ownership about what they do, and I suspect GC/Bain doesn't want them to. But it's that attitude and service and sometimes just the resulting environment that makes all the difference, and is why we'll go out of our way to shop at one store when there's a similar one closer.

Sadly, there are fewer shops for us drummers to visit and spend our money.

Bermuda
 
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Just the other day I literally saw two kids come in, pick up demo sticks and walk around the department, touching EVERY item with them. Just doing laps around the department, I mean with haste, hitting rims of drums, the occasional conga (with a stick!), the counter... it was appalling and of course they were unsupervised.

Did you capture video of this!?

Pleas say yes...
 
Yea, seems we have two distinct camps here. Those who think drum shops should be welcoming and encouraging, and those who think the staff should ask you if you are going to buy it before you touch anything.
I have to say there is a big difference between "thrashing" or "bashing" drums or cymbals, to playing them.
Any shop assistant, worthy of the name, can tell with the first stroke if someone is going to play or just mess about with the instruments.

If you take a car for a test drive someone from the dealership accompanies you, or they get what they deserve. Also, you usually leave some sort of deposit, car, wife, kids etc, so that analogy is not credible.

Good sales staff can suss out people entering the LDS and have a good idea if people are punters or time wasters.

As I say, my LDS is very relaxed and helpful regarding playing any kit or cymbal and in the years I have been using it I have not encountered a problem with anyone abusing there trust. Oddly, they are doing so much business they have had to extend the premisis. Must be doing something right when so many Drum shops are closing.
 
Overheard at my local GC:

"... Oh, I don't have a drum set yet, my mom drops me off here during the day so I can practice..."
 
Nevermind that the parents are clueless or irresponsible for their kids, the real problem is when the staff doesn't step in and put a stop to the behavior.

GC is notorious for having employees with a lackadaisical attitude about their department. They have no sense of ownership about what they do, and I suspect GC/Bain doesn't want them to. But it's that attitude and service and sometimes just the resulting environment that makes all the difference, and is why we'll go out of our way to shop at one store when there's a similar one closer.

Sadly, there are fewer shops for us drummers to visit and spend our money.

Bermuda
I wonder how much of the problem would be alleviated if GC substantially decreased or did away with their employee discount on gear... or maybe didn't give you the discount until you proved yourself worthy of it via positive job performance. One gripe I've heard is that many of GC's staff are just customers working there for the discount.
 
There's a shop in Glasgow (UK), that I visit regularly called Rhythm Base. Every time I go in there, I usually fancy a shot of something, but in return I do buy something. A few weeks back there I went in to try out some new double bass pedals and the guy could see I was looking at them, came over and asked, "Would you like a go on any of them?" and brought them all down for me before I even replied. I ended up going for Tama Iron Cobra's as they felt and played sublimely.
 
I wonder how much of the problem would be alleviated if GC substantially decreased or did away with their employee discount on gear... or maybe didn't give you the discount until you proved yourself worthy of it via positive job performance. One gripe I've heard is that many of GC's staff are just customers working there for the discount.

I would imagine there's a 90-day probation before those kind of benefits kick-in. If not, there should be. I agree that employees are entitled to certain perks, but I also believe that GC is entitled to have employees that really want to be there and do a good job.

The fact that so many of GC employees are gone in just a few months speaks to the company's poor hiring practices.

Bermuda
 
I would imagine there's a 90-day probation before those kind of benefits kick-in. If not, there should be. I agree that employees are entitled to certain perks, but I also believe that GC is entitled to have employees that really want to be there and do a good job.

The fact that so many of GC employees are gone in just a few months speaks to the company's poor hiring practices.

Bermuda

I think the poor hiring practices lie in that they do far too much locally. Individual store managers control hiring and little is filtered through HR top-down, the way it should probably be. I applied at mine and the manager decided to bring his friend in who knew nothing about drums at the time. Gee thanks...
 
Did you capture video of this!?

Pleas say yes...

One time at GC, I saw a mother proudly videoing her kid running on the bass drum pedals. I guess he practiced his double bass licks at home and tried to impress people at the store. Unfortunately, I had to tell the associate that I could not demo the snare that I was looking at with all that noise. So finally, the associate had to tell the kid to stop.

Jeff
 
Manny's on 48th in NYC was always fun to visit for me, but the negative signs all over the drum department turned me off. I understood it was NYC and in "New Yawk" anything can happen anytime, but still. They made seem like if I even bent over for a closer look a guy would yank me away!

"Rule number one: This is NOT your rehearsal room! We'll gladly give you the number of one!
Rule number two: Don't touch ANYTHING!! A salesperson will show it to you if you are going to buy it..
Rule number three: go away!!"

Also I'm always shocked at the kids working at GC. The ones in my local shop always seem to have many piercings and tats and a bad attitude, plus know nest to nothing about anything they don't use themselves. I bet if you asked them the differences between wood types their brains would break and they would pass out!
You have to be able to play anything you are going to buy at least, and any good drum shop will either let you play the drums you are looking at or play them for you with lots of extra knowledge being shared to help you decide.
 
i've never had any trouble at GC or Sam Ash. in fact, they don't care. pick it up. plug it up, go for it. that's the beauty of those two stores in my area. both have enclosed cymbal rooms and as for the kits - here...take these sticks...go for it. just be kind when they are on the phone and no problems.

on the other hand and oddly enough...it's the dedicated drum shop (no names, please) that kindly lets you know....by singing Styx's "Babe" : )

one clerk will say to another: "Is it time to sing Styx (sticks) ?"

and then they will begin:

You Know It's YOU Babe
Whenever I Get Weary And I've Had Enough
Feel Like Giving Up
You Know It's You Babe
 
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