Tommy_D
Platinum Member
Well, I went to the drum show today and have news to report. Played lots of drums and overall, many of them sounded like drums. Notable drums were Daville Drumworks, Kumu, and Jenkins Martin. I did play a new Recording Custom as well. Do you want to know what they sounded like? They sounded like drums. If anyone is following the thread about Recording Customs being worth the price, they aren't. Sorry Yamaha fans, but they look and play like a mid-level kit. Save your money and buy a Saturn or B/B Performer kit.
Anyway, when I go to the show I like to pick a "best of show" manufacturer/kit. The Jenkins Martin fiberglass kit sounded crazy. Lots of punch with a slight "acrylic" sound but because of the heads (EC2 Clear over EC2 Reso) they were massively deep sounding. But for my Best of Show pick I'm going with the new guy, the Cinderella story, the guy who literally is starting his first day of business at the Chicago drum show, i'm going with Inde Drums.
You have never heard of them because they literally opened their doors today, May 21st. Why do I choose Inde Drums? First, the owner/operator (Josh) was a former Ludwig employee who designed the new Atlas hardware, including the Atlas mount that has been coveted pretty much everywhere and the new Atlas snare strainer.
Secondly, he has used his connections in the drum industry to develop his own line of completely custom hardware (lugs, mounts, strainer). I took some time to chat with Josh about the hardware and he was saying how he doesn't believe in any rubber on his drums. No gaskets, no damping, nothing. He also designed his lugs to have minimal shell contact, so they are a bridge style lug with brass inserts and a nice chrome plating. He doesn't believe in Rims mounts either because his time at Ludwig showed that the rubber in them (and in the Atlas mounts) creates an oscillation in the drum where the rubber absorbs the resonance of the drum. So, Josh has developed a new mount that bolts directly to the shell, but has the ability to be tuned to more or less resonance and stability based on the size of the drum and the use that mount is designed for. If its for a floor tom, you adjust the mount to allow for maximum movement and resonance. If its a big tom, you may want to adjust the mount for more stability. Small tom, adjust it for more bounce. Very cool design and so stupid simple you wonder why no one else invented this earlier.
Third, he is working with Keller and has developed his own custom Maple shell configuration that they are building just for his drums. They are a 5 ply shell with thick plys for all horizontals and thin plys for all verticals. No re-rings because they are a thicker shell than Keller's standard 5 Ply shell. Overall they are nice and resonant drums with a nice punch to them. Slightly short noted, but that could have been the heads. So there are no stock, off-the-shelf parts on these drums.
They are only offering matte finishes and chrome hardware at this time in an effort to keep costs down so their drums are affordable to the public and not just the rich folk looking for a custom kit. A 3 piece kit (bass, rack tom, floor tom) is ~$1500. I have priced out the off the shelf parts for a 3 piece kit and they are $1300 using the cheapest sources I can find. So, for a kit that has totally custom hardware and is designed by a former Ludwig employee who brought you the new Atlas hardware, that's a pretty damn impressive price. If I didnt already have 6 kits, I might have put some money down to buy a kit. I did buy one of their strainers and butt plates for one of my snares.
Keep an eye out for these guys. I foresee good things for them.
Anyway, when I go to the show I like to pick a "best of show" manufacturer/kit. The Jenkins Martin fiberglass kit sounded crazy. Lots of punch with a slight "acrylic" sound but because of the heads (EC2 Clear over EC2 Reso) they were massively deep sounding. But for my Best of Show pick I'm going with the new guy, the Cinderella story, the guy who literally is starting his first day of business at the Chicago drum show, i'm going with Inde Drums.
You have never heard of them because they literally opened their doors today, May 21st. Why do I choose Inde Drums? First, the owner/operator (Josh) was a former Ludwig employee who designed the new Atlas hardware, including the Atlas mount that has been coveted pretty much everywhere and the new Atlas snare strainer.
Secondly, he has used his connections in the drum industry to develop his own line of completely custom hardware (lugs, mounts, strainer). I took some time to chat with Josh about the hardware and he was saying how he doesn't believe in any rubber on his drums. No gaskets, no damping, nothing. He also designed his lugs to have minimal shell contact, so they are a bridge style lug with brass inserts and a nice chrome plating. He doesn't believe in Rims mounts either because his time at Ludwig showed that the rubber in them (and in the Atlas mounts) creates an oscillation in the drum where the rubber absorbs the resonance of the drum. So, Josh has developed a new mount that bolts directly to the shell, but has the ability to be tuned to more or less resonance and stability based on the size of the drum and the use that mount is designed for. If its for a floor tom, you adjust the mount to allow for maximum movement and resonance. If its a big tom, you may want to adjust the mount for more stability. Small tom, adjust it for more bounce. Very cool design and so stupid simple you wonder why no one else invented this earlier.
Third, he is working with Keller and has developed his own custom Maple shell configuration that they are building just for his drums. They are a 5 ply shell with thick plys for all horizontals and thin plys for all verticals. No re-rings because they are a thicker shell than Keller's standard 5 Ply shell. Overall they are nice and resonant drums with a nice punch to them. Slightly short noted, but that could have been the heads. So there are no stock, off-the-shelf parts on these drums.
They are only offering matte finishes and chrome hardware at this time in an effort to keep costs down so their drums are affordable to the public and not just the rich folk looking for a custom kit. A 3 piece kit (bass, rack tom, floor tom) is ~$1500. I have priced out the off the shelf parts for a 3 piece kit and they are $1300 using the cheapest sources I can find. So, for a kit that has totally custom hardware and is designed by a former Ludwig employee who brought you the new Atlas hardware, that's a pretty damn impressive price. If I didnt already have 6 kits, I might have put some money down to buy a kit. I did buy one of their strainers and butt plates for one of my snares.
Keep an eye out for these guys. I foresee good things for them.
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