Nordic vs Keller shells

PorkPieGuy

Platinum Member
A couple of drum makers I'm familiar with have switched from using Keller shells to Nordic shells. Is there one overriding reason why or are there a number of reasons?

Thanks.
 
A couple of drum makers I'm familiar with have switched from using Keller shells to Nordic shells. Is there one overriding reason why or are there a number of reasons?

Thanks.

So right before N&C changed mgt. recently I was lucky enough to pick up a snare at the factory since they are relatively local to me. I was able to speak at length with the "old guard" there about this exact thing. They had made the swap to Nordic on certain shells and were in the process of swapping all their non-steam bent shells over. Keller's drum business is a small part of what the overall Keller company makes and they were not as "enthusiastic" about the drum lines and investing in the product and/or service. Lead times were insane and that meant N&C lead times were impacted etc.

Nordic makes an amazing shell, and like anything else you get what you pay for.

I think you would be surprised to know who is already using Nordic at this point
 
I think you would be surprised to know who is already using Nordic at this point

I'm pretty sure that my cherry/walnut Pork Pie snare (2021) is a Nordic shell. I only own three snares, and this is the only one that's NOT a Ludwig Black Beauty.


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Nice !!! I conversed with Bill D. this morning confirming the identity of the Pork Pie snare I scored this weekend. I did good.

But, yes I wouldn't be surprised if that was a Nordic.

North and Metro in Australia are also players......I now know my Porky was a Metro shell.
 
I've never heard of Nordic shells.

But to why?
Well, nearly everyone uses Keller, so why not be different?
Nearly everyone uses Keller, maybe Keller can't keep up with orders and Nordic fills in the gaps.
Nearly everyone uses Keller shells, maybe a Nordic salesperson did an excellent job of convincing some manufacturers to give Nordic a try.
Nearly everyone uses Keller shells, maybe a few manufacturers felt like their Keller sales rep took them for granted, and switched to a Nordic rep who would call them back in a timely manner.

Running my own business, there are 1001 reasons a person may switch.

Despite being a friend, I just fired my insurance broker because he stopped answering my emails or taking my concern seriously. He started taking my business for granted, so I switched. I've had customers stop using my service because I grew the business and they didn't like they had to call my client rep and couldn't call me directly anymore. Sucks, but I do far more business this way. Stuff happens in a business, and it often has nothing to do with the product or service itself.
 
Hmm...I wonder if N&C may now offer birch drumkits in the near future?
And Nordic has 26" shells!
 
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So right before N&C changed mgt. recently I was lucky enough to pick up a snare at the factory since they are relatively local to me. I was able to speak at length with the "old guard" there about this exact thing. They had made the swap to Nordic on certain shells and were in the process of swapping all their non-steam bent shells over. Keller's drum business is a small part of what the overall Keller company makes and they were not as "enthusiastic" about the drum lines and investing in the product and/or service. Lead times were insane and that meant N&C lead times were impacted etc.

Nordic makes an amazing shell, and like anything else you get what you pay for.

I think you would be surprised to know who is already using Nordic at this point

I can believe this , when I got some add on Toms to go with my former Horizon kit , the new shells did not look the same as the originals . The mahogany inner plies were much lighter in colour and the butts where the plies joined did not look the same .
 
I can believe this , when I got some add on Toms to go with my former Horizon kit , the new shells did not look the same as the originals . The mahogany inner plies were much lighter in colour and the butts where the plies joined did not look the same .

It's nothing against Keller shells, they make a great product in thousands of kits being played world wide......I've used some of their raw shells as well. But, if they were being sketchy and wishy washy on when a premier client like N&C would get orders fulfilled, well that kinda tells you all you need if you are N&C. It was clearly impacting their ability to deliver on the timelines they prefer and even timelines that were committed to customers.

It was clear they were comfortable with Nordic and working with them on their proprietary shell layups.
 
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It's nothing against Keller shells, they make a great product in thousands of kits being played world wide......I've used some of their raw shells as well. But, if they were being sketchy and wishy washy on when a premier client like N&C would get orders fulfilled, well that kinda tells you all you need if you are N&C. It was clearly impacting their ability to deliver on the timelines they prefer and even timelines that were committed to customers.

It was clear they were comfortable with Nordic and working with them on their proprietary shell layups.
I had Nordic make me two 9x12 tom shells. Both 6 ply.
Shell #1. Walnut with 2 maple middle plies.
Shell #2. Maple with 2 walnut middle plies. Gonna A/B them up against my Noble and Cooley CD Maples 9x12 tom. Very high quality shells. Can wait to hear the results.
 

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Pardon my ignorance, but I thought the whole point of a drum company was to make their own drums not get someone else to make the shell and then add hardware. Who are the companies doing this?
I've just been looking at getting a new kit and it's between the British Drum Company and Cambridge Drums, both of whom make a big deal about how they construct their own shells and the methods they use to do this.
 
Personally just experimenting. I make shells carved from tree trunks. Making a full seamless walnut kit this year. Quite a few companies do not make shells themselves. Many more do.
 

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Pardon my ignorance, but I thought the whole point of a drum company was to make their own drums not get someone else to make the shell and then add hardware. Who are the companies doing this?

LOTS of them.

Gretsch
Pork Pie
OCDP USA
Spaun
Ayotte
GMS
Older DW drums were keller
Risen
SJC
Ddrum USA
Truth

In addition, one-man shops use Keller, Nordic, etc. That's not to say that any of these companies are inferior! Many of these companies make incredible kits.

If I'm wrong about any of these, let me know!
 
Not to be a Pedant here, but a point of clarification to address Rockdrill's question: Noble and Cooley do in-fact make their own shells in house. Those being their steam bent solid shell snare drums. The drum kit shells are apparently outsourced similar to some other drum companies..
 
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Not to be a Pedant here, but a point of clarification to address Rockdrill's question: Noble and Cooley do in-fact make their own shells in house. Those being their steam bent solid shell snare drums. The drum kit shells are apparently outsourced similar to some other drum companies..

That is fact.

N&C outsource the ply drums to folks that specialize in building very high quality ply shells built to N&C specs and you are 100% correct, what they have built their reputation on as far as the steam bent snares are still done in-house on those loverly old contraptions they have.

Hardware is also made in house, at least from what I sawing was told......
 
Often, there's more involved with outsourcing drum shells than simply attaching hardware; they can be unfinished, undrilled, edges not cut, etc. Lots of builders are excellent woodworkers but don't have the space/money/time to invest in forming the cylinders. Also, as long as shells are made to the company's specs (even if the company chooses from existing stock of standard models in inventory), why does it matter if they're outsourced? Even the companies who make their shells receive the sheet planks from other companies. Are they less legit because they didn't cut the planks from the trunks, or if they didn't harvest the trees, even?
 
So.........why such prices from N&C for their outsourced Nordic ply drum kits? Well, some are not outrageous I see them for less than $3,000 some places, but that's still a lot more than, say, INDe who also outsources shells.
 
That is fact.

N&C outsource the ply drums to folks that specialize in building very high quality ply shells built to N&C specs and you are 100% correct, what they have built their reputation on as far as the steam bent snares
The (ply) Horizon Series is the best contemporary drum set I've played. It has to come down to the interesting design decisions.
Also, the Alloy Classic is killer. I used two on the Dire Straits 'On Every Street' tour (as well as a Horizon set).
 
Pardon my ignorance, but I thought the whole point of a drum company was to make their own drums not get someone else to make the shell and then add hardware. Who are the companies doing this?
I've just been looking at getting a new kit and it's between the British Drum Company and Cambridge Drums, both of whom make a big deal about how they construct their own shells and the methods they use to do this.
Although a lot of people here do not seem to agree with you, when push comes to shove, I kind of sorta do. Granted, a lot of big and small drum companies do outsource their shells. The biggest player here probably being Gretsch, who actually pretty much always had someone else make their shells. I don't know if the 50s drums with the three ply shells were made in house in Brooklyn. But six plies from the 60s and beyond we're always Jasper and on the rare occasion, Keller.

That being said, it's really up to personal opinion for each drummer to decide what it is about that company that makes it " their " drum.

But I think the point you make is valid, and if you feel strongly that a drum company should make its own drum shell, well, there you go. You got plenty of great companies to choose from. British, Ludwig, Tama, Pearl, Yamaha, Craviotto, and likely quite a few others.

Then we can get into the hardware discussion about who buys hardware from the big Taiwan manufacturers and supply houses and who makes their own. That should be fun.
 
I don't know if the 50s drums with the three ply shells were made in house in Brooklyn
(they were, lot of pics and commentary from those that worked then there- in Chet Falzerano Gretsch book)
then 57/8 or so +/- they went to Jasper, 6 ply, Indiana
To the overall discussion: A company can outsource a specific shell that is not available to the public. So no matter -and it may be an advantage streamline operation open up workspace etc
 
I thought the whole point of a drum company was to make their own drums not get someone else to make the shell
look at the shells stacked waiting for finishing here->
the formula/number of ply/ species/ ply direction stacking/ is the company' specific
just made off-premises
 
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