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

drstrangefunk said:
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
Click to expand...

Too funny! I can imagine some drum store heroes inducing that kind of feeling in a shop assistant.
 
drstrangefunk said:
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.
Click to expand...

So, unless the staff is using the phone, or perhaps conducting a transaction, it's okay for the place to be excessively noisy?

I have to disagree. A certain amount of drum sounds and playing is expected and acceptable. But the majority of people (okay, kids) who sit down and start bashing are too loud, play too long, and aren't enjoyable or otherwise impressive... yet they are allowed to continue disturbing other customers, and in the case of most GC and Sam Ash stores, other departments and their customers. It's just not conducive to the shopping, buying, or selling process.

And I'm not just old and intolerant, I didn't dig the abuse of drums and my ears 30 years ago either. But the problem seems to have become worse. GC staff cares less, and people feel more entitled, partly the whole "customer is always right" thing... except that these 'drummers' aren't customers at all. They have no intention of buying the gear they are supposedly test-driving.

When I walk into a drum shop or department, it's to purchase something specific, or to check out used gear to purchase. If I try a new snare or cymbal, I do so in a realistic manner with respect to the people in the store, not bashing wildly and endlessly. I don't go in to practice, or let off steam, or show off to friends. But, I'm a pro, and I treat a shop like place to buy things and occasionally ask a question. I can usually conduct my business without even lifting a stick. I only bring this up because GC in particular wants to know why more pros don't shop there, and the top answers are: the staff knows nothing or doesn't care, and it's too noisy.

Bermuda
 
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Once again, it is all about how a retail store is setup. At a GC for example, drummers many times have to dodge their way
through several axe handles creating an aisle to the percussion department.

The simple solution is to have a common area where business is transacted as well as
"for display ONLY" gear.

A cymbal room is required for sound testing.

A drum room where a starter acoustic set and a cheapo electronic kit reside, whether for
the non-drummer, the wannabe drummer, or a true future drummer.

I would also have a VIP room where a PRO can test specific gear, be it a top line kit
or any other gear that unsupervised kids have no access.

There is a fine line between encouraging and discouraging a kid from taking an interest in drumming, and the old NO ADMITTANCE sign is not the answer. When you migrated as a toddler to your mothers pots and pans, or anything else hittable, you did it for a reason.

To discover if it was something you liked.

Older drummers, like me, have no reason to bang drums in a store unless maybe a snare that I feel would be a nice addition. For cymbals, I have asked the drum guy to setup as many as 3-4 stands(different cymbals) for comparative sound testing.

Times have changed.

My first 60s Ludwigs were from a mom and pop store
My 70's Pearls were from a PRO drum shop-they encouraged a test drive
My 80's Ludwigs were from a PRO drum shop-they encouraged a test drive
My 90's Yamahas were from a Sam Ash-they had a separate demo room
My current PDP maples are from GC online-bot on hearing/playing another drummers same kit
 
SirRimshot said:
Once again, it is all about how a retail store is setup. At a GC for example, drummers many times have to dodge their way
through several axe handles creating an aisle to the percussion department.

A cymbal room is required for sound testing.

I would also have a VIP room where a PRO can test specific gear, be it a top line kit
or any other gear that unsupervised kids have no access.
Click to expand...


That is the set up used by many of the UK's drum stores and although you don't need to be a Pro to test gear, it does stop 'little Johnny' having his 30 minutes of playing a DW. I will admit that I was surprised when I first walked into a US store to see people being able to play instruments without asking first. Initially, I was insanely jealous because I never had it when I was a child; but as I got to know the staff and spend more time in there, I realised that the 'hands on' policy isn't the best.

Drummers in the UK were never able to do this (Unless you could prove you can afford the gear) until, effectively, between 2005-2008 when the US$ tanked against the GBP£ (When I moved to the USA in 2007, GBP£1 = US$2.02) and it was actually cheaper to buy from the USA, pay for shipping & import taxes, than it was to buy in the UK. I know many people who headed across the pond for a family holiday, and during the time had shell packs (First time I ever saw a PDP shell pack), snares, cymbals, guitars (Rickenbacker basses & anything by Schecter were favourites) etc bought & shipped to the UK. Then claimed the US tax back. UK stores had to compete so they offered a 'new' (To us) service.

Completely irrelevant to me as I only use two UK outlets who know me and I know them. But I did have my local GC in Vegas open the drum section for me to try cymbals out of hours a few times, because they knew I actually intended to buy something and not just do the drumming equivalent of 'fret wanking'.
 
It's not the job of the music store employees to teach others manners. I don't even enter a GC/Musician's Friend/Sam Ash or any other music store before 7:00 P.M. on weekends because the places always look like a day care center. This is the fault of the absentee parents, The last time I was in a Musician's Friend on a Saturday afternoon you could see the yuppie moms dropping their kids off at the music store while the moms went shopping at the mall across the street. The employees were too busy watching the kids and trying to keep the little boogers from completely wrecking the place to help the actual paying clients. God forbid one of the kids not being there when the mother got back! I don't blame music srore employees when their "customers" act like complete bozos. The music store didn't bring those people into the world and obviously no one is raising them no matter what age they are.
 
markdrum said:
It's not the job of the music store employees to teach others manners. I don't even enter a GC/Musician's Friend/Sam Ash or any other music store before 7:00 P.M. on weekends because the places always look like a day care center... I don't blame music srore employees when their "customers" act like complete bozos.
Click to expand...

It's the employees' job to maintain the department and a friendly shopping environment. I don't blame them for the bozos, but they are negligent when they allow the bozos to run the asylum. It's too bad that you've had to adjust your shopping hours as a result. Do you consider that to be fair to you as a customer?

Bermuda
 
I agree, I shoudn't have to adjust my shopping habits but the people causing these problems are the same arrogant clowns that won't turn off their phones at the movie theater. All the cell phones and beepers going off ruins the whole experience. The employees need to control the shopping environment but when they are overrun by cretins they aren't to blame. I've seen employees at the local GC get threatened by "customers" and by parents when the employee asked them to pipe down. Unfortunately we've "raised" a nation full of entitled brats. Some of which are as old as 35. I miss the old mom and pop stores. I drive all the way down to Rupp's when I need to do some serious drum shopping. Those guys don't take no mess because it's their store.
 
bermuda said:
So, unless the staff is using the phone, or perhaps conducting a transaction, it's okay for the place to be excessively noisy?

I have to disagree. A certain amount of drum sounds and playing is expected and acceptable. But the majority of people (okay, kids) who sit down and start bashing are too loud, play too long, and aren't enjoyable or otherwise impressive... yet they are allowed to continue disturbing other customers, and in the case of most GC and Sam Ash stores, other departments and their customers. It's just not conducive to the shopping, buying, or selling process.

And I'm not just old and intolerant, I didn't dig the abuse of drums and my ears 30 years ago either. But the problem seems to have become worse. GC staff cares less, and people feel more entitled, partly the whole "customer is always right" thing... except that these 'drummers' aren't customers at all. They have no intention of buying the gear they are supposedly test-driving.

When I walk into a drum shop or department, it's to purchase something specific, or to check out used gear to purchase. If I try a new snare or cymbal, I do so in a realistic manner with respect to the people in the store, not bashing wildly and endlessly. I don't go in to practice, or let off steam, or show off to friends. But, I'm a pro, and I treat a shop like place to buy things and occasionally ask a question. I can usually conduct my business without even lifting a stick. I only bring this up because GC in particular wants to know why more pros don't shop there, and the top answers are: the staff knows nothing or doesn't care, and it's too noisy.

Bermuda
Click to expand...

i'm not disputing or disagreeing with you at all. in fact i agree that the excessively noisy / kids / show-offs angle in theory is quite a drag. but i have not seen that happenat the GC and SA in my area.

i can only speak for the stores that i have been to and the beauty of those two stores is that they are hands on stores by design. a grand step in evolution from the mom and pop piano stores that used to ask "Are you gonna buy anything ?", to which my standard reply in such an eventuality is...."I was...but not now."

those stores are always extremely helpful and will go to any lengths to explain any new fangled gadget that i have never seen or explain the parameters and intricacies of standard stuff like foot pedals and drum heads that a relative newb like me has no clue of.

"there's the foot pedals - have at it...see what you like...if you have any questions just ask". sometimes i can't even get a clerk, even when it's not busy at all. they give me the "Dude...go for it...the store is yours" vibe. like..."Pick it up, play it...what are you asking me for ?" : ) and i........like it.

if i do have questions they stay right there until i run out of Q's. and i can be very thorough.

many's the time i have wandered from guitar to guitar and drum set to drum set and cymbal to cymbal just exploring the world of what all is going on in here ?

always helpful and never pressure to buy.

show-offs and kids and excessive noise ? i haven't seen it. but that would be a drag.

jam sessions often take place in our stores. i participated in one at Sam Ash with two other drummers and a conga player. about a year ago i sat down at a kit and the conga player came to join me and a second kit player who took the seat behind me. i wasn't quite confident enough to play in front of the assembled yet so i quicky hopped out of the drum chair, only to be encouraged by the conga player that the only way to learn was to do it. my seat was quickly taken my a more advanced drummer and i watched the three of them groove for three or four minutes when the guy who took my seat got up and encouraged me to come back and try it again...which i did. i grooved with them for 3-4 minutes and watched as older ladies walked past the front drum room door on their way to another dept. were bopping and smiling at such a groove and i was very proud to be a part of it. although i wasn't leading it, i did certainly get some good licks in and i went home high as a kite at the buzz from my first ever jam session and public appearance with really good players who not only did not scoff at me, but openly welcomed me to the club. and the store dudes didn't mind one bit.
 
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Anon La Ply said:
Too funny! I can imagine some drum store heroes inducing that kind of feeling in a shop assistant.
Click to expand...

funny thing is that it's a drum specialty shop. but it doesn't have enclosed areas. i won't mention the name, but i do rep their gear quite often. i have at least three store t-shirts, a baseball cap and bumper stickers.

i've never even had a Marshall or Fender or Gibson or Peavey or any other guitar T-Shirt.

i'm just so proud to be in the club (drummers) that i want everybody to know.
 
Re: Have you ever Ben told to stop hitting things at a drum shop?

I usually get handed a pair of sticks every time I enter the drum department at the GCs in my areas of business, most salespeople know me very well. They know exactly where I'll be heading, to the electronic kits. These are either feed into amp/speaker combinations or headphones and I keep the volume of the system down low. Since I don't own an electronic set of drums, this gives me the opportunity to experiment with the different voices they have to offer. Once in a great while I'll try out one of their acoustic kits if something comes in that I'm not familiar with, sometimes I'll play these kits at the advice of the salespeople to get my opinion on their sound. I'll always keep an open eye to make sure the employees there are not on the phone or conducting business at the counter with a customer.

Just the other day, some women came into one of their store with a 10 or 12 year old boy holding a photo shoot while the boy banged on the drums for about ten minutes, I just had to leave.

To answer the question, I can't remember ever being told to stop hitting things. Just be responsible when hitting other peoples property in their selling environment.

Dennis
 
Recently at sam ash there was an older guy on his cell phone walking around with a stick hitting the reso side of all the base drums really hard. no one said anything but it was super hard and he may have been denting the heads. i almost said something but im a big chicken. their motto is "come in and play" so he was allowed like everyone else, but really, the reso head with a stick??
 
Yes, but only since working there. When I used to just shop there and take lessons, I was always way too shy to actually play the drums or hit anything too loud or too much.

Now that I work at the shop, if there's no cleaning or inventory or anything else to do and there are no customers in the store, I go to town. I don't get to play at home so working at a shop with a Yamaha Recording Custom, DW kit, Gretsch Brooklyn kit, and others that are tuned and set-up really well are hard to resist...
 
People treat drum departments like public playgrounds.

I worked at GC- and every Saturday morning there was a steady stream of idiots coming in the door to bang on the drums and show off their licks.
Once the sticks are in their hands, they become Neil Peart/Buddy Rich hybrids, playing every lick they know for the adoring onlookers. It's like some of these people are playing in public for the first time ever.

You're not impressing me- you're annoying the crap out of everybody within earshot.

My favorite is the mom's that would DROP THEIR KIDS off in the drum department and tell them them to entertain themselves while Daddy looked at guitars. They would actually ask for sticks, hand them to their kid, and then leave.
 
I've never been told to stop hitting things in my local small chain (3-4 stores around the area). In fact, I've been told the opposite. I was in the store testing snares after I had gotten off work and the manager for the drum dept. came over to me and said "You're never gonna get a good feel for the rimshot unless you actually hit it." He then proceeded to play a really good short solo on the snare. There was a similar situation with another customer and some ride cymbals.
 
drstrangefunk said:
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
Click to expand...

I am humored and also confused by this Styx reference....has this actually happened? If so that's funny as hell... Even funnier if these clerks actually played the keyboard intro before singing...lol
 
Based on my years of experience working in and buying from drum shops, I’ve found that there’s an inverse relationship between hitting things in the shop and true playing ability. What I mean is, more talent/ability = less noisemaking.
 
Shops have to have a "please play" attitude, and customers expect that. But it's up to the employees to keep the peace and say "no" to kids who just want to bang on stuff. You can't blame one or the other, whether it's a clueless mom or a careless employee.
 
Bermuda said:

"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."

This is so true and I think it really gets to the root of the whole problem. Serious musicians and or buyers will not cause a problem in the store or damage equipments, people looking to show off will.
 
We have two places in our area. One is like a big mortuary when you go in. Lots of nice equipment and a few kits, no marks, no one offers to help you with anything. The other is our local GC there is always someone there to help and for the most part will do anything they can. I have watched the other day while browsing there one of the associates actually give a young man a lesson on playing drums and steer him in the right direction. I have spent a fair amount of money in the drum shop and have never had an associate be rude or in a hurry. In fact the first time I was there a guy in the guitar section where my wife was buying a guitar helped us in the drum dept as well. Yeah on occassion it can get kind of loud but I have yet to see any of the nightmarish behaviour some of you have experienced there.
 
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