I'm curious as to what the 5 things are. You sound like you have your preferences pretty well thought out. I love hearing that. If you wouldn't mind sharing them with us, I'm all in. And I'm also with you with the N&C drums. I'd take them over most anything.
1) N&C has a custom brass throw off, Craviotto has a really nice throw-off as well. Some else stated the PMC is a $30 throw off and quite frankly, that looks about right. If it functions, great but we are talking $1k here to be spoiled with best possible.
2) Tube lugs make sense to me here. When you have them them split, you put tension on edge as opposed to a tube lug design that distributes this tension off the shell. Plus it's a lot less hardware attached to the shell compared to individual lugs. Whether the tension theory has a sonic difference is arguable (but puts less tension on a shell like an SS which makes sense for longevity or stressing in moisture conditions). Certainly less hardware on shell has a sonic effect
3) 100% brass lugs are are more costly but I'm an absolute proponent and make more sense from a sonic perspective as a so called "resonating alloy". Plus they have their 'nodal point' mounting which makes sense to me as well. These are the appointments I want on a high-end drum. I believe Craviotto's are brass as well (just plated)
4) N&C makes all their re-enforcement rings to match the species of the wood shell. I prefer this both conceptually and aesthetically; especially when isolating for so called 'sonic purity' here. The other side of the argument is that historically, un-matched rings happened all the time and Craviotto does the same. But I have no doubt this is more costly and labor intensive on N&C opposed to having a line of maple rings ready for mass production. Does this actually have a sonic influence....I've asked this before and remains a mystery. But I believe enough small details add up to a major detail.
5) Oil finishes are usually cheaper, Pearl could have cut a bit here just on this alone. I happen to prefer oil and their inlays are nice so this is really minor and a choice.
6) And finally, we know N&C and Craviotto are making their shells in-house; they are responsible from point A to Z in the process, US made guaranteed. I don't know where PMC shell is coming from but all signs point to Taiwan. N&C are not paying a worker overseas a fraction of labor cost, sticking the customer a US/Japan/German price and then putting a big US flag as a campaign trickery punchline to justify a boutique price. If you don't read between the lines, you may think this is 100% US made (it's just assembled). I have nothing against Taiwan, they make many great drums as well but we know it's cheaper....I'm sorry but I find this a bit sleazy. Again, they are great sounding drums (at least on video) but if they are saving significant overhead then unfair to stick it on the customer here....just drop the price to make it fair.
And to be fair, not that you need it, but I'd come to your defense too if someone was dissing your personal choices.
Thank you, but I have no issue if someone opposing views on my gear choices. I've learned alot reading on boards just to hear what people play, what they like, what they don't like. In the end, it's a personal thing so it's only a discussion in the end and never right or wrong. I honestly never thought this would rain on the parade, CMJ seems beyond overjoyed with a great drum to play that it would be impossible but if by some slim chance you enjoy your drum less due to this discussion, my apologies.
