Sonor prices

Doraemon

Doraemon

Well-known Member
I'm looking at the Protean snare prices and it seems they went up 30% in the last 3 years, is that normal for all drums recently?
The base 14" was $899 in 2001 and now it's $1169
Since it's still "only" $777 at Thomann (plus shipping, duty, tax etc.), I wonder if what happened was the prices went up with the tariffs on made-in-Germany things and after they lifted that, merchants just kept the high prices..? Is there anything similar with other German products, or is it just inflation? I don't know what the prices were between these two dates.. (maybe they went down - unlikely)
 
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Just for giggles, I compared the price of a cymbal I bought new in 2010. At that time, it cost $175. Today, the same cymbal costs $494. That's just over a 280 percent (2.8x) increase.

How much of that difference came the the last three years, I can't say.
 
I feel like the separation between prime gear and budget gear is steadily turning into a separation between "collector" gear and "real" gear.

The quality bar on the budget stuff is getting a lot higher in general. I know we like to dump on budget and entry kits because they aren't as good as the flagship kits, but honestly in terms of build quality they're often just as good or better than most of the vintage stuff we lust over. In other areas of music it's already happened where not even the top pros always play the flagship models anymore. It's been totally normalized to see a well known guitarist take the stage with a Dano reissue or an Epiphone, and an $800 or less amp.

I think the companies are realizing that the people who absolutely insist on the premier lines are shrinking, but also are willing to pay the extra cost for it because it's the premier line; and those who are perfectly happy gigging on a $450-900 shell pack are never going to spend $2000 for shells anyway, so you might as well hike them up.
 
I'm home from work, and did a little follow up research, because I wanted to know how the increase in price of music gear compares to the increase in income.

I used US figures, because that's where I live. In 2010, the median income was $49445. In 2024, the median income is about $59384. (Depending on the source, these numbers vary, but interestingly, the amount of growth is similar, regardless of absolute numbers.)

I'm no mathemagician, but that doesn't look like a 2.8X increase to me.

I think @Paleographical is on to something, too. The people who buy those crazy expensive kits are in the minority, and by-and-large they are not everyday gigging musicians. But there are enough of them that there IS a market, so prices are not coming down. Thankfully, the middle-grade equipment of today is as good in quality as some of the high-end gear of yesteryear. I know, because I owned some of that "vintage" gear when it was new. So I guess there is somewhat of a silver lining.
 
Stroman said:
I think @Paleographical is on to something, too. The people who buy those crazy expensive kits are in the minority, and by-and-large they are not everyday gigging musicians. But there are enough of them that there IS a market, so prices are not coming down. Thankfully, the middle-grade equipment of today is as good in quality as some of the high-end gear of yesteryear. I know, because I owned some of that "vintage" gear when it was new. So I guess there is somewhat of a silver lining.
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I noticed similar price increases for budget item, too. My cheap edrums gained 20-30% in a few years. Even the sticks.. I guess it's just a lot more dramatic looking at expensive stuff. Maybe I'm just new to inflation :) I was a child during the previous peaks.
 
The 20-30% across the board seems normal for inflation, but the 100-200% increases must be including other factors, I feel.

Some of the budget and midline gear is also going up way beyond just normal inflation, but I've noticed that as those start going up other brands are popping up to fill the space, like the different cymbal brands now selling in the $50-$150 B20 cymbal market that Wuhan's left behind.
 
Son of Vistalite Black is headed to Berlin in October. What some here don't seem to have considered is inflation has been a worldwide phenomenon since 2020. With currency fluctuations, manufacturers shipping goods from Europe to the U.S. likely have to price higher than they otherwise would.
theworld.org

‘Dönerflation’: Outcry in Germany over rising cost of döner kebab - The World from PRX

The price of döner kebabs has increased rapidly in the past few years since the pandemic. It's a favorite food introduced by Turkish guest workers in the 1970s. The Left Party has proposed to cap the price at $5.30 before the kebabs become a luxury item.
theworld.org theworld.org
 
Seems high time for manufacturers to sell direct and get rid of the middleman shops altogether. most have bad service anyway.
 
Palaeographical said:
I feel like the separation between prime gear and budget gear is steadily turning into a separation between "collector" gear and "real" gear.

The quality bar on the budget stuff is getting a lot higher in general. I know we like to dump on budget and entry kits because they aren't as good as the flagship kits, but honestly in terms of build quality they're often just as good or better than most of the vintage stuff we lust over. In other areas of music it's already happened where not even the top pros always play the flagship models anymore. It's been totally normalized to see a well known guitarist take the stage with a Dano reissue or an Epiphone, and an $800 or less amp.

I think the companies are realizing that the people who absolutely insist on the premier lines are shrinking, but also are willing to pay the extra cost for it because it's the premier line; and those who are perfectly happy gigging on a $450-900 shell pack are never going to spend $2000 for shells anyway, so you might as well hike them up.
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I own two pro level kits and two flagship level kits. Pro level kits are the 97th percentile while flagship at the 99th and literally cost almost twice as much. You pay dearly to get to that 99th percentile.

Mid level kits are good enough for the majority of players out there, as the manufacturing processes have improved so much. No, it's not going to sound like a truly pro kit, but can come close for less.

Unless this is and has been a serious passion in your life (it was for me - 4 decades) and you are going to seriously study the instrument (not just pound out classic rock tunes) it doesn't make sense to spend the $$$.
 
Syncopated_1 said:
I own two pro level kits and two flagship level kits. Pro level kits are the 97th percentile while flagship at the 99th and literally cost almost twice as much. You pay dearly to get to that 99th percentile.

Mid level kits are good enough for the majority of players out there, as the manufacturing processes have improved so much. No, it's not going to sound like a truly pro kit, but can come close for less.

Unless this is and has been a serious passion in your life (it was for me - 4 decades) and you are going to seriously study the instrument (not just pound out classic rock tunes) it doesn't make sense to spend the $$$.
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So true. Drum manufacturing has improved and when I think of Pros who had careers with drums that weren't super exotic, Alan White of YES and Ed Shauhgnessy of the Tonight Show playing Ludwig clasic maples (granted they were monster players) I realize it's horses for courses. play what you like, and gets the job done.

I think I've found my forever kit that sounds great, looks nice and should hold up for many years. I don't need another kit. Yet I still find myself looking at other drums! lol
 
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Fortunately, when I buy new drum gear and accessories, it's on artist pricing, which is quite affordable all around. Otherwise, I buy used stuff when it's a bargain, like the Yamaha powered monitor I got a few months ago used for $60, which is great for vocals but little else. I'm thinking of upgrading to a powered wedge, but again, I'm looking for a used one. The least expensive new ones are Behringer at over $200, but who knows how long it will it will last. I hope their quality has improved. I bought a four-channel Behringer mixer years ago that fried on its second gig.

Prices on gear have skyrocketed since Covid. Supply chain issues were an explanation retailers used, but I don't think that's a factor anymore.
 
Syncopated_1 said:
I own two pro level kits and two flagship level kits. Pro level kits are the 97th percentile while flagship at the 99th and literally cost almost twice as much. You pay dearly to get to that 99th percentile.

Mid level kits are good enough for the majority of players out there, as the manufacturing processes have improved so much. No, it's not going to sound like a truly pro kit, but can come close for less.

Unless this is and has been a serious passion in your life (it was for me - 4 decades) and you are going to seriously study the instrument (not just pound out classic rock tunes) it doesn't make sense to spend the $$$.
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Exactly. I've never owned any of the very high end kits, but I've played on some of the absolute top of the line stuff and it's a clear difference to the midrange, or even the pro grade. Once you know what a 95% kit is like, even the 4% difference to a 99% kit feels substantial. The question is whether that difference is actually worth it to the buyer's needs to justify the extra cost. Increasingly that answer is becoming "no" to more and more people, as the bottom floor's quality is rising faster than inflation's ability to keep up with the high end's rising price tag is.

On the one hand, the tier of music gear we have grown accustomed to settling for is skyrocketing. But at the same time, we can also buy large diaphram XLR condenser mics for $40 now. Of course nobody's pretending they can match the professional grade stuff, but they're popular because it's surprising how not awful they are based on what we used to expect from $40 mics.

Basically, I think we're in the middle of a reckoning or paradigm shift in how we define the different "tiers" for music gear, and what is expected out of each tier.
 
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Jeremy Bender said:
So true. Drum manufacturing has improved and when I think of Pros who had careers with drums that weren't super exotic, Alan White of YES and Ed Shauhgnessy of the Tonight Show playing Ludwig clasic maples (granted they were monster players) I realize it's horses for courses. play what you like, and gets the job done.

I think I've found my forever kit that sounds great, looks nice and should hold up for many years. I don't need another kit. Yet I still find myself looking at other drums! lol
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I would have given my left nut to have a classic maple in high school. Certain kits are timeless. I LOVE Alan's huge, BOOMY sound on 90125. 'Changes' claimed the speakers in my high school hot rod ROFL - blew them clean out with the levels on full as that bass drum sound is stellar.
 
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