What's going on with DW post-acquisition?

vxla

Silver Member
It's been about a year since DW did the big product announcements of the DWe drums. Anybody know what's going on with the company at this point? Their social media presence has really been reduced (last Youtube video was uploaded 5 months ago!), and although we don't need yet another Wood Whisperer video about some fallen, 1750-year old tree that was salvaged in Romania and turned into drums, it sucks that they've kinda gone silent.

Not trying to pile on a bunch of hate; just curious to know if anyone knows what's up, post-acquisition.

edit: apparently there are some YT shorts that have been done, but it's all pretty dull content compared to what was usually coming out.
 
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who acquired (distribution?) of who?
 
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Joe, Roland bought DW last year. Not just distribution but full acquisition.

@vxla, I’m an aficionado of the brand and have ordered several drums post-acquisition. Dana Bentley is a 30+ year friend of mine and his shop is one of the largest DW dealers on the west coast. According to him, the company is doing well. Good and Lombardi are still on board, perhaps less aggressively, and a junior Lombardi (can’t think of his name) appears to be running the day to day operation. Bentley’s sells a boat load of DW drums, so I’m inclined to believe him.

My orders were fulfilled in reasonable timeframes and quality is on par with my pre-acquisition drums. I know my individual experiences obviously don’t represent the overall health of the company but I figured a little anecdotal snapshot was worth sharing in this thread.
 
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Short story - DW got Gretsch, then Roland got DW.

Long story - IDK. I'll let someone else get into the details.
 
Short story - DW got Gretsch, then Roland got DW.

Long story - IDK. I'll let someone else get into the details.
Gretsch isn't under DW anymore.

They've been working with Roland on the new V Drums stuff.
 
Gretsch- Gewa

😃
(JDA-AI)
 
I do find it a bit odd DW hasn't said much about their new e-drum stuff since last year.

Otherwise, it seems like business as usual. They recently had their annual factory day (Which I missed again).

I can't say I've noticed any increase or decrease in people switching endorsements to/from DW than normal.

The only odd bit was there is a recent video interview of Deen Castronovo, and he discusses how he's triggering his drums via Roland triggers to keep stage noise down, and when asked why he was using Roand triggers and not the new DW tech, he something about DW couldn't make a 8" tom with their system.

Which I found to be an odd response. DW can't make an 8" e-tom for a guy touring in arena-sized venus? Or just their system isn't as good as claimed?

It seems no one of note is using the new DW e-drums, even though we're seeing an increase in drummers who back aging rock rockstars switching to e-drums to keep stage volume down. (Journey, The Who, Geoff Tate, among others)

Even Rick Allen began using the DW kick drum (at least for looks) and isn't using their system.
 
I'll be honest, for the price tag (ginormous) I was completely underwhelmed with what I saw of the DWe kits. The triggering sounded machine-gun, the cymbals were clacky... like a huge step backward or something you might get from an offshore vendor on Amazon for $279. I was way more impressed with Zildjian's Alchem-E kits that came out right around the same time. The fact that you haven't seen a whole lot of follow-on endorsement action leads me to believe I was not alone in thinking what I thought.
 
Short story - DW got Gretsch, then Roland got DW.

Long story - IDK. I'll let someone else get into the details.
Roland just wanted the DW expertise on acoustic kits (to fill them with electronics) and to be able to get past the $9000 figure when selling you a kit that you can use both ways (because acoustically it will be a great kit, but with the Roland electronics, it will also be a great e-kit).
I believe DW had acquired...I can remember the name of the wireless e-drum company right before Roland acquired them, so they integrated all that tech into the first DWe produced, and now the second generation will have the digital everything including the snare with the digital strainer that doubles as track start/stop. Of course us mere mortals can't afford a $10000 drumset.
 
I do find it a bit odd DW hasn't said much about their new e-drum stuff since last year.

Otherwise, it seems like business as usual. They recently had their annual factory day (Which I missed again).

I can't say I've noticed any increase or decrease in people switching endorsements to/from DW than normal.

The only odd bit was there is a recent video interview of Deen Castronovo, and he discusses how he's triggering his drums via Roland triggers to keep stage noise down, and when asked why he was using Roand triggers and not the new DW tech, he something about DW couldn't make a 8" tom with their system.

Which I found to be an odd response. DW can't make an 8" e-tom for a guy touring in arena-sized venus? Or just their system isn't as good as claimed?

It seems no one of note is using the new DW e-drums, even though we're seeing an increase in drummers who back aging rock rockstars switching to e-drums to keep stage volume down. (Journey, The Who, Geoff Tate, among others)

Even Rick Allen began using the DW kick drum (at least for looks) and isn't using their system.
Maybe they didn't want to machine a dye (for the plastic trigger bed) just for him because smaller drums are much less prone to issues than bigger drums hence why Roland stops at 14 inch toms because 16 start to have all kinds of double triggering issues.
 
Maybe they didn't want to machine a dye (for the plastic trigger bed) just for him because smaller drums are much less prone to issues than bigger drums hence why Roland stops at 14 inch toms because 16 start to have all kinds of double triggering issues.
eh, they could have used a 3d printer or something to jury rig a one-off.

And really, it's just triggering, who needs an 8" tom? Any tom/pad/whatever could be set to trigger an 8" tom sound.
If he had two 10" toms, no one other than other drummers would notice. Particularly the way Deen has his 8" tom way off to the left of the hi-hat, away from all his other toms.

But not really the point, the point being that no one of note is using the new system, to the point that DW artists (and others) are using Roland products over the DW one.

For all the initial hype, the new e-drum system hasn't made much of an impact (yet).

All of which goes back to a post I made when the acquisition was announced DW had gone on a huge buying spree of other companies, borrowing money along the way, and I suspect that, despite selling off some of their acquisitions, they stretched themselves too thin, and just needed the Roland money to cover all the money they had borrowed.
 
eh, they could have used a 3d printer or something to jury rig a one-off.

And really, it's just triggering, who needs an 8" tom? Any tom/pad/whatever could be set to trigger an 8" tom sound.
If he had two 10" toms, no one other than other drummers would notice. Particularly the way Deen has his 8" tom way off to the left of the hi-hat, away from all his other toms.

But not really the point, the point being that no one of note is using the new system, to the point that DW artists (and others) are using Roland products over the DW one.

For all the initial hype, the new e-drum system hasn't made much of an impact (yet).

All of which goes back to a post I made when the acquisition was announced DW had gone on a huge buying spree of other companies, borrowing money along the way, and I suspect that, despite selling off some of their acquisitions, they stretched themselves too thin, and just needed the Roland money to cover all the money they had borrowed.
It could also be that the DWe is wireless and it's hard to trust that such a system will not be subjected to lots of interference. At home fine, in a stadium with thousands of signals...maybe not.
 
I haven't questioned my AR guy at DW lately about what's going on. I did ask him about Slingerland at one point, and his response was, he didn't know. Clearly, they are being tight-lipped about upcoming products. I regularly get emails from DW talking about the e-kits and more. I wish I could provide some juicy information, but I can't. Roland is not telling them how to make acoustic drums. I know that much.

As far as the e-kits go, they may take time to catch on, but I believe they will, with Roland's help. It seems to be a very good idea, but good ideas don't always fly. I'm just happy to be a DW guy since 2002. They take very good care of me.
 
I do find it a bit odd DW hasn't said much about their new e-drum stuff since last year.

Otherwise, it seems like business as usual. They recently had their annual factory day (Which I missed again).

I can't say I've noticed any increase or decrease in people switching endorsements to/from DW than normal.

The only odd bit was there is a recent video interview of Deen Castronovo, and he discusses how he's triggering his drums via Roland triggers to keep stage noise down, and when asked why he was using Roand triggers and not the new DW tech, he something about DW couldn't make a 8" tom with their system.

Which I found to be an odd response. DW can't make an 8" e-tom for a guy touring in arena-sized venus? Or just their system isn't as good as claimed?

It seems no one of note is using the new DW e-drums, even though we're seeing an increase in drummers who back aging rock rockstars switching to e-drums to keep stage volume down. (Journey, The Who, Geoff Tate, among others)

Even Rick Allen began using the DW kick drum (at least for looks) and isn't using their system.
Rick Allen plays Yamaha acoustic and electronic drums since 2009, he's not even using dw pedals anymore.
2024 pic:
Screenshot_20241005-092334_Chrome.jpg
 
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It's been about a year since DW did the big product announcements of the DWe drums. Anybody know what's going on with the company at this point? Their social media presence has really been reduced (last Youtube video was uploaded 5 months ago!), and although we don't need yet another Wood Whisperer video about some fallen, 1750-year old tree that was salvaged in Romania and turned into drums, it sucks that they've kinda gone silent.

Not trying to pile on a bunch of hate; just curious to know if anyone knows what's up, post-acquisition.

edit: apparently there are some YT shorts that have been done, but it's all pretty dull content compared to what was usually coming out.

I do not know why drum companies are not as active on YouTube compared to other social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.
Please check the DW Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dwdrums
There are recent posts there and the last post is dated October 3.

It is the same story with Rogers drums. They are very quiet on YouTube, but I have seen regular posts on Facebook.
 
I’ll just remind everyone how you all laughed at me and called me a liar and a loser because I said I heard a rumor that this buyout was going down. I was so upset that I had to buy a cymbal.

Anyway, I’ve learned a little about the Japanese way of running big business since Yamaha bought Ampeg, and they don’t operate on the premise that they have to rush out new products all the time to keep their place in the market. The first Ampeg product they did, the Heritage 50th Anniversary SVT, was slated for Sept 2019, and didn’t come out till it was almost time for the 51st anniversary. They felt the design wasn’t quite right and held it up. They also took their time revamping the micro and combo lines. But their new combos and micro amps and cabs crush it, they sell well, and they are way lighter than SVT’s ;)

I imagine Roland isn’t much different in that regard.
 
I’ll just remind everyone how you all laughed at me and called me a liar and a loser because I said I heard a rumor that this buyout was going down. I was so upset that I had to buy a cymbal.

Anyway, I’ve learned a little about the Japanese way of running big business since Yamaha bought Ampeg, and they don’t operate on the premise that they have to rush out new products all the time to keep their place in the market. The first Ampeg product they did, the Heritage 50th Anniversary SVT, was slated for Sept 2019, and didn’t come out till it was almost time for the 51st anniversary. They felt the design wasn’t quite right and held it up. They also took their time revamping the micro and combo lines. But their new combos and micro amps and cabs crush it, they sell well, and they are way lighter than SVT’s ;)

I imagine Roland isn’t much different in that regard.

They play the long game. They are willing to live with razor thin profit margins for a long time, but steadily gain market share. Their attention to quality and the idea that quality wins the game is in part the result of the teachings by Professor Edward Deming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming
 
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