What's up with Sonor's marketing decisions?

Jeremy Bender said:
I wonder if tht's due to finding a s=uitable distributor in a particular country/region or if it's a corporate culrure.
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I got my 1st job working in a drum shop in 1987/88 in high school. They were difficult back then.

It's what makes them stand out: High end, hard to get, and just different than everyone else.
 
I think if you'd ask Sonor they'd answer- we can't sell them any cheaper- labor & materials are what they are & add the skill and employee structure..
I would think making it easy for the consumer- whether it be their Educational drums or their Top tier doublebass sets- they Know they still need to be/ sold.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Sonar has never, ever, made decisions based on making it easy for the consumer.
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It's not an intentional thing. They make a product to a certain standard without downstream considerations. As a result all kinds of outside factors interpose themselves between the drum maker and the drummer, trade agreements and stupid things like that. But honestly this kind of problem is rooted in something fundamentally essential to making a consistently high quality product and that is not chasing $$$$ and market share at the expense of maintaining their standards.

That said, Chinese manufactured Sonor's are nothing to sneeze at.
 
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DrumEatDrum said:
I got my 1st job working in a drum shop in 1987/88 in high school. They were difficult back then.

It's what makes them stand out: High end, hard to get, and just different than everyone else.
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Parts availability was a primary reason I went with Tama after my Sonor experience. No regrets.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Sonar has never, ever, made decisions based on making it easy for the consumer.
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Sonor.

Here in Europe there is no problem getting their parts, or drums on general.

The German made models are priced at a higher price point because it is expensive to make them here.

The things Americans walk in to with Sonor, is the same as we Europeans have with DW/Gretsch/Craviotto/Noble etc.

For some reason we all together have less off these issues with Asian made products (Yamaha/Pearl/Tama/Mapex etc) though.
 
SONOR has always engineered excellent drums (high end or lower) but they seem to have lost their imagination in finishes with many series like the Vintage series and others are just old to me. I always wanted a heavy beech SQ2 but now I’d rather have a Prolite. But they have dropped the ball with me and now I’m looking at Tama- a brand I have zero experience with but they seem to know the right buttons to push in drawing my attention.
 
GetAgrippa said:
now I’m looking at Tama
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I don’t know what you’re looking to spend, but:
  • Star line-up is MIJ, thus the higher price tag. The Star design uses reinforcement rings and a thicker middle ply shell design.
  • You can also order (and wait for) a MIJ Starclassic (they have their own colors schemes).
  • Starclassic does not utilize re-rings.
  • The “standard“ Starclassic is MIC, along with every other model under that price point.
  • The Starclassic “Performer” line comes with a tom tree mounted to the bass. If you see one without the tom tree, it was a special order by an individual or shop. Older Performer kits are all birch ply. Nowadays their shells are dual-wood types (currently a maple/birch layup).
  • The Superstar Classic uses all-maple shells with a cheaper hardware setup.
  • The older style/design of Star-Cast mount (with black yoke) functions as well as the new design, but some players have balked at the apparent looseness of the current design.
When I went from a Sonar Force 3000 to a Tama Starclassic, the biggest surprise was the heftier, louder sound to the bass drum. Second was how easy it was to tune the toms. Third was all the compliments. 😎
 
cbphoto said:
The Starclassic “Performer” line comes with a tom tree mounted to the bass. If you see one without the tom tree, it was a special order by an individual or shop.
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I see the Tama page but they offer the kits with the Double Tom Holder as you can see their language on their page below.. but I have never seen them offer any "Trees" for any of their kits 😬 https://www.tama.com/usa/products/detail/mth800.html
 
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