Custom Drums

[Spdrman288]

Ok so i know that people talk about "how great their DW sounds." but who here has recorded with Custom made drums and how does you compare? i'm getting my home studio setup now and wanted to know how the custom measure up?

NEW STUDIO:
Apple G5 ($1500)
2.7 Ghz
1.5 GB RAM
160 GB HD

Fire pod ($600)
Logic Pro ($500 with student discount)
Event 20/20 v2 biamp monitor ($740)
and a bunch of misc. gear mics,snakes, cords, comp monitors, etc. to get everything working ($1000)

B-Rad

[Enrique]

Do you mean "physically" make? Or do you mean drums with options? B/c I know people have been on both sides of the spectrum. IMO, drums are drums, as long as you get the sound you're looking for. I'm confused... are you trying to compare custom drums to DW or drums as a whole? More info would be nice!

[foreverain4]

dw collectors series are custom drums... that is why they are so expensive..

[Spdrman288]

I'm Talking About physically, getting the shells or making them, drilling hardware holes, cutting the bearing edges, ETC.
Yes DW are "Custom" but not very custom, you can't deviate from thier lugs and you have to do one of their finishes unless you want to spend your life saving.
B-Rad

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by Spdrman288

I'm Talking About physically, getting the shells or making them, drilling hardware holes, cutting the bearing edges, ETC.
Yes DW are "Custom" but not very custom, you can't deviate from thier lugs and you have to do one of their finishes unless you want to spend your life saving.
B-Rad

I built my kit in the late 90's, and I would put it against anything out there, but I like the sound of Big drums tuned higher in pitch. I tune my 15" tom about where most drummers would tune a 13" tom.

Personally, I don't see the point in going with a "Custom kit" unless you want sizes or colors that are not available from a manufacturer. A lot of guys get custom kits - but they get standard sizes and colors, so what is the point of going through making a custom kit?
The Hardware for custom drums isn't bad, but given the choice - I would have rather had Ludwig lugs, because they are one of the best lugs on the market as far as quality goes. The same for DW lugs.

I went custom because I wanted 28" diameter kicks and one of my floor toms is a 20" Floor - neither of these was available at the time from the major manufacturers. DW was willing to make the 28" Kick drums - but they were going to run me more than my entire kit cost to build.


Tim

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by Spdrman288

Ok so i know that people talk about "how great their DW sounds." but who here has recorded with Custom made drums and how does you compare? i'm getting my home studio setup now and wanted to know how the custom measure up?

NEW STUDIO:
Apple G5 ($1500)
2.7 Ghz
1.5 GB RAM
160 GB HD

Fire pod ($600)
Logic Pro ($500 with student discount)
Event 20/20 v2 biamp monitor ($740)
and a bunch of misc. gear mics,snakes, cords, comp monitors, etc. to get everything working ($1000)

B-Rad

Man, the Logic Pro 7 software kicks major @$$! Great choice. I just went through a recording course at my local community college, and we had Logic on a G5 with MOTU interfaces and a TC Electronics' Rackmounted Powercore.
they just got a certificate set up, and now they are working on a recording degree - I can't wait!

BTW, there is a free Software Synth called Crystal available online (according to my instructor.)
Also check out http://www.audio-units.com/

[Bdrum]

How does the Pearl Mastersworks compare?
Or does it.

[DuoToneBand]

not true at all. If you are ordering a dw kit and u want a lacquer that they dont show on their site, they will make it and it wont cost extra. If you read any of the fine print, the site says "this is just a selection of our colors"

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by DuoToneBand

not true at all. If you are ordering a dw kit and u want a lacquer that they dont show on their site, they will make it and it wont cost extra. If you read any of the fine print, the site says "this is just a selection of our colors"

I was after SIZES they didn't offer, not finishes. I just use a very light hand rubbed finish because I wanted just enough finish on it to completely seal the shells, that's it. You have to keep in mind - DW has changed a lot since the late 90's - they now make their own shells, they were using Keller Maple shells (which is what I used.)

So, while they may have offered the finish I wanted - they still didn't offer a 20" Floor tom.

I have a friend who has some kind of deal with them, but he said when he goes on recording dates - the kit that's most requested, is his Porkpie kit.

His universal setup is:

DW stands

10"x12" Rack
14"x16" Rack
18"x22" Kick

and 2 snares of varying sizes depending upon who he's playing with, and the style of music.

Since he uses such a small kit, he has bought several top of the line "2 tom, 1 kick" sets from different companies such as Pork Pie, DW, Spaun, and a Tommy Winkler set...and he just picked up some old Roger's set that he's going to get fixed up. I know he got some kind of deal with DW and with Porkpie but I'm not sure how it worked (He didn't get the drums for free, but he said he paid less than half the normal price), and he's got a Zildjian endorsement... he plays 5 nights a week plus does some corporate music gigs during the day, so everybody around here knows who he is.
I told him, "Man it must be great to be able to play like that for a living!"
And his response was "Yeah, it's nice - but I can't get sick. If I get sick I could be homeless in no time."
I have to admit I never thought about the fact that guys who are gigging for a living can't really get sick, or at least can't be sick for long.



Tim