Tekker said:
DW a rip off?? Really? What don't you like about them (besides the price)?
I've played on a few DW kits down at Guitar Center (and at a concert that my old band opened up for a few years ago) and they are frigin' sweet (at least I thought so). Sure they are pretty spendy but I wouldn't say a rip off.
I've had my heart set on gettting one for a while, but what set(s) would you recommend instead? (and I don't want to build my own, I prefer to leave that to people who actually know what they're doing.
)
-tkr
They are a scam.
Think about it this way:
I can get a 16"x22" Shell with hoops for about $200.
Figure 24 Lugs at $2 each.
Spurs are another $35
Essentially, for about $300 you can build an exact copy of a DW drum.
Hell, you used to be able to buy the exact same lugs until DW pitched a hissy fit about Hayman lugs being made available to tyhe public. In case you didn't know, Camco was the company that was bought and renamed "DW", they bought their lugs from a British Drum Company called Hayman. DW tried to claim that they had the rights to the Lugs, but they didn't-because
Camco never owned that design! Then DW attempted to say that only they were allowed to sell drums with round lugs.
In short, what I have heard is that they basically threatened all these small drum and drum supply companies with lawsuits which would have ruined most of them financially.
Now, The question you have to ask yourself is this:
Is it worth paying DW $1,000+ more than that because it says DW on the shell? A DW Kick can easily be $1,200-$1,400 bucks. They wanted several Thousand (As in over $3,000 for 1 Kickdrum)to build me a 28" Kick, and I said "Fuck You Too!"
DW's Shells are made EXACTLY the same as Keller. They used Keller shells for years, and any DW's bought Prior to 2000 were made with Keller Shells.
Sure, their Hardware is great, but they don't actually make that- it's made for them, but that's no big deal, because everyone else subs out their metal work as well.
I've had several DW owners ask me to make kits for them after checking out the one that I have, but I do not have the space or means to make kits anymore. (After I built my kit, I no longer had a place to do woodworking.)
The Drilling can be done for you by any of the Drum Supply houses that you purchase keller shells from, as well as having the Bearing edges cut.
You can have the shells stained and sprayed at any local Cabinet shop.
So ask yourself, why should you pay DW the $1,000+ price difference for 1 drum- when you can build a whole kit for that price difference?!?!
You're paying for the Name "Drum Worksop" when you buy their drums, not the actual drums.
What ruined it for me, was when I noticed that "Rikki Rocket" (Mr. No Talent) was an Endorser. That guy can't walk and chew gum, but they give that hack an endorsement. Come On! There were tons of other Talented drummers in the majors that were much more deserving. AT Least Tommy Lee is a badass behind the kit-even though he is one of the teo dumbest people on this planet-the other being Pam Anderson Lee. (Get the porn movie-goddamn are they dumb!"
Tim