Okay, I'm narrowing down the search for a new kit (read on)

tn_drumbanger

Hello all.

I'm new here, in case you haven't noticed, but I've been lurking around for a week or two reading some very interesting posts. If any of you frequent the drumweb.com message board, you might recognize my name, however.

To business! Recently, my set of Premier XPKs was stolen, complete with its top-of-the-line double braced hardware and my Paiste cymbals (which included three RUDE Classic cymbals and two 802 cymbals). I'm filing a claim with the insurance company today and will hopefully be buying a new kit soon.

I've looked at three major brands here: Premier (Artist Birch), Pearl (Session Birch), and Ludwig (Classic Birch). Ludwig was winning the mental race...UNTIL!

I found out about a company called Donoho drums via this message board. Turns out Donoho is based just a couple hours from my home in Murfreesboro. I asked him for a quote, and his completely custom, maple-shelled drums can be had for CHEAPER than the previous best-deal Ludwigs, costing some $200 less complete with double-braced hardware.

I'm looking at getting around $3000 in insurance money from my stolen kit, and am considering all roads right now.

I really like Premier just because they're starting to go on their own again (my kit was made in the days when they were owned by Yamaha.) and they have a somewhat unique sound most times, plus I was relatively happy with the sound I was achieving with the XPKs. I realize the Artist Birch is slightly different in layup than the XPK's 'birch/eucalyptus/birch', but still...

Ludwig was leading the race because they were cheaper than Premier with all the hardware included, and I could still get them in traditional "power" sizes which Premier doesn't make any longer. (My one rack tom, a 13x11, is now a 13x10 in Premier's range.) I could also opt to skip the ISO style mount with Ludwig, which would be tempting since I've already got SKB Roto-X cases for my old drum sizes. I'd hate to get another 13" tom only to have it not fit in my case because of the ISO mount!

Pearl is in the running because I've been impressed with my dad's set of Sessions, especially the hardware. However, Pearl is also the most expensive of those I've looked at, mostly due to hardware prices. They really stick it to you if you get a Powershifter Eliminator.

Donoho is now looking like the front-runner, but I'm going to drive to Murfreesboro to check his craft out first.

For the record, I'm going to forgo the 802 Paistes in my setup, instead opting for an all-RUDE Classic set, with 14" hats, as well as the cymbals stolen from me (16 and 18" crash/rides and 20" ride/crash). They'll cost me around $1000, so in theory, I will have around $2000 to spend on a four-piece kit to replace the XPKs that were robbed of me.

What was stolen, you ask?

PREMIER XPK DRUMS (SAPPHIRE BLUE LACQUER)
22x16 bass drum
13x11 rack tom
16x16 floor tom
14x5.5 chrome snare

PREMIER HARDWARE (probably equivalent to 6000 series, it was the top of the line heavy duty in its day)
Hi hat stand
Straight cymbal stand
(2x) Short boom cymbal stand
Long boom cymbal stand
Double bass pedal, dual chain drive
Snare drum stand

PAISTE CYMBALS
802 Hi hats, pair, 14"
802 Ride, 20"
RUDE Classic crash/ride 16"
RUDE Classic crash/ride 18"
RUDE Classic ride/crash 20"

There you have it! The cymbals will remain the same, with the exception of the 802s, which, as I said, I'm getting rid of in favor of RUDE Classic hi hats. Nothing wrong with the 802s, but I wanted to get the RUDE hats anyway, then my kit was stolen.

What do you all think? Who do I go with? Heard good things on Donoho? Bad things? How about the Premiers? Pearls? Ludwigs? Any other brands you'd recommend? I know there's plenty of other indie drum manufacturers that can beat major prices with better products (arguably, I know) but the reason I'm considering Donoho is mostly because they're so close to me.

Love to hear your thoughts.

Regards,
tn_drumbanger
=============

MilkmanZ14 · Pit Bull Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 352

ive heard some pretty good stuff about donoho from these boards, but I assume you're looking for birch (based on that all the sets you chose were birch) and Paiste cymbals, of which i have no experience with except for the cheap alphas or whatever they are. I really don't have any experience with these brands, but by the looks of it, if i were you, i'd go with either premier or donoho. Hope this helps a little bit.

Btw: I live in Chattanooga which isn't to far from murfreesburo, maybe an hour or an hour and a half, not exactly sure. Wink

_________________

tn_drumbanger · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 8:56 am Post subject:

Milkman:

I was looking into the birch drums by Premier, Pearl, and Ludwig because of two things: (1) They're cheaper than their maple counterparts, and (2) they're comprable in construction to my old drums, though not exactly. Part of the reason Donoho is looking so appealing is because their maple shells are cheaper than the majors' birch shells, when major-brand maple shells are ALWAYS more expensive than major-brand birch shells.

Regards,
tn_drumbanger

MilkmanZ14 · Pit Bull Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 352

ahh, i see now, i was just assuming you wanted birch, but since donoho's maple drums are cheaper, i'd suggest getting those because its cool to have custom drums from a small company Cool

_________________

bytor · Admin Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 5248 Location: Kansas

I've heard a lot of good things about Donoho Drums. I've considered making the 4.5 hour drive down there to check them out. If you only live a couple of hours away, I'd just go over there and play them for yourself. I'd call first to see how many kits he has on the floor right now, though. I know he's been doing a LOT of ebay selling, lately, so his floor stock may be a little depleted.

tn_drumbanger · Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 6:05 am Post subject:

I think I'm going to go down there today!

Surprisingly, the insurer just went ahead and cut the check yesterday when we filed the claim. I got $2700 and change from them. As a result, I'm going to go today, I think, to the shop and check his stuff out.

I may call first, but I doubt it, as I'll have to get down there quickly in order to be home this afternoon for some family commitments. It being 8:03 AM right now, he opens at 9:00. Hmm...

We'll see how it goes, eh?

Regards,
tn_drumbanger

bytor · Admin Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 5248 Location: Kansas

Good luck! Definitely let us know what you think of the drums and his business in general.

tn_drumbanger · Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:12 pm Post subject:

Welp, I've bought them!

I put down $750 on a set in a sort of bright satin green finish (not neon green, but a nice lime shade that's fairly easy on the eyes), complete with hardware. He tells me it'll be maybe 2 or 3 weeks to get built.

Here's what I ordered:

DONOHO DRUMS, 6 PLY MAPLE KELLER SHELLS
22x16 bass drum (the lightest bass drum I've ever had the opportunity to pick up. I swear, my old Premier XPK weighed a TON compared to this!)
12x10 rack tom w/Premier-style L-rod and ISO mount
16x16 floor tom w/legs
14x5.5 snare

DONOHO 600 HARDWARE
(3x) Disappearing boom stands (they turn into a straight stand)
Hi-hat stand
Snare stand
Double bass pedal, single chain drive (the chain is pretty thick, though, much thicker than the single chain Gibraltar ROCK pedal I have)

The other $750 (total out-the-door price: $1500) is due when I go to pick up my kit.

I picked a color he had done before, but I wanted my drums to be ONLY that color, whereas the set he had done in that color before was a fade or something sort of odd.

The lugs are chrome, double-style on all drums (except, I think, the snare, which should have singles since it's only 5.5" deep). Ten lugs on bass drum hoops, of course. 2.3mm stick-saver triple-flanged hoops on toms and snare. The lugs turned very true at all tuning ranges, from tight and poppy to loose and floppy, something the owner accredited to the nylon washers and good lug design. I agree.

The hardware was surprisingly good-looking, in save the double bass pedal. The boom stands look especially heavy-duty (and feel it, too, man they're heavy) and feature 360-degree tilters and the disappearing boom arm feature. They collapse to what I estimate to be 36" in length for transport. There is almost no metal-to-metal contact with the stands, except the knurled portion of the boom arm, which contacts a metal claw which squeezes it. I saw a Pearl Unilock that didn't have such a feature slip around, so I can understand that being a necessity of sorts.

The double bass pedal was suspect looking, with the single-chain drive. WD Meadors, the owner and builder, explained that the chain is beefier (and indeed, it IS!) than most any other single-chain pedal out there. "IF you break this chain, then you've got some issues, man," he said. I inquired to see if he could furnish me with a double-chain drive pedal in the same configuration, and he said, "Really, all it would do for you is add weight and slow down the action. These pedals are fast." I didn't get to try it out, but at $110, it's not a badly designed job in the least of aspects, and I won't feel too bad if it's not just flat-out awesome or anything.

I still gotta go to Fork's Drum Closet and get my Paiste RUDE cymbal setup and a throne.

I'm happy, within reason. Of course, I won't be able to judge ultimate happiness until I pick up the drums and get to fool around with them.

Now, off to send Donoho an e-mail so they can establish contact with me and keep me posted on the drums' progress. Oooooh can't wait!

Regards,
tn_drumbanger
=============[/i]

bytor · Admin Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 5248 Location: Kansas

Wow, congratulations, drumbanger! So, I take it you DID try out some of the kits on the floor and liked them, then? It's nice that they sound good in a wide range of tunings. BTW, I've seen that greenish color you're talking about. It's definitely different! Your kit will stand out, I guarantee you that. Let us know how everything turns out. I'm curious to know how long it's going to take him to build this kit.

MilkmanZ14 · Pit Bull Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 352

be sure to post pictures when you get your kit, I really want to see it Wink

_________________

MilkmanZ14 · Pit Bull Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 352

im guessing this is your green color from his website (without the yellow)

_________________

tn_drumbanger · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:07 am Post subject:

That's close to the shade of green, but mine is supposed to be a transparent satin lacquer to show the wood grain. The picture I saw the color in had high-gloss lacquer on the shells and faded to yellow shade I think, but the green was very pretty. I'm calling it "Limepeel Transparent" for the time being, but that may change when I see them in person. I just hope the satin finish allows the wood grain to show up well. I like wood grain.

The one kit he still had on the floor (no surprise: E-bay sales were keeping him pretty sold out) was almost like Tama's "Tequila Sunrise" color, but the rack toms were only 8" deep and the floor tom was only 12" deep, which I think is something he does to maximize profit in addition to making them sound better (he could make two toms out of the same 12" diameter shell if they were both 8" deep). I fooled with the 12" tom and was very impressed with its tunability. Very slick and easily tuned, and willing to speak in a number of voices depending on how you tuned it.

I need to e-mail D and tell him to add a boom stand to my order, as upon closer inspection of my receipt, I see that I only ordered two!

Pictures? It might take me a bit to learn how to do that, and it also might take me a bit to get the drums and snap pictures of them. D said that since I'm local, he could probably build them in two or three weeks, whereas some orders from e-bay and so on were taking a three to six week wait. He said I had better get on it if I was going to order, as he was forecasting up to a six MONTH wait soon, if business on e-bay kept booming as it has been lately.

I think I'm going to be happy with these. I wasn't so sure right after I had bought them (and that little text at the bottom of my receipt- "Custom Orders are Non-Refundable!" kept going through my head) but now that I've had some time to think about it, I believe these will be such a huge improvement over what I had, that I'll be positively chuffed to have them.

Regards,
tn_drumbanger

RedRandanoRocket · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 11:17 am Post subject:

nice

Ive always been parital to the heavy duty yamaha hardware. It survived COUNTLESS outdoor marching band years... and I aquired the same hardware and it has yet to fail me after 9+ years!

Good luck with the new kit. I wish I had that kind of money to sink into a set.
_________________
Mapex Mars 6 piece - Pert Paragon Cymbals

tn_drumbanger · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:46 pm Post subject:

RedRanoRocket:

It was all insurance money. If not for that, I'd still be playing my old XPKs, tight lugs, sticky boom stands (the knurled portion of the booms was really hard to move around) and all.

I'm so anxious. I couldn't help but wonder about the resonant head on the bass drum this morning, so I e-mailed D and asked if he thought a white head would look good on that shade of green. He e-mailed me back quickly, but simply said "wait and see- D." I guess I'm coming off like a squirmy little kid about it or something, but I can't wait!

The plan as of now is to call Fork's and put my Paiste RUDEs on order so that if they don't have them in stock, they WILL have them by the time my kit is complete. Then I can pick up the cymbals and swing down into Murfreesboro on the way home to pick up the drums.

Hot diggity!

Regards,
tn_drumbanger
=============

Radialprofan · Grizzly Bear Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 728

I'm looking hard at Dee Donoho myself. Very nice guy (spoke to him on the phone) and the man knows drums! Nice kits and very...VERY reasonably priced! I'd say Phattie and Conaway better be watching out for Dee! He's out to steal some of their thunder! Wink