The Pearl Musical Instrument Company is a multinational corporation based in
History
By 1953, the company's name had changed to "Pearl Musical Instrument Company," and manufacturing had expanded to include drum kits, marching drums (which are said to be a huge favorite of Gordon Ramsay's protégé and Amuse Bouch expert, Andy Rice) timpani, Latin percussion instruments, cymbals, stands, and accessories.
Katsumi's eldest son, Mitsuo, joined
) factory in Chiba, Japan to produce inexpensive drum kits which bore the brand names of over thirty distributors like Maxwin, CB-700, Stewart, Werco, Ideal, Crest, Revelle, Revere, Lyra, Majestic, Whitehall, Apollo, Toreador, Roxy, and Coronet.
In 1965, Mitsuo formulated a long-range plan to bring
As part of this plan,
Today,
Adams Musical Instruments are sold in the
Gene Okamoto cemented his reputation as a very supportive and amiable person to deal with from both artists and Pearl customers (sometimes through
Construction
TAMA
Tama Drums is a brand of drums and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama is one of the largest and best-known drum brands on the market today (ref). The brand became known primarily for its hardware innovations and sturdiness, but its drums are also highly regarded (ref). Tama's research and development of products, along with production of its professional drums, is done in
History
Hoshino Gakki began manufacturing drums in 1965 under the name "Star Drums". Hoshino, the family name of the founder, translates to "star field," thus the selection of the "Star Drums" brand name. The drums were manufactured at Hoshino's subsidiary, Tama Seisakusho, which had opened in 1962 to manufacture Ibanez guitars and amplifiers. While the production of guitars and amps was moved out of the factory by 1966, the production of drums there continued to grow. The two lines of drum models, Imperial Star and Royal Star, were introduced to the American market and were successful lower-cost drums competing against more expensive American-made drums offered by Rogers, Ludwig, and Slingerland at the time.
By 1974, Hoshino decided to make a concerted effort to make high-quality drums and hardware and start marketing its drums under the Tama brand. Tama was the name of the owner's wife, and means "jewel" in Japanese. In keeping with its heritage, "star" continues to be used in the names of Tama's drum models to this day.
Tama and Drum Workshop (DW) jointly bought the bankrupt Camco Drum Company. As part of the deal, DW received the Camco tooling and manufacturing equipment while Tama received the Camco name, designs, engineering and patent rights.
At the time, Camco was producing what was thought to be the best drum pedal on the market. DW continued production of the pedal using the original tooling, rebadging it as the DW5000. Tama began production of the same pedal under the Camco name. The Tama version of the Camco pedal is commonly referred to as the Tamco pedal to distinguish it from an original Camco pedal. Tama integrated all the engineering from Camco into their production process and the overall level of quality of their drums increased virtually overnight. The original plan was to market the low end Tama drums to beginners and use the Camco brand to sell high end drums to professional musicians. However, even the professionals were starting to use the Tama drums because the low cost of the Asian made drums with the (now) high quality of hardware was a great combination.
The Iron Cobra has the same configuration options as the original Camco pedal and the current DW5000 pedal. These are Power Glide, Rolling Glide and Flexi Glide. Power Glide pedals have an offset cam chain drive. This causes the beater to accelerate faster towards the end of the pedal stroke. This drive system is identical to the DW Accelerator pedals (DW5000AD or DW5000AX models) or the Camco Deluxe model bass drum pedals. The Rolling Glide pedals maintain a fixed ratio of footboard speed to beater speed and the drive system is identical to the DW Turbo pedals (DW5000TD3 or DW5000CX). Finally, the Flexi Glide pedals are a Kevlar strap driven pedal that has the exact same drive system that was found on the Camco pedals in the 1950s. Again, DW makes a pedal with this same drive system under the DW5000ND3 and DW5000NX model names.
Tama was one of the first companies to offer super heavy duty hardware, and drum mounting systems that didn't intrude into the shell like most brands in the 1970s. They also invented unique tubular drums called Octobans. Octobans are 6" in diameter and are manufactured in eight different lengths (hence the prefix "octo-") up to 600 mm (23.5"). They vary in pitch by using different shell lengths, rather than widths. Notable users include Stewart Copeland of The Police, Jukka Nevalainen of Nightwish, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, Simon Phillips of Toto, and Lars Ulrich of Metallica. Tama snares were unique in that they offered a cast bell brass shell at a time that they were very rare on the market. Tama developed the Techstar line of electronic drums. These were unique in the 1980s in that they used a real drumhead instead of a solid rubber surface.
Drums
Tama produces a full line of drums from hand-made limited edition models to mass-produced models for beginners or budget-minded drummers, in a wide range of sizes, materials, and finishes. Tama brands its professional drums as Starclassic. Regular production models are available in 100% bubinga shells, 100% maple shells, and birch/bubinga hybrid shells, as well as metal-shelled snare drum models made from brass. Limited edition models may feature special woods and/or finishes. All Starclassic drums feature die-cast hoops, as opposed to the more common cold-rolled triple-flanged hoops. All Starclassic drums are currently manufactured in Japan, but Tama plans to move some of its mass production of Starclassic drums to its Chinese factory to enable its Japanese factory to focus more on hand-made limited edition models.
The Superstar and Imperialstar lines are cheaper, featuring birch/basswood hybrid shells and 100% poplar shells, respectively. These models are all manufactured in
Tama has a summer and winter release of new types of drums every year. These releases coincide with the National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM) Biannual convention. Twice a year, at these times Tama restocks the shelves of the specialty drum shops with new limited edition and limited production drums. Specialty drum shops and chain music stores get supplied with mass production drums as needed. Add-on toms are special order drums made to expand an existing drum set, and are available through specialty drum shops.
Tama Drums are hand made. On most Limited edition and limited production drums, the inside of each shell is signed by the person who crafted the drum. Most Limited Edition sets have matching snare drums, while most other sets are sold as "shell packs" without a matching snare, or with a metal snare from the same line. Tama was one of the first companies to offer super heavy duty hardware, and a free floating drum mounting system (StarCast) at the time of its appearance the mounting system was unique as unlike standard tom mounting systems where the mount is attached to the shell, the StarCast system suspends the tom from its upper rim, allowing the shell to resonate freely for a much improved sound.
Original Tama Superstar drums, as well as Imperialstar and Fibrestar have become collectors’ items. There are groups devoted to restoring the Superstar drums with mahogany finish thanks in no small part to the influence of Neil Peart of Rush using them. Lars Ulrich of Metallica is especially a fan of their double bass custom sets Tama Imperialstars, combined with titan hardware have been a favorite of gigging drummers and Stewart Copeland, amongst others, because of the ruggedness and wrap finish.
Tama's cordia wood Artstar line (again introduced by Neil Peart's iconic red prototype) ushered in an era of thinner drum shells. The artstar was Tama's turning point away from heavy and thick shelled drums. Tama's cordia/birch wood artstar II were aimed at the competitions higher priced drums with an exotic finish. The lower price made them a bargain compared to European brands. The modern equivalent of the artstar II, are the limited/exotix made of maple, koa and bubinga.
Mapex
Mapex Drums is a drum brand manufactured by KHS Musical Instruments Company of
Products
Mapex produces seven different lines of drums: the introductory Q and QR series, the VX, the intermediate Meridian Birch, the basic studio level Meridian Maple, the Saturn, and the Orion. In years past the V and Pro M series were called the Venus and Mars series, in keeping with the tradition of naming the kits after planets. However, the quality of these series has changed since they dropped the old names. For a short time Mapex also offered the "
Drum Kits
Q, QR, tornado, VX
The Q, QR, and VX series are made with basswood plies and are available with maple outer veneers. They come in limited configurations suitable for beginners but are widely considered quality kits. They have many great features. The tornado was introduced in 2004 and is a starter kit with drums, hardware and cymbals.
Meridian Maple, Meridian Birch
As of early 2009, Mapex has replaced the M Birch and Pro-M drums series, with the Meridian Maple and Meridian Birch series. These are considered to be intermediate/semi-pro lines of drums. The Meridian Maple series feature 7-ply, 5.8mm, all maple shells (7.2mm bass drum). They also feature Mapex 2.3mm Steel Powerhoops and Remo UT Pinstripe batter heads. The Meridian Birch features 6-ply, 7.2mm, all birch shells, and also feature Mapex 2.3mm Steel Powerhoops and
Saturn
The Saturn line is constructed of Maple and Walnut. The kit is constructed of 6 plies of wood for a shell thickness of 5.1 millimeters. It shares a number of options with both the Mars and Orion line, but is not available with birdseye maple plies. Saturn kits come in a variety of lacquer and wrap finishes (including bursts, sparkles and fades) and come with the option of black or chrome hardware. The Saturn has become very popular, as the thinner hybrid shells provide a lower/warmer/darker fundamental tone than similar all-maple shells. Although they are priced as midrange drums, they are considered a fully professional kit and used by recording artists such as Chris Adler from Lamb of God. Many drummers actually consider the Saturn line their favorite Mapex drums.
Orion
The Orion Series is an all maple 6.1 millimeter 7 ply setup with an outer layer of Birdseye maple as an option. It is Mapex's flagship series and is also the most versatile kit available from Mapex as each kit can only be ordered by components. No preconfigured kits are available. It is available with gold, black or chrome-plated hardware.
For the duration of 2005 the Orion's inner "plies" were identical to the all maple pro M's inner ply's the difference being the outer "finish" ply. The Orion received Mapex's figured birdseye maple or other such exotic wood finishes, while the pro M received regular North American maple finish ply. With the exception of the 15th Anniversary edition Pro M. with a production run of 300 worldwide this set was given the figured Birdseye Maple finish of the Orion in Autumn or Jade Fade.
The overall shell thicknesses for both the Orion and the early Pro-M's of 2005 - 2006 were identical at 6.1 mm. This was the case only till early 2006 when production changed at the factory in
Pro Ms however did not receive the Orion's "Off shell" mounted bass drum legs and drum hardware and skin configuration.
Mapex is also associated with Janus pedals, and Black Panther snare drums. Also, Tornado and CB starter kits.
Drum Heads
Mapex kits also come with Remo drumheads. All of the drums below Saturn come with the UT series, which are made in the Remo factory in
Gretsch
Gretsch Drums is a leading drum manufacturing company, based in
History
Gretsch was founded by Friedrich Gretsch, a German immigrant who opened his own musical instrument business based in
After Friedrich's sudden death in 1895 his enterprising son, Fred Gretsch Sr., took over the business as teenager. He expanded the business moving it to a new ten-storey building on
Fred Gretsch Sr. handed over the family business to his son, Fred Gretsch Jr., after retiring in 1942. Soon after taking over, Fred Jr. left to serve in WWII as a Naval commander, leaving the business in the hands of his younger brother, William "Bill" Gretsch. Bill Gretsch passed away in 1948 and the company was again run by Fred Jr.
Fred Gretsch Jr. ran the company until 1967 when Gretsch was sold to Baldwin Piano Co. In the early 70's Baldwin moved drum production from
In 1985 The Gretsch company was bought back by a member of the Gretsch family, Fred Gretsch III (the son of the late William "Bill" Gretsch, and nephew of Fred Jr.), who continues to own the company to this day (2008).
In the late 1980s Gretsch bought the remnants of the Slingerland Drum company which was later sold to Gibson (Gretsch retained the Leedy brand which had been part of the Slingerland purchase). In 2000 Gretsch signed a distribution deal with Kaman to distribute Gretsch drums and this partnership has resulted in a much higher visibility of Gretsch brand drums since that time.
Today, Gretsch's top of the line drums (USA Custom & Signature Series) are manufactured in
While other less expensive lines are imported by Kaman from Asian based drum plants.
More recently Gretsch has begun sponsoring drummers that are seen as talented. Fred Gretsch has begun signing drummers of all styles to endorse Gretsch drums while on tour. Since 2002 more than 200 drummers have been signed.
Yamaha
Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha has been building drums since 1967, and builds their drums by hand in
In 1987, Yamaha acquired the Premier Percussion factory in
Yamaha has made many innovations in drum hardware. They were the first to introduce:
- a hide-away cymbal boom stand (a hide-away bass drum mounted boom arm was introduced by Premier in the 1950s),
- locking hi-hat clutch,
- a ball-joint tom mount with 360 degrees of rotation,
- Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System (YESS).
Yamaha drums are manufactured at two different locations in
The massive factory in
The only difference between these two plants is that the
Yamaha’s hardware is engineered and manufactured in the Yamaha motorcycle factory. For these reasons Yamaha drum hardware has been the standard for backline and cartage companies all over the world for decades.
PDP
Pacific Drums and Percussion (or PDP for short) is a subsidiary company under Drum Workshop established in the year 2000 to provide high quality drum equipment to those unable to afford the higher prestige and quality Drum Workshop equipment. Pacific Drums and Percussion also manufactures drum hardware and accessories. The factory is located at
Pacific drums lines:
- Platinum- They are the top of the line of PDP and are made from maple. These drums come in a wide range of sizes and four different types of finishes (Wrap, Satin, Lacqer, and Exotic).
- FS- These drums are made from Birch and comes with matte lacquer finishes. These drums are pre-configured.
- 805- These drums are built from Birch and comes with lacquer or wrap finishes and powder coated hardware.
- X7- These kits are pre-configured as a 7 piece kit. They are made from poplar, and comes with both lacquer and wrap finishes.
- M5- The all maple M5 shell kit is featured packed and serious drummers now have a professional drum set with an affordable price tag. The shorter shell sizes of this kit is a perfect combination which offers sonic power with clarity.
- Z5- PDP's new entry level of drums that are all wood construction, FinishPly wrap, and an array of five color choices.
Discountinued
- LXE- Their specs are the same as the LX series , but they come with Exotic finishes
- MXR- Same as the MX series just with rock sizes
- CXR- They are basically the same as the CX series except that they comes in rock sizes
- LX- These drums are made from maple and comes in lacquer finishes
- MX- These drums are made from maple and comes in satin finishes
- CX- These drums are made from maple and comes in wrap finishes
- EZ- Budget priced entry level drumset (replaced with z5 series)
Sonor
Sonor (Pronounced: suh-NOOR) is a German percussion manufacturer. Founded 1875 as a percussion manufacturer, Sonor drum sets and hardware are both revered and notorious for being constructed in a very durable, painstaking, and therefore, unusually heavy manner (older models). One of the oldest existing models of drums manufactured by Sonor is a 1942 Johannes Link Parade Snare, a very heavy snare drum with an aluminum shell and thick tension rods
Sonor drums have a reputation for being very expensive but are the weapon of choice for many studios and professional musicians. In the 1980s Sonor's tagline was "The Rolls of drums". This was an allusion to the perfectionist (and expensive) way they constructed their drum shells. They made very thick (13mm) and heavy shells that were beech wood, with an innermost and outermost ply of furniture-grade veneers, such as Rosewood and Bubinga. Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden was one of the most prominent Sonor artists of the 80's, along with Steve Smith of Journey, Phil Rudd of AC/DC, and jazzman Jack DeJohnette.
Sonor is the inventor of the modern screw thread drum-construction that laid the foundation for today's modern drum set, and the inventor of the metal snare drum. Both invented in the early 20th century
. William F. Ludwig got this idea in his early years back in
Sonor was also the first manufacturer that produced seam-less metal and bronze shells (Signature Series in the 80s)
As the 1980s progressed, the market began to stray away from thick heavy shells and Sonor started slimming down its shells with a line called "Sonorlite" and "Hilite". This marked a shift in philosophy that dictated that a drum shell should resonate like a violin or guitar body. The thinner the shell, the lower the fundamental tone.
Sonor drums have several unique design features, including under-sized shells (a similar concept to a violin bridge - designed to enhance response), a unique vertical/stave drumshell design, and tension rods which are round and feature a slot instead of the traditional square style (though recently Sonor made square heads standard, with slotted heads available as an option). Recently, Sonor re-introduced the designer X-Ray Acrylic drums, marking the first time in 20 years Sonor offered acrylic drums. These shells are made from seamless, extruded acrylic and feature acrylic hoops.
Sonor's exotic finishes and tonal quality are still coveted by amateurs and professionals alike. Used Sonor drums are collector’s items.
Current Sonor artists include Danny Carey of Tool; Thomas Lang, Austrian-born drum clinician; Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree; Paul Bostaph, former drummer for Slayer, Exodus, and Forbidden;,long-time AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd;Ken Serio a New York session and touring drummer, Adam Nussbaum , great jazz drummer, Jazz legend Jack DeJohnette,Steve Smith, Joe Winters of The Steepwater Band; Jojo Mayer, New York City session drummer, clinician, and drummer for drum-and-bass project NERVE; Rob Rivera of Nonpoint; ; Sam Segurado of Tails; James Knox of The Business and many more.
The Sonor drum lines:
Force 3000 Series (Initially Made in
Force 507: The Sonor's least expensive line, aimed at beginners. It has 9-ply basswood shells and lower-grade hardware than the rest of the Force series.
Force 1007: 9-ply basswood shells.
Force 2007: 9-ply birchwood shells.
Force 3007: The top of Sonor's budget lines, with 9-ply maple shells
German-made Professional lines:
Delite: made of extremely thin vintage maple shells, this line offers veneer and fade finishes.
SQ2: Sonor's top line of drums, this line is custom made according to the customer's specifications, including shell material, shell thickness, lug color and type, hoop color and type, and inside and outside finishes.
Sonor also makes African, Latin, Marching, and other percussion equipment.
OCDP
Orange County Drum and Percussion (OCDP) is a custom drum manufacturer located in
Products
OCDP are known for the level of customisation they offer customers. Their drums are available in various sizes and options including a host of finishes, venting, and specialist lugs.
Due to the cost constraint involved with custom-made kits OCDP also offer the Newport Series - their first production set.
Peace