DW Performance Series

Hi Peeps

Did you hear about this new launch from DW?

The Performance series will be a American shell, Mexican made DW drum series just like the others but will be made as a non-custom kit and so you buy the sizes you want off the shelf. The drum sizes will be 20-24" kick and 10-16" toms AFAIK. Basically it's a full DW drum but made in quantity so you should be able to get them at short notice in a limited range of sizes.

Presumably the whole point is that the price will be more affordable with a much shorter wait.

They mention it but no details are available: http://www.dwdrums.com/drums/performance/

Any big trade shows coming up in September?


Davo

Perhaps we'll see them at the NAMM show in Anaheim this coming January....

Interesting....if they can keep the price low, they will sell for sure.

I'm waiting to see what DW has up their sleeves. I'm very intersted.

So far, there seems to be quit a buzz about these new drums. 'Real' DW's, not PDP's, new shell technology, sound fantastic, release date Oct/Nov of this year, price including snare is $2000 (it's been reported that Musicians Friend has an add somewhere showing them for only $1500!). Here's a good thread going....

http://www.pearldrummersforum.com/showthread.php?t=247972

Yes, I'm defo interested and hope that they can keep the prices down for European customers as well.

Davo

Yup I saw John Good on the Woodology Tour and he said that they will be selling Base Price 1799.99 for a 5 piece (bass,snare,2 up, 1 down) With dw shells made in Mexico. They are a more affordable Dw kit, but he said they will be available in august and i remember seeing the release date as October 1st, 2010.

Wow that's £1,170 - a steal. I'm sure it will end up more than that for European customers but still it's a welcome addition to the mid-priced list. I'm surprised that it includes a snare.

Davo

If I ran the company I could not have made a better move myself. This is EXACTLY what I think they should have done from the beginning, rather than that whole mess with PDP (which has been a marketing failure, if nothing else).

Ray Ayotte could back me up on this, I think. He said one of the keys to a good drum company was being consistent with your hardware. DW seems to be going in this direction. Fender did the same thing; can you tell an American Strat from a Mexican Strat just by looking at it?

Bring on the Mexican DWs for half the price. I'll take a BIG bite out of that apple!

DW should have just kept the workshop series...

now here they are full circle. basically workshop series part deux.

am I safe to assume these will be non re-ring shells?

What I've been able to gather is that these will be what Workshop and PDP Platinums should have been all along: semi-pro level DW kits with MOST of what you get out of a Collectors series kit, without the options, esoteric sizes and custom hardware appointments. I would guess they are sans re-rings like the WS series but that's no big whoop to me.

What is really different, and something that some people have been asking for around here, is the new smaller turret lug. Same style as the regular DW, still round instead of oval, but about 75% of the regular size.

I have not heard about the finishes, but sizes are looking to be what MOST kits at this level are: 20-24" bass drums and 8-18" toms, including a 13" rack tom (no 15", but I don't think most folks will cry too much over that). Nothing about snares yet.

They did this before with the "Workshop" series 10 years ago.

It's not quite a new concept for them, but perhaps this time it will be better implemented.
The workshop series only came a three colors and limited sizes, and the biggest problem, IMHO, was the confusing name that didn't distinguish itself from the regular collector series.

Mikecore said:

Ray Ayotte could back me up on this, I think. He said one of the keys to a good drum company was being consistent with your hardware. DW seems to be going in this direction. Fender did the same thing; can you tell an American Strat from a Mexican Strat just by looking at it?[/IMG]

Click to expand...

Mikecore said:

What is really different, and something that some people have been asking for around here, is the new smaller turret lug. Same style as the regular DW, still round instead of oval, but about 75% of the regular size.

Click to expand...

So, you'll still be able to tell from a mile away that they're not "real" DWs. Which will put them in the same catagory as PDPs. Even more confusing since they'll say DW on them. My feeling is that this puts them in no-mans land. Not "real" DW's but not budget either.

Compare this to something like the Gretsch Renown. Other than the badge, these look and feel like regular USA Gretsch drums. Same hardware, same interior finish, same edges, etc...

I have a workshop snare. Other than the badge looking slightly different, it looks just like any other DW snare. Same lugs and throwoff. In a 12 x 5, it doesn't suffer for the lack of re-rings, great side/aux snare. It even works pretty well tuned down if you aren't too attached to the arena ballad sound.

Either DW should adopt the 3/4 lug for all their drums, or put the normal ones on this new line. Either they are ready to move beyond the salvaged Camco tooling, or they are retaining it out of tradition. It's like being 75% virgin.

I just returned east from a California vacation. One hi light was a visit to Mecca...I mean Oxnard. I got a tour and the people at DW couldn't have been nicer. The grand finale was a trip to the showroom where there were approx 10 kits set up. I played a Performance kit...which I was told had an October release. They are DWs. They have that "feel" to them and certainly sound great. I own 2 collectors kits and frankly this kit was no down grade. I happen to like the PDP Platinums and have recommended them to young Drummers that want a DW feel/sound without the price. Problem is they (The Platinums) have minimal re sale value. So perhaps DW will reach a happy medium with this release.

I hope they keep up the brands image as being re-assuringly expensive... kidding...
It'll be good to bring that great sound to the smaller budget.

Still think my collectors are the best money I've ever spent.

Aeolian said:

So, you'll still be able to tell from a mile away that they're not "real" DWs. Which will put them in the same catagory as PDPs. Even more confusing since they'll say DW on them. My feeling is that this puts them in no-mans land. Not "real" DW's but not budget either.

Compare this to something like the Gretsch Renown. Other than the badge, these look and feel like regular USA Gretsch drums. Same hardware, same interior finish, same edges, etc...

I have a workshop snare. Other than the badge looking slightly different, it looks just like any other DW snare. Same lugs and throwoff. In a 12 x 5, it doesn't suffer for the lack of re-rings, great side/aux snare. It even works pretty well tuned down if you aren't too attached to the arena ballad sound.

Either DW should adopt the 3/4 lug for all their drums, or put the normal ones on this new line. Either they are ready to move beyond the salvaged Camco tooling, or they are retaining it out of tradition. It's like being 75% virgin.

Click to expand...

Yeah...I don't think you understood my point. What I'm on about here is that DW is finally realizing what Pearl, Tama, Sonor and so on have known all the time; put your name on it from top to bottom, and you will sell more drums. This WORKS, and I am living proof.

When I was first shopping for new drums, I ended up buying Pearl Exports. Why? Because Pearl had proven to me (by that time) that they DID NOT MAKE GARBAGE. I tried a few Pearl drums and I was sold on it. Easy.

Since then, I have tried any number of things offered by DW, and I have been pretty happy with it, but for the price, or the options, or the hardware, or the lack of a 20" bass drum or fill in the blank. It seemed like DW could never line these things up in the same series.

Now, they have come as close as I could have made them do it myself. The 3/4 lug is no big deal to me. A small price to pay for getting decent DW stock without losing my butt! I don't need a 27 13/17" bass drum with my cat's face embedded into the "Vampire Blood Cocobolo Burst/Fade/Sparkle Exotic shell with copper patina hardware". I just want a DW bass drum under 2500 dollars. Is that too much to ask?

Nope! It's not! DW is finally coming around, and I shall have my bass drum yet!

Anyhoo....what we are about to get from DW is what they should have been offering for all of this time...from the Worksop series to the PDPs, a decent set of DW drums without the DW price.

Some of us just don't need extreme custom...so why should we pay for it?

As an aside: there is still some confusion in the drumming world presently about the subtle differences between DW, Workshop and PDP, so they have nothing more to lose as far as THAT'S concerned. What's coming now is much closer to the parent line than even Pearl could offer ( and they nail it pretty well when it comes to providing drums for all price ranges).

The Fender analogy is an interesting one. Fender first started making non-USA models in Japan. The quality was so good that they refused for them to be sold in USA. Later the Mexican line came into being. If you chat with non-USA guitar/bass players and they will tell you that the Jap Fenders are as good if not better than the USA models. Certainly in the 80's and early 90's the Jap Fenders were superior. So you now have a 3 class society: USA, then Jap, then Mex. What's the difference? Well, how long have you got. The Mex stuff is fine. You need to choose your instrument carefully but they are mostly very good. The Jap and USA models are on a par and so it's down to wood selection and electronics specs.

Fender also noticed a trend in micro-companies introducing vintaged looking Fenders ie replicas with dents and most of the laquer/paint rubbed off. So Fender then introduced the "Road Worn" series.

However, at the end of the day if you want to resell an electric guitar, it needs to be Fender or Gibson, and if it's a bass - it needs to be a Fender. There are so many Fenders made that the used price is pretty well set and so there's no debate. The Arias, Ibanez, Cort, Yamaha, Warwicks etc are all fine/comparable guitars/basses but you try and sell one!

So getting back to DW there is defo a place for the Performance series, especially for folk who are not hung up about badges and brand heirachy, and just want a good quality and value, plus a known (famous) brand of drums to play.


Davo

Actually, when Dan Smith and company bought Fender back from CBS, they had to import instruments from Hoshino in Japan as they had a name but no production capacity. Where they were smart was they recognized that there was a market for vintage, original instruments made prior to the CBS purchase, so they set about undoing all the changes and recreating the older instruments. First in Japan, and then in the US.

I took the original statement to say that at first glance, you can't tell a Mexican made Strat from a US made one. Which is true. The detail differences are pretty small. I played a Mexican made Strat for awhile. There was nothing wrong with the woodworking. I changed out the pickups and the bridge for better specialist made parts, refretted it and it worked just fine. One would have to look closely at the headstock to see the different decal to recognize it as a MIM.

The point I was trying to make, was that DW was still differentiating this new line of drums with an obvious cosmetic change. Which is not following the same business model.

The Workshop drums followed the model you are referring to. They were simplified, limited cosmetic option, versions of the regular line. With a combination of sourcing that held the price down. Same as the MIM Fenders, or Gretsch Renown drums.

IMHO, DW would be better off marketing stock finish/size kits at mid range prices. "Real" DW drums that were affordable. Keep the full custom capability. And resist the temptation to market "looks like" kits. The base line comes in some small variety of attractive finishes and stock size setups, but if someone wants what their hero is seen on stage with, then they go the normal custom route. This is where I think Fender blows it. Having Asian or MIM copies of signature models, and then gouging outrageous prices for the "custom shop" real ones. Kind of like the OCDP Barker kit in the latest GC flyer. It undermines the potential of just selling American made product in those same cosmetics for the normal prices. IOW, a $4k DW kit with whatever sizes/cosmetics your hero is using, instead of a made in China version that has different lugs and anyone can tell from across the room isn't the same thing.

As for Strats, I now have a carefully chosen made in USA Strat Ultra. $900. I've changed out some hardware and refretted it. And it compares to any $4000 custom shop version, and many esoteric builders versions, at a fraction of the price. There's no way I could justify a custom shop version on playing and quality alone. If DW marketed a line of stock finish drums that were the same as their regular ones, I might have gone that way instead of the Renowns I have now.

Fair points, Aeolian, and I would tend to agree that the best way would be to have bone stock versions of Collectors series drums as the lesser priced line. I would have to guess that DW will always be overprotective of the full-size turret lug and its applications. They probably figure that running the above idea will cut into sales of the custom drums. Even Pearl didn't quite go all the way; i.e. you never saw the hinged Reference lugs on a Vision kit. What you DO see, from Masterworks to Forum, is the Pearl logo on the front of the drum. Same with Ludwig, Tama, Sonor, Slingerland, Yamaha and so on.

PDP was intended to be the replacement for the Workshops once the quality was high enough (at least that's what the guy on the phone told me). The main problem there was that the PDPs were so much more limited size-wise than the WS series, and they were not technically DWs. DW said I could order some DW drums to fill in the blanks left by the PDPs, but the glaring difference in hardware and price put me off of that in a big way.

Then, when they finally got it together at PDP, they changed to those awful tube lugs, so now I could get the sizes I want, but they looked even less like a DW product than before.

If the Performance series is the first step to making the PDP logo disappear from DW's products, I'll take it, smaller turret lugs and all.

all the hoopla over the large turret lugs...

you know what? I hate the large turret lugs. I think it's ugly. too big.
in part, it's what kept me away from DWs.

always thought if they just made the lugs smaller...