Is it Possoble to Rank the Drum Manufacturers' Prestige?

Jonathan Curtis

Silver Member
We all know some names are big game players. Look at the Fender Stratocaster in the guitar world, for example. It really holds some authority. How would you rank the drum manufacturers on the whole?

I know things like the Gretsch USA Custom would be right up there, but I'm thinking whole companies rather than individual models. For instance, I've always held Ludwig and Gretsch to be the top dogs, with Sonor a new and mysterious pretender. I guess mine would look something like this:

1. Ludwig/Gretsch (don't know enough to decide between them)
2. Sonor
3. Pearl
4. DW
5. Tama
6. Mapex

How about you? Incidentally, I own a Mapex, so let's try and be objective about this.

And to be clear, I'm talking about big name hitting power, not necessarily the quality of individual drum lines. Perhaps judge it on the top line kit: Is a Pearl Masters more prestigious than a Mapex Orion?

Or is this just a superficial and ridiculous question? :p
 
Or is this just a superficial and ridiculous question? :p
Yes, & no. I think a bit of clarification is necessary though. Prestige is very different from notoriety. A drum brand can be prestigious without necessarily being as well known as a market leader in all sectors. Brand recognition or association doesn't automatically guarantee prestige. Although not a defining element, exclusivity can equate to prestige.

If you're looking for the biggest name in drums, irrespective of sales, it's Ludwig, & by a mile. DW is also right up there, especially with buyers 40ish & below, mainly due to a superbly crafted & sustained high profile marketing campaign. Mapex have a deserved reputation for offering good quality at very competitive prices, but that doesn't really equate to prestige. Craviotto is a good example of a drum company with high levels of prestige, yet, because they carry neither mass market appeal or recognition, they're mostly off the radar in terms of brand recognition outside the 50+ & jazz markets.
 
I take your point.

I have a feeling Ludwig is going to keep cropping up on top. I suppose what I'm asking really, is for a bit more insight into the industry attitudes towards certain brands. For instance, in the car market (UK at least)

Audi - Well built, reliable, relatively expensive
Ford - Solid, safe, affordable
Aston Martin - Well built, luxurious, fast

I think I lack that sort of familiarity with many of the drum brands. I've only ever owned a Pearl Export, second hand, and my current Mapex M Birch, which I know to be a solid mid-level kit.

Is Gretsch more of an Aston Martin or a Ford? It's interesting that you mentioned DW, because the more I hear of them, the better things seem, but I've never seen one, let alone played one.
 
One company that is passed over time and again is Tamburo. I only ever heard of Tamburo originally because I saw one of their kits. They make some of the finest stave drums I've seen and they are highly regarded by a lot of 'inside' people but they're not a big name like other companies, despite an excellent reputation.

Of course, they have another problem. They specialised in stave kits, then Proel bought the name and started selling cheaper ply kits. I think that somewhat took away the essence of the brand - and I say this as the owner of a low-end Tamburo ply kit!
 
Is Gretsch more of an Aston Martin or a Ford? It's interesting that you mentioned DW, because the more I hear of them, the better things seem, but I've never seen one, let alone played one.
Car analogies are difficult, as you're trying to align one subjective conclusion with another.

DW make good drums, no doubt about that. Whether you'll like them or not, can only be ascertained by trying some examples. Whether you'll prefer other drums to DW, can only be ascertained by comparing in the same environment. My opinion of DW? a damn fine example of brand building, run by someone with a passion for the business, & it shows.
 
I like to split drum manufacturers by their sound/ aim. There are the vintage sound companies Ludwig and Gretsch, the modern sound companies DW and sonor, and the asian sound companies Tama, Pearl, Yamaha, and Mapex. Largely arbitrary but I feel that is roughly the breakup of design and marketing schemes.
 
Or is this just a superficial and ridiculous question? :p

It's more a subjective and interesting question, depending on the basis of the ranking of the big names in drum manufacturing, most of the well know brands do carry a given amount of prestige, recognition and craftmanship.

The perception of such brands is subjective to tastes, more than 90% of buyers are hobbyist drummers, so to look at sales values is not a real assessement of the prestige of a given brand, manufacturers like Pearl and Tama have been building "starter" kits for over 40 years and have sold millions of such drums, but a Pearl Export or a Tama Swingstar do not carry that much prestige.

Yes, & no. I think a bit of clarification is necessary though. Prestige is very different from notoriety. A drum brand can be prestigious without necessarily being as well known as a market leader in all sectors. Brand recognition or association doesn't automatically guarantee prestige. Although not a defining element, exclusivity can equate to prestige.

Totally agree, hence the subjectivity of ranking the "big names", the Craviotto is a good example :)

I like to split drum manufacturers by their sound/ aim. There are the vintage sound companies Ludwig and Gretsch, the modern sound companies DW and sonor, and the asian sound companies Tama, Pearl, Yamaha, and Mapex. Largely arbitrary but I feel that is roughly the breakup of design and marketing schemes.

Mmmm... your vintage list is very short :)) what about these prestigious brands? Leedy, Slingerland, Rogers, Camco, Premier... in their heydays they were very popular :)

I wouldn't call Sonor a modern sound company, although they're producing wonderful kits nowadays, but they started drum manufacturing in 1907, that's 2 years before Ludwig, lol

When DW came around, their drums were identical to the Camcos when they stopped production in 1977, DW and Tama bought the remains of the Camco industry :)

So with all this in mind, considering the prestige, the notoriety, how long they've been around and their general recognitions worlwide, for me the ranking is kind of like this:

1. Gretsch, Sonor, Ludwig, they're without a doubt the oldest, but still very present in the market today :)

2. Pearl, Tama, DW, Yamaha, they came around mid 60's early 70's with innovative designs and gained a solid reputation and prestige and became synonyms to the best available at the time :)

3. The "newer" brands, like Mapex, Drumcraft...
 
This is all really interesting, thanks.

So... what is the best drum kit out there at the moment? Does anything beat the USA Custom? (playing devil's advocate here)

I think you are misusing the word prestige, or at least not using the way you want it to mean. It sounds like you are wanting a list of brands with a good history? Then yes brands like Ludwig and Gretsch are tried and true companies.

But as many people will agree on here, drums are a personal preference. What one player may like another player may not. Just because a drum manufacturer has a long history does not make it superior in any way. Take a company like Trick for example. They are a fairly new company, but have been gaining extreme popularity with their pedals and now are branching out to make other drum products. I personally think DW drums are very overpriced and think other drums are better value and better sounding in some cases. Just like your analogy with the cars. Lets say you got to choose between a BMW, an Audi and a Porsche. Is there an easy clear cut winner? Of course not, each car has its strong points and everyone is going to have different opinions about which one they think is best for them.

I play Mapex drums as well, another relatively new company. But they are fantastic drums and I chose my Saturns over Pearl masters, or Gretsch Customs.
 
I'd be curious to see where companies stand in terms of sales.
 
This is all really interesting, thanks.

So... what is the best drum kit out there at the moment? Does anything beat the USA Custom? (playing devil's advocate here)

Again, it's subjective to personal tastes, for some it will be the ultimate drumkit, for others, it won't be, it's so much depending on what you want, which wood species, which bearing edges, which hoops, which construction process (ply, steam bent, stave ...), which shell thickness, which depth, which finish, and I'm not taking into account the head combos availalble, the possibilities are almost endless, having said that the Gretsch USA custom are wonderful drums, but to a certain extend, all top lines from all leading brands are good drums, the decision factor should be what you want from a drumset in terms of sounds, articulations, projections, quality and craftsmanship, this way you're more likely to end up with something that's a true reflection of what you want, there's certainely enough brands out there to genuinely fulfill your dream kit :)
 
Or is this just a superficial and ridiculous question? :p
Yup, pretty much. Your flagship drum kit certainly might not be anyone elses (or just a few peoples). There is no #1, king of the hill. There are simply far too many very good drum kits out there. Play what you like.​

Does anything beat the USA Custom? (playing devil's advocate here)
For my tastes, yes.​
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4048.JPG
    IMG_4048.JPG
    118.5 KB · Views: 3,464
  • IMG_4047.JPG
    IMG_4047.JPG
    122.7 KB · Views: 3,345
Sounds like you're looking for someone to post a list, so I'll oblige. Of course this is all subjective, but here's my opinion of the majors.

1. Gretsch
2. Ludwig
3. Sonor
4. DW
5. Yamaha
6. Tama
7. Pearl
8. Mapex
9. Premier

Gretsch and Ludwig are nearly interchangeable as 1 and 2, but since I'm a Gretsch guy I had to rank it on top. As for Premier, I probably would have ranked them higher 10-15 years ago, but now they've so fallen off the map I debated even including them here. As for the rest, I limited the list to major manufacturers who've been around at least 20 years or so (Mapex just barely cut it) and who still have a major presence, which is why I didn't include Slingerland, Rogers or Camco.

As for your drums/car analogy, I actually started a thread on this a while back:

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84848&page=2

(all the responses are on page 1)
 
I guess its ones interpretation of "prestige" as a concept that needs to be agreed upon first.

I (right or wrong) have always correlated prestige with exclusivity, or "exoticness". Examples: Rolex/Timex, Fender Custom Shop/Fender, Brazilian Rosewood/ Indian Rosewood, Ferrari/Corvette, K Constantinople/K, etc.

There are people for whom exclusivity is a factor in their purchase decisions because they believe it somehow defines them as "set apart" (or above) so many of us; more "prestigious". Someone more crass than I thus coined the phrase "snob appeal".

Me? I eat shit, run rabbits, howl at the moon, and play Yamaha drums. Sometimes I think I'd like a Ferrari.
 
1. Guru (you don't have to be a large company to have prestige') LOL
2. DW
3. Sonor
4. Gretsch
5. Ludwig
7. Mapex
8. Taye
9. Tama/Pearl/Yamaha
 
Here's my list:

USA - DW
everybody wants a DW

Europe - Sonor
They've kept their drums on top all these years

Asian - Yamaha
Tama and Pearl are a close second, but think of all the Yamaha kits that are on professional recordings.
 
I'll say this from experience. I've had 2 DW kits and LOVED both of them.

I had one Tama kit I that learned on. It was great for the money and I still like their drums and hardware. I currently play a Tama snare with my DW kit.

I've played Ludwig snares that sound incredible, yet was told their kits lately have suffered from quality.

I was TOLD that, doesn't mean I believe it. I have yet to sit on a Ludwig kit. I've heard the same about OCP. I've played Yamaha. Not bad, but to me... not great.

Gretsch has always had a good name and reputation much like DW. I'm not really a fan of Pearl. Overall their drums and hardware just seems OK. Not impressed at all with their entry level sets. I think much more highly of Tama. Although I used to have a Pearl brass piccolo snare that sounded great.
 
Prestige ...Hmmmmm.Lots of factors involved there.Staying power is one of them,but legend is certainly another.Anti-Ringo and Anti-Ludwig guys are going to hate this but..after the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show,Ludwig could NOT keep up with orders.They were running 24 hours a day 6 days a week and producing over 100 drum sets A DAY,besides all the other things in their catalog.(reference is the book"Great American Drums,and The Company's That Built Them"by Harry Calghany)

No one has ever come close to that,except Pearl with their Export series,which was the MOST highly manufactured,drum(in numbers) set of all time.

Ludwig has QC problems ....as do ALL drum companys......including the mighty and fashionable DW,which has been discussed to great extent on this forum..(which by the way started as Camco,and just stuck their name on Camco drums)ALL companys,reguardless of what product they produce, have QC issues.Nobody is 100%.its just something about squeky wheels.

Ludwig is still the most famous name on drums.The NY Yankees are the most recognized sports franchise in history,and NOT just in the US.I saw a LOT of Yankee hats in Europe.Do you know of a drummer,that has NOT heard of Ludwig?I'm not talking about 3 year old,living in an emerging third world nation,who's motto is "yes,we have electricity".

Prestige....Ludwig,by far.Gretsch also,and ...well .......everybody else.

Steve B
 
Back
Top