DW Fans testers users, questions for you

I am a ways away from making a decision on a DW kit, but it doesn't cost anything to gather information. I am wondering about bang for the buck. I know the Collector series is best, and comes from hand selected woods, etc... But really, when it comes to tone, and playability, are you really getting that much more with the collector series over the other models? Are there particular models that would be best suited for different types of music? Like Jazz and blues for example?

I'm just curious, the only DW set in town is sitting high in the crows nest at GC, and will not be soon played without a lot of hassle. It's a beautiful 4 piece collector set at around 3500 + tax. No snare or hardware of course. It is a sharp looking set with dual upper toms and a single floor tom. Since that's the setup I have played for many years, maybe should stay with it, but I admit, I am curious about a single bass tom and 2 floors.

Thanks
DW-Doug
My setup: 1973 Pearl red satin with mostly DW poles and Ziljians
Guitars and amps too numerous to name,

Bang for the buck? . . . . .Well, my personal advice is to first try to find a set used, in real good condition. I had three Collectors Series sets in the past, one I bought new at Dale's Drum Shop (2008), the other two I bought used off of Craigslist, I believe. All maple. My new set was around $500.00 less than the one you see at GC, and it was a 5 piece. (Two up, one down, bass and snare, with a 9000 series double tom stand, finish ply). Don't get me wrong, to me they all sounded fantastic, great quality, great hardware and no issues whatsoever. They were all gold badge era sets with the oldest one sounding (to me) the warmest, and best. In my opinion the prices of them have gotten a little out of hand. I'm not saying they aren't good, because to me, they are extremely good, tough to beat. But are they worth the cost difference over what some other companies are offering at less cost? To me, no. Not nowadays. I do however still use quite a bit of DW hardware. If it's worth it to your ears, and wallet, then it's worth it. I would spend some time looking for a nice used set when the time comes.

I had two DW kits (both Collector's) and found I didn't like them. I do still like using their pedals though, I'm a 5000 fan. What I discovered was that I really loved the old DW stuff (from the 80s) when the had just taken over the Camco stuff and were still using Jasper (or Keller) shells. A friend of mine loaned me his old Camco and that was what I really wanted. The new stuff (this was back in '03-'04) although made very well, I just couldn't get that sound I wanted. But they sound great when others were playing them

Now I've gone back to that vintage Ludwig sound I grew up with and will most likely stay there.

But I think the Collector's are your best bet if you're shopping for DW. But if I were going to spend that amount of money again, I'd go Sonor. But then again, you're not that far away from a Guru or a Craviotto. Even Bill Detamore's Pork Pies are awesome drums. Dunnett's George Way drums are really special too. It sounds like you're sold on DW, but have you checked all that's out there? Everyone makes wonderful drums these days for the price you're talking about.

So I own a DW Collector's Series kit, among high end kits I own from Tama and Pearl. I also own two, soon to be three DW snares. Bang for the buck? Look elsewhere if that is your goal. DW makes great sounding drums of consistent quality. They make arguably the best looking drums in the industry, even with those polarizing turret lugs. What they don't make, however, are inexpensive drums. Fans of the brand will counter that they've earned their standing in the industry and build a product that holds its value more than most.

I bought my current DW kit because I love its look and sound. Dale's gave me a great deal so they can be found. Sound better than my Tama Star kit or Starclassic bubinga select kit? No, but it does sound awesome, and unique compared to the other kits I own. The hand-painted graphics are gorgeous to me. DW does exotic finishes and graphics better than any non-custom builder IMO.

Buy DW Collector's because that is the sound and look you want. There are better values for the buck though if that is your motivation.

Hey thanks for the varied input folks. Well, to reaffirm what I meant bang for the buck, I didn't mean bang for the buck against other brands, I meant only within the DW lines.

I know if you want cheap DW, look to PDP. But what I am wondering is just how much true difference there is in the collectors vs performance vs jazz, or whatever other lines they have. I mean there are what, 1500 DW sets? Then there are 5-6K DW sets.

It would not be practical or prudent for me to go all out and get a 10K drum set. I just wouldn't get enough use out of it before I have kicked my last drum. But you know, that doesn't mean I can't hit a price and value point within DW line I am happy with, and gives me a great drum, without being stupid with money.

I might find a used kit I like and I might not. I don't think I will find one where I live. Just old beater sets to be found here. Very few DW collector sets are likely in my town. Just how it is.

Well, I just figure after 40+ years with the same set of Pearl Drums, I love the DW look, and I think I would like to own a set to put behind my DW hardware. Do I need them? No. Do I want them? I think yes. Does that mean there are not other sets I might like if I played them? Oh, I am sure that's possible, but again, they may not be available for trial unless I go to a bigger town than I live in.

Mapex, Pearl, everyone has some nice drums. But I love that DW look, and I am sure I will get a good tone I hope. I am sure they'd probably setup the DW's for me if I was serious and ready to buy. But at this point, I am not. To many other irons to handle first... I do not know of any sonar drums in my area.

dw

I own two Collector's kits, Cherry shells and Maple with Tamo Ash exotic veneer. Both are incredible. Got the Cherry kit from Dale's.
The Performance Series are also very nice and less coin.

DW-Doug said:

Hey thanks for the varied input folks. Well, to reaffirm what I meant bang for the buck, I didn't mean bang for the buck against other brands, I meant only within the DW lines.

I know if you want cheap DW, look to PDP. But what I am wondering is just how much true difference there is in the collectors vs performance vs jazz, or whatever other lines they have. I mean there are what, 1500 DW sets? Then there are 5-6K DW sets.

It would not be practical or prudent for me to go all out and get a 10K drum set. I just wouldn't get enough use out of it before I have kicked my last drum. But you know, that doesn't mean I can't hit a price and value point within DW line I am happy with, and gives me a great drum, without being stupid with money.

I might find a used kit I like and I might not. I don't think I will find one where I live. Just old beater sets to be found here. Very few DW collector sets are likely in my town. Just how it is.

Well, I just figure after 40+ years with the same set of Pearl Drums, I love the DW look, and I think I would like to own a set to put behind my DW hardware. Do I need them? No. Do I want them? I think yes. Does that mean there are not other sets I might like if I played them? Oh, I am sure that's possible, but again, they may not be available for trial unless I go to a bigger town than I live in.

Mapex, Pearl, everyone has some nice drums. But I love that DW look, and I am sure I will get a good tone I hope. I am sure they'd probably setup the DW's for me if I was serious and ready to buy. But at this point, I am not. To many other irons to handle first... I do not know of any sonar drums in my area.

dw

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You know, what you're at this point, just get what you want. Don't ask us. It's all about you being happy. I definitely don't ask advice on things like this. Buying drums are like buying clothes. You have to like it, and you already do. Don't compromise. Good luck on your quest 😃

The above post is spot-on. If I am about to spend that kind of money, I want custom. Not a kit from a showroom floor unless it happens to be pretty much the exact specs I'd otherwise custom order.

I've owned two DW kits. One was a Collector's series kit, which was relatively short-lived due to my dissatisfaction with it's tuning range - low and fat. Maybe that has changed over the years.

I've since acquired a DW Jazz Series (maple/gum) kit (somewhere around 2009), which I love and plan to keep. The Jazz Series is very adaptable and versatile.

In fact, I am fond enough of it to have recently ordered another Jazz Series kit - only this time I went with the cherry/gum shell and chose a custom lacquer finish with an exotic veneer for the outer ply. I also went with TrueHoops instead of die-cast. This kit replaces a custom-ordered Gretsch USA Custom kit that was a mess and went away. I've never seen anything other than superb quality on my DW kits, including my Collector's kit, and I have a pretty good benchmark to work from with a Sonor SQ2 for comparison.

If you are willing to spend the money, take the time and get exactly what you want. Sizes, shells, hardware, finish, heads etc. DW is very accommodating from what I've seen. I ended up finding a couple pictures of guitar finishes I really liked and asked them to recreate it for my recent order. DW has several lines that are all top-of-the-heap ply drums - Classics, Collectors, Jazz and Maple-Mahogany. Do yourself a favor and check out as many as you can before spending the money, but be sure to investigate the other lines DW offers.

Matt Bo Eder said:

You know, what you're at this point, just get what you want. Don't ask us. It's all about you being happy. I definitely don't ask advice on things like this. Buying drums are like buying clothes. You have to like it, and you already do. Don't compromise. Good luck on your quest 😃

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My favorite piece of advise on this thread. Oftentimes folks get a little "antsy" at the thought of spending on something like this and look to see if someone can talk them into, or out of it.

Bottom line though is like Bo said; it's your life, your money, your kit and your happiness. When you have the money, get what you've always wanted. Then hopefully, be glad that you did.

As far as I am concerned, the point of getting a DW Collectors to get a custom/fancy/special finish.

jbonzo1 said:

I own two Collector's kits, Cherry shells and Maple with Tamo Ash exotic veneer. Both are incredible. Got the Cherry kit from Dale's.
The Performance Series are also very nice and less coin.

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Awesome kits. The first finish pictured is insane!

JBonzo, your drums are spectacular!!! I love both sets!

Can I just bunk at your place for a while? LOL.

I appreciate and respect all advice, even you know what, like Tin Cup's girlfriend said, you know what Roy, just go for it, what the h&ll. I know, I have done that many many times before. I'm not new to splurging on high end "toys" or "tools", however you want to look at it. For me, I guess it is eye candy a little bit. But I think I will make sonic gains going to a maple drum over my fiberglass. My drums are sounding a little flat and lifeless to me. I think wood will liven things up a bit. Give them that big deep and wide sound.

It's probably true that both kits will accomplish what I need. I'm really not such a conspicuous consumer that I need to buy the very best. After all, here's a guy that traded a BMW for a Subaru outback. Right? When practicality makes sense, sometimes I do what doesn't seem possible as a "guy" right?

If I did what was practical, I wouldn't have 7 electric guitars, I know, I bought with my heart and soul. If I had the cash left, I'd do that with drums too probably. But it's different in that I have not sat at EITHER set, and will likely not be able to sit at EITHER set. It is possible I may get an opportunity if I pushed it and was ready to drop the hammer locally on a collector set of black Velvet, but as the set is up in the crows nest not setup, I will have to get them specifically to set the drums up for me, and they may or may not do that. I still will not have a point of reference as comparing the two.

To me, it is a huge step to go from $1800-2000 to 3700 and change. I mean I could almost buy 2 sets of performance series for the price of one collector's sets. I find it hard to believe I will get that much extra value out of them. After all, I find the black Diamond series performance drums to be very attractive! Also, the Pewter is quite nice. There is also the fact the 1800-2000 includes a new snare, that may well beat the socks off my Rogers Dynasonic. The Collectors mostly come snareless. Well, some do.

I'm using 40+ year old Pearls, you know, most anything would be "nice" to me and a huge upgrade.

Right now, I am leaning toward the performance series for value for my $ spent. I have beautiful guitars, only 2 of my guitars were above 2K. a Les Paul Slash and a PRS 408. I stopped at around 3K for those. I'll justify nice toys, but not stupid spending either. Not saying spending on collector series is stupid, just is it really necessary and is it practical? Well... Probabaly not for this guy's budget at this point in time. Later, I may be able to swing a Collector set easier. Today, I need to sell more stuff to buy that. What will I sell? Well, that's debatable. It won't be my house or cars. Maybe some camera gear. I shoot much less than I did now. I am into my music, so that is where some of my hobby money should go. Well, some more of it...

But when getting a PRS, I got a rack guitar that comes close to their custom line, but it is not custom line, that would have cost around 2800 more or so probably. To me, not worth it. Then again, another guy bought an Artist Edition because it matched his living room, and he could pass it down to his kids. Ok, I mean seriously? Well, that's a flimsy excuse to look at a beautiful guitar. Yes it was beautiful. But that's just spending to be spending IMO, especially if you are not going to enjoy it playing it.

I figure I've got 10-15 years to play drums and enjoy it before my body falls apart, if I am blessed to go that far. That's a reality check.

I'm really still just looking for comparison of the drums sounds. I mean if it's all cosmetic? The decision is pretty easy for me. I can justify 1800-2000 a loooooot easier and with all my new DW hardware, have a heck of a set.

Thanks Dre and Doug.
Life is short. Play what you want.

If I am getting a mainstream set of drums, it's Gretsch, not DW. If I want truly custom, one-of-a-kind drums, it's going to be Brady or Craviotto, or maybe even Tama Star. DW would never enter the equation. I've never played any DWs that sounded half-way decent.

DW just bought Gretch, along with several other brands from Fender USA.

If you don't like DW, I'll just say what JBonzo1 said, play what you want.

DrumEatDrum said:

As far as I am concerned, the point of getting a DW Collectors to get a custom/fancy/special finish.

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Bang for the buck goes to the Performance line.

DW-Doug said:

DW just bought Gretch, along with several other brands from Fender USA.

If you don't like DW, I'll just say what JBonzo1 said, play what you want.

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First DW did not buy Gretsch. They bought the US distribution rights. They acquired the distribution of Sabian too, but nobody is crying about it or mistakenly saying that they've bought Sabian. Second, every top tier kit from every other company costs as much or more than a DW Collectors. Check for yourself. Sonor, Yamaha/Sakae, Pearl Mastersound, Tama Star, Brady, C&C, Craviotto, Guru, Ludwig Legacy, Gretsch USA. They all are in the same price point or higher than DW. So bang for your buck? Yeah, as much and more than any other flagship lines. Third, the Performance series is nice but not the same animal at all. Not the same shell or anywhere near the number of options, and forget about finishes. Performance to Collectors is like Starclassic to Star, Masters to Mastersound, Prolite to SQ2. Lastly, I play DW and I love them, they are absolutely world class, but you definitely should play them first, and as many other kits as you can. Always give yourself as many viable options as possible. You might find that your a bubinga guy, or jarrah, or that you like stave drums instead of plies, or solid shells, and don't forget hybrid shells, and.....................

Well, thanks for that correction, I obviously must have read incorrectly, or inaccurately. Many times the news is mis-reported, even business news.

Again, unless I want to hit the road to play a lot of different kits, there likely won't be opportunity to play many drums in my town, even at the Performance kit level. It's order what you want, get them, and hopefully be very happy with them. Honestly, I have only heard DW online in UTube videos or people playing them in bands. Since I don't get out a lot, I haven't heard many DW drums, if any!

I really didn't think I was being or even attempted to be a drum snob. Just like when I bought Pearl 40+ years ago, I chose a brand I like the appearance of a LOT, and have mostly committed to the brand, not to have all one name on my kit, but because I like the looks of the drums. I think I will like the play too. I doubt I am going to invest 4-5K in shells. I just don't think that's my price point. Drums are only part of what I play. I am also a guitarist now. As a part time hobbyist drummer, I look forward to a mid-price point set, I don't have to have the Porsche of drums, or whatever... In fact, I could just put new heads on my Pearl and keep them. But that's not quite as much fun.

There is still an outside chance I could wind up with a Collectors Kit in DW. It's not completely ruled out. But budget wise, Performance line suites me better for now. That does not rule out another set a year or two from now, not really, or even an up trade. Although I'd rather be happy the first time. I hope.

I did just look up Craviotto, since I had no experience with them, fantastic looking drums, no doubt. I'll check some others out too, thanks for opening my eyes at least, ha! One thing I do know, I will be buying American made wood drums or hybrid shells. Everything points to fine hardwoods for shells though at this point.

DW

The SunDog said:

Pearl Mastersound

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What is this new Mastersound series Sundogs.. ?? I am very interested in these.

...some suggestions: if you are in the market for dw drums (performance or collector series) would it be such an inconvenience to merely ask your local store to set up the stock dw's for you to test, and then to make them an offer you are prepared to pay?...isn't that why stores carry stock in the first place?...and the worse that can happen is the store rejects your request/offer, in which case you will probably never return, no?...

...alternatively, you could purchase used dw's in good condition online (ebay or better yet this or other drum chat boards) and then on-sell the kit if you don't like the sound...if you select/purchase the kit judiciously, you should suffer minimal losses, if any...and the journey to find "your perfect sound" is often a satisfying experience in-and-of-itself, imho...