Skitch
Pioneer Member
The Executioner said:We have all overpayed for everything that we have purchased as opposed to the cost of actually manufacturing the items.
Cost associated with drums and everything we consumer isn't just in the manufacturing. It is also in the protection of those ideas, the marketing of the product and research and development to produce a better product in the future. Innovation requires reward; otherwise why bother?
The Executioner said:But I cant see where they are all that better than a Starclassic, Absolute, Orion, or Reference series. What are your opinions are they really worth the extra cash? or are Dw's customers paying for the name badge and marketing schemes?
I wouldn't even think of putting Tama's cheap products in the same class. Tama cares about two thingslanned obsolescence and getting more of your money WHEN their gear breaks (usually at the most inopportune time). I have had repair more than my fair share of Tama (The Strongest Name in Drums- ha) Titan stands because of the use of pot metal in a load bearing fitting. Furthermore, when I have had to call Hoshino (Tama's US counterpart), I got alot of attitude such as "How did you get this number? It is a carefully guarded secret! Leave us alone". Funny, when you see an ad for Tama, you never see an address, excpet for where to get one of their catalogs. DW on the other hand.......
To get to my main point: DW drums are worth the money. When you are comparing the top of the line drums from all manufacturers, you really aren't talking about that much more. Also, if you are complaining about paying way to much, I can guarantee you that you are being soaked by the Japanese (otherwise known as Tiawanese) drum makers. The labor costs don't even compare with what DW pays. I have a set of Tama Granstars and they sound great and I have kept them. But quality-wise, they don't stack-up. I sometimes refer to Don Lombardi as the Howard Hughes of the Drum manufacturers because we wouldn't have the high quality (across the board from every manufacturer) without Don and John both uping the ante. They took drum building to a totally higher level!! We would still be paying for "this drum goes with that set because it is black." Timbre-matching (a now patented process) was brought into the mainstream by DW. This isn't just some marketing gimmick.
One of the problems with the argument you throw down is that DW has become what the Yamaha Recording series once was; the standard. When I thought about buying another drumkit, one of the things which I weighed heavily was what I had read in a recording engineering magazine about the DW drums being the best recording drums ever made. This wasn't some drummer's ego and checkbook talking. It was someone outside of the drumming world. And sometimes it is those opinions we need to listen to the most
I haven't had the opportunity to check out the other series you have mentioned...and i feel that I have run my mouth way too much here.
Mike
http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com
http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw
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