Largest companies

DrumEatDrum said:
Yamaha also has a very large school band/marching band and orchestral percussion division.

DW while it has a big presence with its various other company holdings, isn't even in the same ballpark as Pearl and Yamaha in terms of overall size.
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Totally agree about Yamaha's school band/marching band division. I was simply taking a guess based on the sheer number of school bands I have seen using Pearl gear. But I can absolutely see Yamaha being right up there with them.
 
lefty2 said:
In the 90s Pearl used to boast in adds that they were the largest manufacturer of drums in the world. That's not the same as making the most money though. I think Pearl makes a lot of drums for other brands also.
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In the late 80's, and much of the 90's Pearl dominated in the Student through mid-range drum sales. The Pearl Export simply dominated in sales at that price point, with the Tama Singstar/Rockstar not far behind.

Before the Stage customs came out, Yamaha has near no market presence in the student model (they tried with the Power V, but only sort of, and without success).

For a good period of time, Yamaha, DW, and Gretsch were only really selling high-end drums and mostly ignored other student and mid-levels (though they all had student models, they were poor sellers) while Pearl and Tama were aggressive in those markets.

Then everything changed in the mid-'90s when Yamaha's first version of the Stage Custom came out.
 
Thin Shell said:
Pearl doesn't OEM for other companies. I think you are thinking of Reliance. They OEM for a bunch of companies. Both parts and completed drums.
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I didn't know that for some reason I was thinking pearl done that.
 
Thin Shell said:
So that is basically a Dynasonic snare bridge, but with three separate wire types and individual adjustment for each wire.

The hoop/collar hook/swivel lug setup is almost an exact copy of the Meazzi Hollywood drums.
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Tama has always had a penchant for copying other company's designs and touting them as their own innovation going well back into their stencil drums days.

At one time I joked that they should come out with a line of drums called CopyStars and include every feature they copied from another company.
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Yes, the Tama design is called “Starphonic” not “CopyStar”. The hoop claws look nearly identical!

The hoops themselves are as bright as triple flange (I have two Starphonic CopyStar snare drums). I wish they’d make them in zinc die cast form for a tighter sound. The supposed benefit to the claw system is okay. If I changed heads every day it might be a more useful design. I do like Tama’s resonant-side Starphonic CopyStar hoop. it makes for very speedy reso head tuning. What does the Meazzi Hollywood reso hoop look like?

What else did Tama copy?
 
Darth Vater said:
What a dark day that was. :rolleyes:
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For hundreds of thousands of people, it was a good day.

I don't work for or represent Yamaha drums in any way but whatever they did to traumatize you so, I apologize for. I wish I could take away your pain so that you wouldn't be triggered in this way. It's like a fresh hurt every time you see the name "Stage Custom" in print.
 
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yammyfan said:
For hundreds of thousands of people, it was a good day.

I don't work for or represent Yamaha drums in any way but whatever they did to traumatize you so, I apologize for. I wish I could take away your pain so that you wouldn't be triggered in this way. It's like a fresh hurt every time you see the name "Stage Custom" in print.
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Yammyfan has the lightsabre out! A lot of people bought Chrysler K cars too! 🤣

85-89_Dodge_Aries_sedan.jpg
 
Darth Vater said:
A lot of people bought Chrysler K cars too! 🤣
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The K car saved Chrysler from bankruptcy. It that sense, it was a huge success. :)

At any rate, I think we're getting somewhere. You're clearly a person of means and good taste, and I mean that seriously. Is it possible that you've lost touch with the importance of affordability to some people? Is your philosophy essentially one of "spend more" when it comes to drum sets? Your "stop buying junk" signature would suggest this.

I'm guilty of this myself when it comes to cymbals; I'm forever advising against budget cymbals like ZBT and PST7s. I try not to be mean spirited about it, however.
 
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yammyfan said:
The K car saved Chrysler from bankruptcy. It that sense, it was a huge success. :)

At any rate, I think we're getting somewhere. You're clearly a person of means and good taste, and I mean that seriously. Is it possible that you've lost touch with the importance of affordability to some people? Is your philosophy essentially one of "spend more" when it comes to drum sets? Your "stop buying junk" signature would suggest this.

I'm guilty of this myself when it comes to cymbals; I'm forever advising against budget cymbals like ZBT and PST7s. I try not to be mean spirited about it, however.
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People can buy what ever the heck they want and DISLIKE whatever they want. I've been as broke as anyone on here at certain points of my life. I'd buy 50 Pearl Exports or Mapex Armory's ( @Al Strange ) before I'd buy 1 Stage Custom. I feel I'm allowed to criticize SC's since I laid down my money for a set not because it's a random opinion having never owned them. Give me the same money you spend on SC's and I feel I can get something better. Might be new. Might be used.

I will say that I've never cared for Yamaha drums. I think they sound too clinical. No soul or vibe if you will. I don't really consider them a "drum company". They're kind of an "all things to all people" type company. If someone wants to criticize me for paying too much for drums that's fine. Just know that I'm TOTALLY a value shopper even on the mid range or high end. There's no difference between getting your money's worth on a low end kit or a high end kit.

Further, I'm not a fan boy of any brand. If it works for me I don't care who's name/badge is on it. I've been ridiculed on here for owning a Saturn kit but truth be told the Saturn III, IV, and V are pretty nice kits. I'm into quality but only at a price I'm willing to pay.

I worked for company that had K-cars LOL. They were freaking dreadful!
 
Not specifically drums, but instruments on the whole:
  • Yamaha – $3.73 billion.
  • Gibson – $1.37 billion.
  • Harmon Professional – $1.01 billion.
  • Gold Peak Industries (KEF, Celestion) – $804 million.
  • Sennheiser – $773 million.
  • Kawai – $728 million.
  • Shure – $694 million.
  • Fender – $585 million.
 
Darth Vater said:
People can buy what ever the heck they want and DISLIKE whatever they want. I've been as broke as anyone on here at certain points of my life. I'd buy 50 Pearl Exports or Mapex Armory's ( @Al Strange ) before I'd buy 1 Stage Custom. I feel I'm allowed to criticize SC's since I laid down my money for a set not because it's a random opinion having never owned them. Give me the same money you spend on SC's and I feel I can get something better. Might be new. Might be used.

I will say that I've never cared for Yamaha drums. I think they sound too clinical. No soul or vibe if you will. I don't really consider them a "drum company". They're kind of an "all things to all people" type company. If someone wants to criticize me for paying too much for drums that's fine. Just know that I'm TOTALLY a value shopper even on the mid range or high end. There's no difference between getting your money's worth on a low end kit or a high end kit.

Further, I'm not a fan boy of any brand. If it works for me I don't care who's name/badge is on it. I've been ridiculed on here for owning a Saturn kit but truth be told the Saturn III, IV, and V are pretty nice kits. I'm into quality but only at a price I'm willing to pay.

I worked for company that had K-cars LOL. They were freaking dreadful!
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I’m mixed on the Yamaha sound. I guess it depends on my mood. But I 100% concur about the clinical sound. Though fantastic, Japanese drums lack the mojo and panache of their American competitors (Ludwig and Gretsch specifically) and Sonor. This isn’t a knock, gentlemen, just an observation. It’s a bit like their cars: needs some personality. And this is strictly MY opinion. Play what makes you happy.
 
Thin Shell said:
There has been a lot over the years.

A few notable things are:

Omnitune was an exact copy of the Gladstone three way tuning system where you could tune both heads separately or together from the top with a special key.

That and the Starphonic lugs are the most blatent copies that come to mind.

They had a lot of other things earlier that were clearly "borrowed" from other companies. Don't get me wrong. They all did it, especially the Japanese makers early on.

In the 70s they had a bass drum pedal (6725 New Beat) that was a copy of the Camco 5000 with a foot board that looked a lot like the Ludwig Speedking foot board. Their hi hats had the same Ludwig inspired foot board. This was before they went in halvsies with DW to buy out Camco.

They had swan leg stands that borrowed that detail from Rogers Swan leg stands.

The early Swingstar/Royalstar lugs, which were later used on Octobans borrowed heavily from Ludwig Classic lugs, with three lines down the middle.

Early Imperialstar and Superstar lugs looked a lot like Rogers lugs from the side and from a distance.

The early, pre omniball double tom mounts where clearly inspired by the Premier Locfast tom mount. I have seen them for sale on ebay UK listed as Premier.

The King beat pedal copied most of the features of the Premier 252 pedal. It isn't a exact clone but if you see the two side by side, it is clear where they got their ideas from.
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This sort of breaks my heart since I’ve always had a passion for TAMA (it’s an imprint from my teenage years), but I did live in Asia for several years and I must say it isn’t surprising that certain things were lifted. Japanese companies are excellent at perfecting an existing product, but not as imaginative in developing one. Their attention to detail and demand for perfection is well-known, but you better keep any industry secret close to the vest.

I think when you have any of the heritage brands, there’s a soul that inhabits their product. Notwithstanding the German perfectionist streak, the drums are alive. I tend to favor Gretsch over Ludwig and Sonor over both, but I’m not made of money. All German founded, btw…
 
And just so everyone knows, corporate and manufacturing processes in Asia break down this way: China/Korea: there is A way of doing something. Japan: there is THE way to do something. It’s the cultural mentality and it will find its way into the product.
 
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