Best Hardware Manufacturer - Poll

[drumsforme]

Yamaha absolutely....and I think they may be one of the companies that makes all their own stuff. I have some Yamaha 600 series stands that have thousands of gigs under their belts and are still tight and function perfectly

 

[Jazzhead]

Yamaha is the only brand that I will take any musical instrument they make (at any level) with my eyes closed and be happy with it, even those plastic hook lugs they put on stage customs in mid 2000s. People who broke them did know how to use them.

 

[Christopher]

Another vote for Yamaha. I have Tama and Gibraltar as well, but man, the Yammy stuff is bulletproof. Not sure if it’s still the case, but I was told that Yamaha made all of its hardware in its motorcycle factory, and used design durability experience direct from years of that.

 

[DanRH]

I voted DW as well but Yamaha and Tama are a very close second and third. Actually, it's closer to a toss up for me....

 

[L300burn]

Interesting. I’m surprised this poll is still alive. I wasn’t really expecting Yamaha to be on top. Very interesting

 

[Skyrm]

Thanks for all the info this post provided - I just ordered a Yamaha 680 Hardware pack from DCP. Needed another set of hardware now that I have two drum sets. And my wife let me!!

So stoked that it comes with a strap drive pedal. I used to love my old Tama Hi-Beat strap drive.

 

[Bri6366]

These days all of the hardware looks really good. All of the major brands want their endorsing artist to play their gear exclusively or close to it.

I was a huge fan of Tama hardware in the 80s when they were all the rage. Then in the mid-late 80s I went with the DW 5000 pedals along with the Tama hardware. But one thing Tama couldn't figure out at the time was the cymbal tilter. Pearl had them beat there. I've been playing mostly Pearl hardware since the 90s and it's bullet proof. All of the hardware I own is 90s or early 2000s before the current over engineered stuff came out and still going strong. I have a couple Tama straight stands as well.

 

[turnerma81]

My first real drum kit was a Pearl so I got a hardware pack to complete the kit. That was 1999. I'm still using those stands with no issues. I've added various Pearl hardware along the way. I also have a handful of Tama boom cymbal holders which were available in sizes that Pearl was not. Those have been great as well. I don't believe I've owned any hardware besides Pearl and Tama.

I am constantly frustrated by the DW hardware on a church kit I play from time to time. Wobbly two-leg hi-hat stand. Notchy "infinite" tilters. Snare basket tilter comes loose. Throne collar slips.

 

[Tarkus]

I mean is there any question at all? As far as “vintage” 80-90s Sonor. There was and still is nothing like them. The signature and phonic stands had a ferromanganese skelton inside for sh$ts sake. Lol. It sells for more now than it did new. The chroming and fit/finish is still unmatched by anything. That being said, modern Sonor not so much and I’d say Pearl for modern hardware for sure.

You're right. No question.

Fun point: Sonor is not even on the list.

Fun point II: nobody here cares...

 

[Miked91893]

I use Gibraltar for stands and baskets and I use Ludwig pedals. It works for me.

 

[karlcrafton]

My first real drum kit was a Pearl so I got a hardware pack to complete the kit. That was 1999. I'm still using those stands with no issues. I've added various Pearl hardware along the way. I also have a handful of Tama boom cymbal holders which were available in sizes that Pearl was not. Those have been great as well. I don't believe I've owned any hardware besides Pearl and Tama.

I am constantly frustrated by the DW hardware on a church kit I play from time to time. Wobbly two-leg hi-hat stand. Notchy "infinite" tilters. Snare basket tilter comes loose. Throne collar slips.

MOST stuff made by the major companies is great stuff. Pearl has always had sturdy gear.
I've used DW stands for 30+ years (some of them original!) with no issues. The heavy stuff, and the flat base gear. My flat base stuff goes back to '08.
If that DW hardware is "iffy", just take a few minutes adjust it.
The hi hat is very easy to adjust to make it extremely stable, and if the tilters are notched, it's because someone has over tightened the locking key screws.
The snare basket key screw is larger, and needs to be snugged up.
Yeah, SOME of the stuff is over engineered a bit, but mainly it's pretty simple and very reliable.
Cheers!

 

[karlcrafton]

I don’t even know who made half of what I use ….

That's because it's too hard to look at the stickers they put on. They're so dang small....

 

[logogogue]

I will probably be grilled but, the best for me is what ever I need at the moment that is on sale. I have a little something from all the majors and they all work great. I could be happy getting free stuff for life from any of them. Lol.

 

[karlcrafton]

I am a self confessed gearhead. I love drum hardware.

I voted DW, but I have to say the flat base gear that Tama put out a couple years ago is absolutely superb.

The stand "system" Yamaha had in the mid-80's was FANTASTIC. Some of my absolute favorite functioning, and looking hardware of all time.

I've owned Yamaha, Gibraltar, Ludwig (a few era types), some Sonor (excellent), Tama... and really, anything made in the last 10-15 years is sturdy, stable and really does the job.
The only stiff I had actually encountered trouble with was 80's Slingerland stand things, but it wasn't even my gear, so whatever.
A lot still relies on aesthetics, on what people will be drawn to, but the function of most anything is pretty reliable.
Anyone that started drumming after the mid 80's hasn't really had to deal with stuff that just would not hold up, unless they had no access to anything else.

I'd say these days, that even the least expensive pedal you can get is still better than the pedal I had on my first kit haha! The days of having things kept together with coat hanger wire are thankfully gone haha! Then I was able to get a used Speed King...

 

[cruddola]

Having owned over 30 kits from 13 manufacturers over the last four decades, the only constants are DW 5000 and 9000 cable hats. Haven't used a conventional hat stand in decades. Don't even own one. Additional constants include DW5000/Camco bass drum pedals, DW 5000 satellite bass drum pedals, Yamaha's 900 Series stands and Yamaha's 1st Generation of HexRack. Their Spheric clamp mounts rule. I've got over 60.

Hardware weight is a non-issue, never has. On small venues it has always been two 900 series stands and a cable hat. I have toured overseas utilizing the HexRack and found it nothing less than stellar. On some I shipped some of my HexRack gear, my aluminum RIMS and cable hat stands. Then I rented just the drums and cymbals over there. I'm on my 45th year with Yamaha.

The HexRack has held up my drums without a single failure. Including the mighty heavy 18 and 20-inch Luan Imperialstar floor toms off the floor. The Spheric clamp will hold up a tank. No crap round rack tubing for me. I flipped all floor toms upside down to make use of two of the three leg lugs. I've also used home-made aluminum versions of the RIMS mount on every snare on a HexRack kit since the release of the first HexRack system.

I've got four aluminum RIMSI made back in 2008. No stinking snare stand needed. Every bass drum was also held in place from its tom base with a piece of aluminum tube attached to the rack. Bass ain't going nowhere. A small half-inch tall home-made aluminum riser is placed at the nodal point up front. No stinking spurs needed either.

 

[Pat A Flafla]

I swear by the Pearl hardware from the late 90s, but it's not the same quality now, so I chose Rogers because of my indestructible Big R stuff, not knowing that there's also new Rogers hardware, of which I know zero. A lot more to hardware reliability than just the name on it. *When* is more important than the name.

 

[Pat A Flafla]

Oh, and just "DW" isn't enough to guarantee high quality. I have some recent low end DW hardware that's just heavy junk.

 

[kzac]

I have used lots of different hardware over the years.
My favorite is Yamaha, simply because its durable and easily configurable.
I used Premier hardware for a few years, gigging often, and it held up well
I like Pearl bass pedals,
The PDP hardware I have used is excellent
I have used Ludwig hardware over the years, their earlier (70s hardware was not durable) their later 400 series hardware holds up.
I found Pearl hardware to be durable.
Mapex hardware was durable

The most detested hardware
Sonor Tom mount . it is a lone wolf that doesn't fit anything else... and it does not allow for adequate tom adjustment..
Ludwig 1970s tom mount (you always loose the key) and they are limited in their adjustment.
Later hardware which is not a standard size (cymbal tubes are smaller), and therefore not interchangeable.
Ludwig bass drum spurs from the 60s and 70s (just horrible).
Hihat stands that screw loose at the foot plate/where the spring attaches...
Cymbal stands with tilters where the gear teeth wear prematurely
Flat based cymbal stands, they never perfected them, most of them fall over.
Metal click from the Ludwig speed king
Folding leg drum thrones
Snare stands with a sliding mount
Pearl tom mounts.... they are like monkey bars...
Mid 70s Yamaha double tom mount (on the YD 7000), it was a contraption at best...
Singled tom mounts of the 60s and 70s, which was a bar with a 360 degree clamp wrapped around the bar .... absolute pits to retain in place .... after a while the clamp sprung and start slipping around the bar, and the tilter would fail or both at the same time.
Bass mounted cymbal stands... they have feedback harmonics every time your pedal impacts the bass drum...

 

[6topher]

There is nothing I fix more than DW pedals.

Yamaha & Tama easily are tops imo.

 

[Kevinpursuit]

Since 1984 I have personally owned and used hardware by DW, Tama, Ludwig, Yamaha, Pearl, and Rogers. The only ones listed that I have no experience with are Gibraltar and Mapex. If I were forced to use a single brand for all my hardware it would be Ludwig (although if Rogers currently offered collet plates for use with their tom holder arms I'd strongly consider Rogers as my single brand).

Before 1984 I personally owned and used hardware by Walberg & Auge, Ludwig, Slingerland, Rogers, Premier, and Camco. Back then, if I had been forced to use a single brand for all my hardware, hands-down it would have been Rogers.

So over the decades I've personally played ten different brands of hardware. It doesn't make me an expert, but when I talk about hardware there's lots and lots of experience behind my words.

I hated the Ludwig Atlas stands!