Keller getting out of the drum shell business ?

[GretschMan61]

So I keep hearing from various people that Keller is getting out of the drum shell business . Does anyone know for certain of this is true ? When are they stopping production ?

 

[Tornado]

Yikes. I wonder who will step in to fill the void?

 

[Trilock_Gurtu]

I've heard this rumour for quite a while. Explains why Nordic is booming (among other reasons). I heard Nordic had to ramp up their production due to Keller winding down...still not sure if Keller is just downsizing their production, slowly heading towards full stop, or has a planned full stop coming up. I think Inde changed over from Keller to Nordic a while back?

 

[digovii]

I'll ask some friends and hopefully, hear something back. Would be quite surprising if it turned out to be true.

update: my friends in the industry haven't heard anything themselves.

 

[bellbrass]

I have heard from a very reliable (and major) builder in the industry that Keller is phasing out of the drum shell business.

 

[digovii]

I have heard from a very reliable (and major) builder in the industry that Keller is phasing out of the drum shell business.

Where there is smoke there usually is fire. Going to be curious (if true) what Gretsch decides to do.

 

[varatrodder]

They make so many other molded wood products. I wonder how much of their business is actually from drum shells, or if it's more of a "we're set up to do it, so why not" kind of thing.

 

[charlesm]

Perhaps they'll keep supplying only a small, exclusive group of companies, rather than offer mass-produced shells to anyone.

 

[kallen49]

their web site looks better than ever, very detailed offerings of all kinds of shells,
Why would they stop selling shells? Not making a profit? I don't think they have a lot of competition...

https://www.kellershells.com

 

[bassanddrum84]

I love Nordic just hope they step up their quality control. Ordered a 10” tom and the edges were so dinged up I had to cut a blades with off before routing. Of course they sent me another and apologized.

 

[Tornado]

Where there is smoke there usually is fire. Going to be curious (if true) what Gretsch decides to do.

Their current distributer makes a ton of high quality shells. I'd bet on them.

 

[TMDRUMS]

Maybe someday, in the future, more modern Gretsch owners like me will be bragging about Keller Shells kind of like the old Gretsch salts bragging about Jasper!

 

[franke]

I would imagine that the number of units sold has been shrinking for years so it would make sense that they are getting out of the drum shell business. The only manufacturers buying Keller shells are the customer builders and hobbyists. DW has their own shell making equipment, as does Ludwig. I hear that C&C has their own too (but am unsure whether that is entirely true).

 

[Sequimite]

I didn't know that Keller sold carbon fiber shells.

edit - actually 5 ply wood shells with interior carbon fiber layer.

 

[digovii]

Their current distributer makes a ton of high quality shells. I'd bet on them.

Def a possibility but DW has a hard enough time getting drums made in a timely manner for their own orders, not sure if they can just absorb full production of Gretsch shells as well. Hypothetically speaking.

 

[frankmott]

Way back when I was in "The Biz" it was widely believed that Keller made drum shells as a small side-hustle. It was/is a very small percentage of their overall business. So if demand has been slowing (and that seems likely), It would not be surprising if they decided to pull the plug.

 

[Bri6366]

Wow....learned something new once again as I never heard of Nordic before. From people posting on this thread that insiders are saying Keller is phasing out drum shell production, it's probably true. Keller's larger customers would have contracts in place for this very reason and could be getting the word that contracts will not be renewed.

 

[Rich K.]

I would imagine that the number of units sold has been shrinking for years so it would make sense that they are getting out of the drum shell business. The only manufacturers buying Keller shells are the customer builders and hobbyists. DW has their own shell making equipment, as does Ludwig. I hear that C&C has their own too (but am unsure whether that is entirely true).

Gretsch gets their shells from Keller for their American made drums.

 

[plumbndrum]

I believe forum member @mattmalloy66 works for Keller (he stated this in a post I was reading earlier).

 

[Tornado]

Def a possibility but DW has a hard enough time getting drums made in a timely manner for their own orders, not sure if they can just absorb full production of Gretsch shells as well. Hypothetically speaking.

I wonder if the backlog is shell forming or shell finishing. Could be that their shell forms have idle time while all the more tedious work takes place. And who knows, maybe a switch to DW is already in the works and that's why Keller is deciding to bow out.