Thoughts on DW drums!

[patrickwitherow]

I got my dw kit back in 2001 - all-maple shells made at dw. Beautiful, very well-made kit. Very resonant. My dream kit since I was a teenager in the 90's (thanks to the grunge scene).

No issues except for a bent floor tom STM mount - probably from the weight of the 16x13 hanging over time. I think after 21 years of owning that set, I just wanted something different. My vintage kits got played much more often.

Anyway, ended up selling/trading them (I kept the 8x7 tom though) for a late '40's WFL kit.

I also have a dw snare (13x7) Twisted Olive Exotic VLT that I still have - it's a beast - very loud.

Here's some of the kit setup:

 

[Skidpuppy]

I had two Collectors kits, 1991 Keller and a 2001 DW shelled kit. Sold both in 2020 when all my gigs went away. Should've held onto the 1991 Keller kit though, I miss that one.

 

[John DeChristopher]

I'll admit I'm guilty of this one:

big round lugs + round badge: eww.
big round lugs + winged or oval badge: wow!
View attachment 595973

I'm with you! Even when I worked for DW, I just couldn't get with the round lug. I just don't dig it...

And yet, I bought a Hayman kit back in 2017, (round lugs and all) and I'd buy this Camco kit in a heartbeat if it didn't involve selling a kidney or a child to pay for it. It's weird... Can someone please explain this?

 

[T_Weaves]

These DWs sound pretty good! Drum solo starts at about 4:55

One of my all time favorite drummers. The Clint Eastwood of Rock!

 

[Drummer69BB]

I think the name of the company is lazy. It should be called Good Drums. What a missed opportunity.

To me John Good and DW drums are to the drum community what Paul Reed Smith and PRS guitars are to the guitar community.

DGD - Damned GOOD Drums?

 

[Ryneaux]

The lower lines of DW sound great as well. I have a “B” rig that only goes out if I’m on a multi-band thing and they ask me to backline drums. Happens maybe 5 times a year, but there’s no way in h*ll I’m running my A rig on those gigs. Found a Design series in gloss black lacquer for a ridiculous deal to serve in this role.

The Design series drums look like my more expensive drums enough that most people never know the difference, and the sound is pretty close as well. Similar shell layup and the smaller lugs actually make the Design drums MORE resonant than my other ones. I don’t like the 18” deep bass drum on the Design set, but it sounds great so I can deal with it.

 

[JimmyM]

I think the name of the company is lazy. It should be called Good Drums. What a missed opportunity.

To me John Good and DW drums are to the drum community what Paul Reed Smith and PRS guitars are to the guitar community.

Yeah, but Don Lombardi buying what was left of Camco provided John with the platform and money to do his thing, and as far as I know, John didn’t go out of pocket and assume the financial risks that Don did. Also, John apparently felt good enough about working there that he never tried to start his own business. He got a nice tidy payday out of the sale, too, and still has a job for now. Paul Reed Smith was the Don Lombardi of PRS, not the John Good.

Respect to John for what he did and continues to do, but DW is Don’s company, not John’s, and though I don’t know what he says in private, he doesn’t seem at all unhappy about his lot.

 

[drumflyer]

I have a 2001 Collectors kit in Deep Blue Oyster, a 2019 Collectors in Burnt Toast Burst. Also have a Performance kit I just converted into an E kit in Blue sparkle. I converted the Roland VAD 504 I purchased into the DW kit. The build on the DWs is just fantastic. The build on the Roland, not so much. I’m not impressed at all with the build and hardware from Roland. Bubbling wrap on the drums, hardware that is basically pot metal, but I digress……

DW is great stuff. You won’t go wrong!

 

[Drummer69BB]

I have a 2001 Collectors kit in Deep Blue Oyster, a 2019 Collectors in Burnt Toast Burst. Also have a Performance kit I just converted into an E kit in Blue sparkle. I converted the Roland VAD 504 I purchased into the DW kit. The build on the DWs is just fantastic. The build on the Roland, not so much. I’m not impressed at all with the build and hardware from Roland. Bubbling wrap on the drums, hardware that is basically pot metal, but I digress……

I tuned up and played a Performance Series kit in a GC recently and was very impressed. Excellent gigging kit when you don't want to take your Collector's out of the house (like me).

 

[Luddite]

I genuinely like the Performance series, I think that they sound very good and I like the smaller lugs. DCP had a shell bank in an exclusive finish, Satin American Rust, that definitely got my attention when I was there last fall. It would be a toss up between those and Gretsch USA Custom, Broadkaster or Brooklyn if I was to buy a new kit.

 

[RyanLovesDrums]

Paul Wertico does cool stuff with DW’s

 

[Klyde]

DW Exotic or DW Keller? Thoughts?

 

[Drummer69BB]

Paul Wertico does cool stuff with DW’s

THAT was COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Drummer69BB]

I genuinely like the Performance series, I think that they sound very good and I like the smaller lugs. DCP had a shell bank in an exclusive finish, Satin American Rust, that definitely got my attention when I was there last fall. It would be a toss up between those and Gretsch USA Custom, Broadkaster or Brooklyn if I was to buy a new kit.

Wouldn't wanna sway you but.......psssssssssssssst...........Broadkaster...............

Another KILLER sounding kit there...

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

DW Exotic or DW Keller? Thoughts?

An exotic is only really different if it includes different woods as ply imo.


Otherwise I find them just to be a regular maple kit where you pay too much for just a nice look.

If you want that old DW (or even later Camco) sound, get a used 80's or early 90's DW.

 

[ThatDrummerDudeRyan]

I currently have a DW Design series Frequent Flyer and a PDP American Vintage. The Frequent Flyer is the set I have played the most, probably because it's so portable. It's plenty loud when it wants to be, and has a deep fundamental. I have fits trying to tune the 20X12 kick and most of that problem is how I hear it behind the kit. When I hear it in front, it sounds great.

The PDP kit is actually a rare kit made with DW California made shells of Mahogony with a poplar core ply and maple re-rings that they use on the DW Classic series. It's a 22x14, 12x8, and 14x14. By far my favorite sound. It's got the older PDP peanut lugs found on the Platinum series, but I haven't had an issue with them.

I used to have a black badge Collector's series in Inca Gold (can't find a picture at the moment) that had 10,12,14,16 hanging toms with a 22x18 bass drum. I grew tired of lugging around all the equipment needed for it (either stands or rack) and eventually sold it. I believe they were maple sells with re-rings and they resonated something fierce (think moongels everywhere). I didn't hate em, but I found myself using them less and less.

Personally, I hate the truepitch tension rods. They take so much more time to change heads and tune up and I haven't seen what the hype is about. I know there's all this wizardry about plies and stuff that they do with them, but I've never heard that make a significant difference live. To me proper tuning and how you play them affects the sound a lot more than grain orientation.

 

[Drummer69BB]

I currently have a DW Design series Frequent Flyer and a PDP American Vintage. The Frequent Flyer is the set I have played the most, probably because it's so portable. It's plenty loud when it wants to be, and has a deep fundamental. I have fits trying to tune the 20X12 kick and most of that problem is how I hear it behind the kit. When I hear it in front, it sounds great.

The PDP kit is actually a rare kit made with DW California made shells of Mahogony with a poplar core ply and maple re-rings that they use on the DW Classic series. It's a 22x14, 12x8, and 14x14. By far my favorite sound. It's got the older PDP peanut lugs found on the Platinum series, but I haven't had an issue with them.

I used to have a black badge Collector's series in Inca Gold (can't find a picture at the moment) that had 10,12,14,16 hanging toms with a 22x18 bass drum. I grew tired of lugging around all the equipment needed for it (either stands or rack) and eventually sold it. I believe they were maple sells with re-rings and they resonated something fierce (think moongels everywhere). I didn't hate em, but I found myself using them less and less.

Personally, I hate the truepitch tension rods. They take so much more time to change heads and tune up and I haven't seen what the hype is about. I know there's all this wizardry about plies and stuff that they do with them, but I've never heard that make a significant difference live. To me proper tuning and how you play them affects the sound a lot more than grain orientation.

Personally, I hate the truepitch tension rods. They take so much more time to change heads and tune up and I haven't seen what the hype is about.

Agreed. Requires a power tool.

 

[Klyde]

An exotic is only really different if it includes different woods as ply imo.


Otherwise I find them just to be a regular maple kit where you pay too much for just a nice look.

If you want that old DW (or even later Camco) sound, get a used 80's or early 90's DW.

Honestly I find the Keller better sounding but that’s just me.

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

Honestly I find the Keller better sounding but that’s just me.

The Keller era is 80’s/90’s up untill 1997/1998.

I have had a few of them but they didn’t held a candle to the Maple Mahogany with the extra Mahogany outerply.

 

[Rhyma Hop]

The Keller era is 80’s/90’s up untill 1997/1998.

I have had a few of them

you mean the shells direct from keller or you had dw's with these ??.. which ones did you have ?? . they offer many different options