Thoughts on DW drums!

[DrummBumm89]

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.

I've heard this forever. "The Keller shell DW's were the best". I wonder how many of those opinions are from people who generally don't like DW to begin with but have to admit they make good gear, so they go "Well the old stay was okayyy".

I think they all have their place. With that said, I'll take the today hardware over the 1994 RIMS mounts and non Mag Strainers for sure.
Their 10+6 shell is all you could compare anyways, DW/Keller wasn't doing the specialty shells back in the day.

 

[Klyde]

I've heard this forever. "The Keller shell DW's were the best". I wonder how many of those opinions are from people who generally don't like DW to begin with but have to admit they make good gear, so they go "Well the old stay was okayyy".

I think they all have their place. With that said, I'll take the today hardware over the 1994 RIMS mounts and non Mag Strainers for sure.
Their 10+6 shell is all you could compare anyways, DW/Keller wasn't doing the specialty shells back in the day.

STM, Mag throw and 3P definitely.

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

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

I know.

They didn’t offer any options besides sizes, finishes, and hardware options untill they got their own shells going a few years later, in the 00’s.

I was talking about the Keller era kits I had.

Speaking of rims and stm.

I did a test on one kit, and it didn’t matter sound wise much.

You got just slightly more sustain wit the rims, but they were heavier and a bit more cumbersome.

I did liked the whole vibe of the 80’s/early 90’s models with the rims though.

And of course the wood from those matured more because of the time span.

 

[Tubwompus]

I had a few of the earliest DW kits. Still my favorite DW toms and snares. BD shells were too thin for my preference.

Amongst my Sonor stash, I have a pretty sizeable shell bank of Delites. Those are so reminiscent to me, sonically, to the earliest DW’s, minus the BD issue.

On the subject of DW, their hardware is my personal favorite, hands down.

 

[Drummer69BB]

DW Exotic or DW Keller? Thoughts?

Isn't the Keller shell basically the same 6 + 6 that is now used in the Santa Monica kit?

A lot of people are drawn to that shell as it's about as 'thick' as you can get and still have good resonance and a decent near field sound. But projects nicely, good body and clarity of sound.

 

[Klyde]

Isn't the Keller shell basically the same 6 + 6 that is now used in the Santa Monica kit?

A lot of people are drawn to that shell as it's about as 'thick' as you can get and still have good resonance and a decent near field sound. But projects nicely, good body and clarity of sound.

I am not familiar with the Santa Monica series.

 

[Drummer69BB]

I am not familiar with the Santa Monica series.

It was DW's first in house shell. Basically the 6+6 using 1/32" versus the current 1/36" plies. A little thicker for more projection, yet still a good amount of resonance. Good live kit, fills up the room well.

 

[Drummer69BB]

Yes, indeed! Heads influence a drum's sound much more than the drum does. In fact, I'm all over this forum saying that. But lately in this thread we've been specifically discussing shells.

Respectfully disagree, to an extent.

Put whatever heads you want on an Export and it sounds cheap. Put whatever heads you want on a Starclassic Maple, Yamaha Absolute Hybrid, DW Collectors, Sonor SQ2 and it sounds like a musical instrument, but finely tuned to the sound you desire.

 

[Klyde]

It was DW's first in house shell. Basically the 6+6 using 1/32" versus the current 1/36" plies. A little thicker for more projection, yet still a good amount of resonance. Good live kit, fills up the room well.

I have a 2000 Collectors (doesn’t say collectors on the badge) could it be one of those?

 

[Drummer69BB]

I have a 2000 Collectors (doesn’t say collectors on the badge) could it be one of those?

Very well could have been one of their first ones - I reached out last week and sent pics of the order number in the shell and they were able to confirm the 'born on date.'

I would call - and if they are one of the first runs I would de-tension and place in bags as they will probably appreciate!

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

I have a 2000 Collectors (doesn’t say collectors on the badge) could it be one of those?

The keller were aroud till about 1998.

And the later Keller shells were even different than their earlier 70's/80's kits, quite thinner (I had some kits from most of Dw's era's).

 

[bpaluzzi]

Respectfully disagree, to an extent.

Put whatever heads you want on an Export and it sounds cheap. Put whatever heads you want on a Starclassic Maple, Yamaha Absolute Hybrid, DW Collectors, Sonor SQ2 and it sounds like a musical instrument, but finely tuned to the sound you desire.

HARD disagree on this.

 

[hsosdrum]

Respectfully disagree, to an extent.

Put whatever heads you want on an Export and it sounds cheap. Put whatever heads you want on a Starclassic Maple, Yamaha Absolute Hybrid, DW Collectors, Sonor SQ2 and it sounds like a musical instrument, but finely tuned to the sound you desire.

Try it — with identical model brand-new heads and identically-sized drums that are both in good condition. Then get back to me.

P.S. I have indeed performed this very experiment (at a local drum shop back in the '80s) and the heads made a huge difference in sound, while the drums themselves made much less of a difference.

 

[Drummer69BB]

Sorry guys, have played various venues with various kits and various head combos. Flagship level kits sound like flagship level kits and exports sound like exports.

Maybe I just have more sensitive hearing.

 

[bpaluzzi]

Sorry guys, have played various venues with various kits and various head combos. Flagship level kits sound like flagship level kits and exports sound like exports.

Maybe I just have more sensitive hearing.

I'm sure that's it

 

[Drummer69BB]

Or perhaps, just perhaps, possibly your hearing is not quite what it once was? I have mine checked every so often, I have always been disciplined about hearing protection while rehearsing, practice, etc. and it has served me well.

 

[hsosdrum]

Or perhaps, just perhaps, possibly your hearing is not quite what it once was? I have mine checked every so often, I have always been disciplined about hearing protection while rehearsing, practice, etc. and it has served me well.

The 'heads vs. shells' comparison I spoke about earlier in this thread was done in the late 1980s, when my ears were 35 or so years newer than they are today.

But that's almost beside the point, since we don't hear with our ears, we hear with our brains. And to be able to rely on what we get from our ears, one of the things we must teach our brains is how to differentiate the actual aural input we receive from our auditory system from other, non-aural stimulus that can affect our hearing (like price tags). My hearing system was developed and fine-tuned by spending nearly 40 years working for manufacturers in the consumer and pro audio industries. Among other things, while there I took part in hundreds of blind listening tests where things like brand names, prices and looks were eliminated from influencing our opinions about what we were hearing. This helped teach me how to tell the difference between what's really coming from my ears and what's leaking in from non-auditory stimulus.

 

[Drummer69BB]

Sorry, still not buying it. No one plays Exports on the big stage.

 

[Deafmoon]

I used to play a 10+6 DW Snare Drum but the drum just wasn’t my taste. I sold it years ago and went back to playing Ludwig snare drums exclusively. I will say this about the exotic finishes DW makes, they are beautiful. I guess if you don’t like the sound you can still set it up as furniture in your living room.

 

[goodcat1337]

I've always looked at DW the same way I look at Apple. Yes, they make really good to great products, but for the most part, they're way too expensive. Now, some of that has changed with the introduction of the Design Series kits, and with the improvements of the PDP stuff. I've had the Design black nickel brass snare and it was really good. And I've played on quite a few Performance series kits live and in studio. And again, they are really good stuff, but no better than any other companies' mid to high end stuff.