I have played a new 22/13/16 Ludwig Classic Maple kit that sounded great and looked well made.
If I were looking to buy a brand new set, I would have them at the top of my list.
Ludwig gets high marks in my book for quality along with affordability. DW may beat them on quality, but not even close on price.
For some of us, price is a factor, for some of us, it is not.
I have played a new 22/13/16 Ludwig Classic Maple kit that sounded great and looked well made.If I were looking to buy a brand new set, I would have them at the top of my list.Ludwig gets high marks in my book for quality along with affordability. DW may beat them on quality, but not even close on price. For some of us, price is a factor, for some of us, it is not.
Really?? Cough splutter cough!!!! Ludwig are freaking expensive! Now they got Vinny they are right up there with the folks from Oxnard. Gretsch, WOW, Gretsch are a fortune these day's too. The U.S. drum industry is serious dollar. They are all as bad as each other. Sonor too thinking of it. The question for me is for the money, which one do you believe in the most?
Ok so now that I've had a chance to rethink it maybe this poll could have been phrased like this. Suppose you won $5000.00 of brand new gear from one drum company, which you could not sell but must keep and use. Which would be your top three companies from those listed above, to choose from? Hows's that?
That actually happened to me a little while back...and I didn't keep them, although I didn't sell anything either. I swapped from a company at the top of the list for one not even on the list.
This is a very interesting topic and I envy all that have owned or extensively played these new kits. My opinions can only be based on my experience playing at jazz festivals. Most of the kits provided at these multi-venue festivals are Yamaha, Tama, or Pearl. The only reason that these kits sound remotely like jazz, is because I bring my own snare and cymbals. Granted, tuning and set-up time is very limited and the heads are usually not right for acoustic jazz...but these drums just don't feel right to me for the music I'm playing so I'm putting Yamaha, Tama and Pearl at the bottom. My other experience comes from an adult jazz camp that I teach at. The campers bring their own kits for the week long camp and I get a chance to play on them for lessons and workshops. Most of the kits are vintage Gretsch, Rogers and Ludwig but one kit is a new Gretsch bop kit that sounded unbelievable and unmistakably had that "Gretsch sound". So I'm putting Gretsch as #1. That's the best I can do as my "newest" drum set is a 1982 WMP Slingerland.
Gee .these Yams ( snare too ) sound pretty sweet to me . You could tell this was a Yam kit with your ears open and eyes closed ?
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyKSL-9kpOg[/ame]
Gee .these Yams ( snare too ) sound pretty sweet to me . You could tell this was a Yam kit with your ears open and eyes closed ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyKSL-9kpOg
Nice. very nice!
Enjoyed reading this topic and the poll results. Nice to see one of the original drum co's come out on top. I own a mid-60's Rogers kit (Cleveland Holidays) and won't need another. Quick clarification:I don't believe Gene Krupa ever played Rogers, although his one-time partner, Cozy Cole, did for many years, as well as Buddy Rich until CBS bought Rogers. Sadly, the proud Rogers name is a joke in modern times, although I've seen scuttlebutt about a recent shift in ownership. Thanks for the poll.
Hugh, (grandson of Mike K who took lessons from Cozy Cole in 1957 for $3.75/30 mins in Manhattan at the Krupa/Cole Studio. I have receipts signed by Cozy in fountain pen)
