Saw one in person. It legitimately sounds good. Had it on a weird tuning, but there was a lot of thump to the kick drum. Looked a little weird with the tiny turrets, but yeah.
There's always going to be some DW haters out there, fact is, these ARE real DW's. Do people go out and buy Pearl Exports to pretend that they have Pearls since they are not Pearl Masters Series? Doesn't make much sense to me and this applies to any brand. Do people buy Meridian's to pretend that they own a Mapex Orion? Or a Gretsch Catalina to pretend that they have a Gretch U.S.A custom built kit? Think about it,
doesn't make much sense to me...
These kits are REAL DW's, just mass produced and more affordable than their American custom made cousins the Collectors, Classics or Jazz series. I think these kits look great and I'm sure they will sound great... no reason not to... if anyone prefers another brand, then by all means have at it.
Last edited by JayW; 10-22-2010 at 11:42 AM.
DW Collector's Series ~ Zildjian cymbals
Saw one in person. It legitimately sounds good. Had it on a weird tuning, but there was a lot of thump to the kick drum. Looked a little weird with the tiny turrets, but yeah.
The only two constants I have are DW and Zildjian.
Last edited by backtodrum; 10-22-2010 at 02:57 PM.
Wish they made 13" and 18" toms. I'm a big fan of the 2 up 2 down 12/13/16/18" config, just feels right to me. Not a big thing as i'm sure the other sizes respond well, just a personal preference.
ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
Snares: 4
RIP- Frank, Wolvie, Les Paul
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From the dw site:
Maple shells with reinforcing hoops have a longer, slower sustain ratio while birch shells without reinforcing hoops have a shorter and faster sustain. Maple produces a warmer, lower fundamental tone than birch. The outer face, or veneer, has very little influence on sound. The core plies and inner ply have the most influence and significant influence on sound, respectively.
As opposed to the 'performance series.' Better off just buying the real thing right? If Rolls Royce, came out with a $20,000 rolls, would you buy it?
I agree with everything that you have mentioned here with the exception of the performance series" are not real DW's." I think it is great that they are offering a mid priced line of good sounding drums. Why are they any differant than Sonor, Ludwig, Tama, Gretch, Mapex or anyother drum company that offers high end and mid priced kits.
"Negative, Ghostrider." These lugs are a brand new design. The mini-lugs you're thinking of were considerably smaller and machined as one piece, as opposed to the hollow zinc casting with a swivel nut. The mini-lugs survive on the steel piccolo toms, but not anywhere else. The Performance lugs are more of a medium-size between the regular Camco turret and the piccolo minis.
Also, the shells are maple. No basswood. No Lauan mahogany. No filler plies. Just Maple. Even the PDPs are all maple or all birch unless you get a Mainstage or Z5 kit, and the Performance series is supposed to rate higher in the DW catalog than PDP.
Gotta respect a man who knows his stuff! It wouldn't be the end of the world if they came out with a birch edition of perfs though. It would be kind of wierd seeing them put out anything with basswood/poplar/etc though. I figured that was what pdp was for, marketing the lower costing kits to the budget minded?
ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
Snares: 4
RIP- Frank, Wolvie, Les Paul
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BTD, I had a look at a top of the line 2010 Mapex Orion Limited Edition kit recently, and I was surprised to find that it had triple flange hoops. I was told that Mapex prefers the triple flange hoops because it lets the shells resonate. Apparently, DW agrees.
I like that DW is making their expertise available to those on a budget. Mercedes Benz and BMW have cars that are more affordable too. I know, I bought a used BMW 318i. Nice car!
Quoting gonefishin: Just have some bacon with ya when you go pick her up..........youre an instant chick magnet.
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These kits are going to be a huge hit. I don't know if this has been mentioned...but while I was checking them out one thing I didn't like was the lack of size options. But if you go to the DW site they do offer different sizes. So that made me happy
But for now, I think I'll just stick with my Collector's Series.
DW - PEARL - PDP - ZILDJIAN - EVANS - VIC FIRTH
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DW Collector's Series - Blue Glass - 10, 12, 14, 16, 23
Pearl Session Custom - Green Burst - 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 22
PDP CX Maple - Red Glass - 12, 14, 16, 24
Just got back from GC. They now have a Performance Series kit in, it's on display but stacked up on a shelf. The fit and finish looked on par with the Renown kit next to it. I had them take down the snare and I smacked it around a bit, it sounded great. The salesman, who I have known for awhile now, said he played them and really liked the sound and that they tuned fairly easy. The kit is the red one which is nothing fancy but had a very nice looking finish to it. I like the smaller lugs but I don't care for the lugs on the snare.
I was surprised the much anticipated shiny new Performance kit wasn't set up out the floor for everyone to play. But something interesting that I haven't seen at that particular store before, there were 'several' PDP kits set up instead. Like their trying to sell them off or something
Well, hard to tell too much without actually sitting down and playing them but at least they look nice.
I don't think it confuses things as long as the Performance Series is indeed a better drum then the Platinum. When buying a Lexus you are expecting a nicer ride than a Toyota I believe.
its call a performer not a studio deluxe
DW, Zildjian, Vic Firth, Remo
http://www.reverbnation.com/jonpnorris
Not to mention the ratio of price comparison is way off. Collectors are like $4k-$5k and the Performance are like $1800 so about a third. This is more like asking if you would buy an $70k Rolls if they made one, since Rolls are around $200k. As you can see that's a very different question.
Jesse
1986 Tama Crestar - Lacquered Piano White
2016 Roland TD-25K
2015 Tama Starclassic B/B - Indigo Blue Sparkle
You hear a lot of talk, and see some pictures, but not much testing or experience behind these kits. I would love to hear one played tuned up, before forming a semi-valid judgement on how good or bad they are compared to traditional DW lines.
ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
Snares: 4
RIP- Frank, Wolvie, Les Paul
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