new drums un-built

[markthechuck]

Hi everyone

i really cannot wait for my Saturns to come next week, i'm wondering as i've not paid the £35 build fee as i can do it myself, what state will my drums come in will the lugs be on the drums etc or will it just be russian dolls shells, lugs bagged up and i have to do absolutly everything, will the shop open the box to check the shells or anything? i did notice i have 48hrs to check and return myself, surley they'll check them.

cheers Mark

[Screwy]

Usually the higher end drum models have the drums completely assembled before they pack and ship them. Heads tuned and all. Each drum usually gets its own box.

The intermediate to lower end kits will have the drums nested inside of each other without the hoops or drum heads attached. It saves on shipping to have them in one box as opposed to 1 box per drum and that also allows the manufacturers to pass that savings onto you, the customer. I've never heard of a respectable manufacturer such as Mapex leave the lug assembly onto the player.

I highly doubt the shop will check the drums for you. After all, you didn't pay them that extra set up fee. Damage can happen during shipping so be sure to inspect each shell carefully.

I once had a DW Exotic bass drum come through my shop that had a cracked shell from shipping. Boy was that guy not happy to have to wait another 3 months for a replacement to arrive.

[Pearl MCX Man]

I agree with Screwy when I purchased my MCX they came in different boxes with everything on even the optimounts. All I did was set them up, tune and play.

[late8]

I haven't had a chance to buy a new complete shell pack but my purchase of an add-on second 18"x 22" bass drum and a 11"x14" rack tom both Pearl ECX series came in separate boxes pre-assembled with the hoops and heads on and ready to play out of the box.

[quikstang2]

You'll have to put the bass hoops, t-rods and heads on... maybe for a floor tom too. The other drums should be in their own boxes, with one inside the bass drum/floor tom.
All the lugs, mounts, legs and all that should already be installed.

What drum shop has a £35 assembly fee? Do they have a £5 handshake fee when you walk in the door too?

[Zeta]

My M Birch kit I bought from a shop up in seattle, and it was packaged the way it was shipped to them. I had to put the heads on the larger tom and the bass, and the 10" tom. The snare and the 8" were fully assembled.

[Pearl MCX Man]

Hi everyone

i really cannot wait for my Saturns to come next week, i'm wondering as i've not paid the £35 build fee as i can do it myself, what state will my drums come in will the lugs be on the drums etc or will it just be russian dolls shells, lugs bagged up and i have to do absolutly everything, will the shop open the box to check the shells or anything? i did notice i have 48hrs to check and return myself, surley they'll check them.

cheers Mark

I think your Orions will come assembled cause they are not cheap drums. The drumshop will not check your drums out. You will have to wait till you get home for the surprise. Let us know if they did come assembled or not.

[Russ]

Even low end kits from various companies come with lugs already drilled, installed, it's more or less foolproof in that regard. What I wouldn't expect them to do is to have the drum completed enough to stick it in a gig bag and take it with you. There's a very important reason for this- they want to leave the tuning up to the customer, and the less labor they do, the lower the price they can maintain on said product. They will likely send you the rims, rods, heads in certain boxes or bags to organize it, but it's in your hands what to do after that.

Besides, some people don't want them assembled before they have a chance to put on their own choice drumheads instead of the stocks that come with(even though the stock heads for Saturns are much higher quality than most kits from various manufacturers). For example, I try to hang onto the stock heads so I can make the kit aesthetically pleasing in case I need to sell for whatever reason(which I don't see myself doing, i've grown rather attached over the years).

[Larrysperf]

Either way you got yourself a good set of drums

[Bish]

I would highly encourage you to open up each drum and inspect it before leaving the shop. Might as well get any unpleasantness out of the way before hauling them all home.

However, in my experience, I had to deal with Mapex directly for any damage issues. The dealer/supplier had nothing to do with it. Probably why I don't have another new Mapex kit or have purchased anything else from that reseller.

[dt344]

Can't speak for your Saturns, but the one time I had a set coming through the mail they took the rims off and packed the tom shells inside the bass drum shell with the rims wrapped separately, but the tension screws were all seated in the lugs already. Not entirely sure why they did that, but it save me having to sort them all out of a bag. The only drum they shipped with the heads on was the snare drum. Probably wanted to save me the trouble of seating the snare wires, which was nice.

[gonefishin]

I bought a Ludwig shell kit for my son and had to put everything together myself.

All the shells were inside of each other with all the hardware bagged up and the heads laying on the shells.

Its next week now.....so where are the drums?.....any pics??