DW Drums Discussion

[RHD03]

Is that blue DW sparkle a wrap or lacquer? Beautiful.

Thanks. It's a finish ply wrap.

[JayW]

Nice kits, folks! I liked all of them!

[Cuban]

Does anyone here know anything about the DW kits used by Nick Mason and
Gary Wallis on The Divison Bell Tour? (as seen on the P.U.L.S.E dvd)

[Larrysperf]

WOW..Les actually called DW the best?..NOT gretsch?..Someone mark the calendar.

Man how did I miss this

[dave0549jv]

so, where does one actually BUY a set of dw collectors? all i can find are those eco drums, on the internet anyway. are they all custom? how much does a kit cost roughly?

is it one of those deals where 'if you have to ask, you cant afford them?'

[Russ]

i was told they are almost always special order, so get ready to wait if you want to order something from the website. custom ordered ones will be a lot more for sure, but i've seen them on ebay so far for 1500-5000 or even 6000 sometimes for 4-6 piece configurations. snares are around 300-600 depending what type of finish and configuration it is. 1500 is more the 'i got lucky' price as most are 2000-3000, just gotta save those pennies and hold out for the configuration and color you want. another option is to try to piece em together finding them singly at better prices.. they do pop up now and then on there, but buying DW is not for the faint of heart- it's going to damage your wallet for sure and you should be sure you know what you're getting yourself into first..

[JayW]

Figured I post a couple of new pics of the kit over in this section...

[nucjd]

i was told they are almost always special order, so get ready to wait if you want to order something from the website. custom ordered ones will be a lot more for sure, but i've seen them on ebay so far for 1500-5000 or even 6000 sometimes for 4-6 piece configurations. snares are around 300-600 depending what type of finish and configuration it is. 1500 is more the 'i got lucky' price as most are 2000-3000, just gotta save those pennies and hold out for the configuration and color you want. another option is to try to piece em together finding them singly at better prices.. they do pop up now and then on there, but buying DW is not for the faint of heart- it's going to damage your wallet for sure and you should be sure you know what you're getting yourself into first..

Hey Russ
Just curious, what do you mean "getting yourself into". They have been bombproof and the best sounding set I have owned. Is there something I need to know?

[nucjd]

Hey JW,
is your kit VLT?

[Exotic Matter]

so, where does one actually BUY a set of dw collectors? all i can find are those eco drums, on the internet anyway. are they all custom? how much does a kit cost roughly?

is it one of those deals where 'if you have to ask, you cant afford them?'

Some stores carry a few kits for sale on the floor. I'm guessing that they custom order them from DW and sell them though. They must get a break on them though because of you tried to custom each individual drum it would cost wayyyy more then 2k. I bought a 6 pc (8,10,12,14,16 toms, 22 kick) off the floor for $2,200 (wrap finish, chrome hardware). I got a quote for a matching 20x14" kick drum and they wanted $1,000 do to it.


For a standard new 5 piece kit you'd be looking at about 2k. That's with wrap finish and regular chrome hardware.

Stain finish is an up-charge
Exotic finish is a bigger up-charge
VLT shells are an up-charge
Black and brushed hardware is an up-charge

[Russ]

Hey Russ
Just curious, what do you mean "getting yourself into". They have been bombproof and the best sounding set I have owned. Is there something I need to know?

i just meant like the process of saving all that money for them. amazing drums i think it's worth it and an investment for a life of great music!

[nucjd]

Oh, I see Russ. You are right about that. It has taken me into my thirties to be able to pull the trigger on a kit like that and justify it to my wife.

[JayW]

Hey JW,
is your kit VLT?

I'm still trying to figure that out. I assume this means the grains will be running vertical? The floor toms, it runs both ways... the mounted toms, is does not. It has the rings. I assume that it's not a VLT???

[JayW]

Some stores carry a few kits for sale on the floor. I'm guessing that they custom order them from DW and sell them though. They must get a break on them though because of you tried to custom each individual drum it would cost wayyyy more then 2k. I bought a 6 pc (8,10,12,14,16 toms, 22 kick) off the floor for $2,200 (wrap finish, chrome hardware). I got a quote for a matching 20x14" kick drum and they wanted $1,000 do to it.


For a standard new 5 piece kit you'd be looking at about 2k. That's with wrap finish and regular chrome hardware.

Stain finish is an up-charge
Exotic finish is a bigger up-charge
VLT shells are an up-charge
Black and brushed hardware is an up-charge

You definitely got the deal of the century! I talked to a lot of people when I was getting ready to buy, and you got the best deal out of them all!

Most will find a 5 pc going for around $3,500 as an average. Mine were marked $3,550 and I was able to get them for $2,500 cash with help from people like you and nucjd. The sales guy did NOT want to do this, but after 2 or 3 days of me making him offers, he said "ok". I'm not sure how much extra the satin and black hardware was??? The sales guy had told me a few weeks earlier that they were not selling any high end kits, mostly starter and mid range priced kits. They have had 3 DW's sitting there for well over 1 year and a Yamaha as well, and it's in the same price range as the DW's. They are just not selling well right now due to the economy.

[shabutie2113]

jw such an awesome setup and set

[nucjd]

Mine are VLT with the inner bracing ring on all of the toms. The inner shell will have the grain oriented vertically up and down toward the drum heads.

[JayW]

Mine are VLT with the inner bracing ring on all of the toms. The inner shell will have the grain oriented vertically up and down toward the drum heads.

They are vertical on the 22" kick and the 14" and 16" floor toms on the inside and horizontal on the outside. On the 10" and 12" toms, they are horizontal both inside and out. They all have rings.

What does this tell you?

[nucjd]

YEP, VLT. The two upper toms are not done with VLT unless special ordered. I love VLT toms. It drops the fundamental tone/pitch through the floor.

[JayW]

YEP, VLT. The two upper toms are not done with VLT unless special ordered. I love VLT toms. It drops the fundamental tone/pitch through the floor.

Cool! I wasn't sure...

[Exotic Matter]

What exactly is the difference between the VLT and regular shells?

JayW, I almost think you got a better deal on your kit than I did. Stain finish and black hardware are pretty sizable up-charges on a DW kit. You usually don't see stain kits going for under 3k.

My kit was used by Alex Acuna for a clinic before I bought it and I'm sure that clinic brought a lot of business to the store I bought it from so they were probably willing to let it go for cheap. I also bought my kit almost five years ago.

[Russ]

what is vlt? does it make a drum a whole size bigger sounding? sorry if it's a silly question to ask!

[nucjd]

Ok, little bit of misinformation. What I have and you jw is "built in bottom" which is VLT on the inside and standard ply on the outside. Check this page on dw. It is one of the coolest shell building ideas I have seen in a while. It makes your drums sound so much deeper. Reminds me a lot of bubinga with a maple tone

http://www.dwdrums.com/drums/collectors/shells.asp

[Exotic Matter]

^

Good link explaining all the differences in the shells. It's really amazing what they do to these drums. No wonder DW's sound better than anything else out there. They really know what they're doing.

[JayW]

Someone needs to go take some new pics of their DW's... we need some new eye candy!

Any volunteers???

[Exotic Matter]

Someone needs to go take some new pics of their DW's... we need some new eye candy!

Any volunteers???

LOL, Is that a challenge?

I have off next week, so I may just need to set up my entire 7 pc kit and give it a test drive