So now Good himself identifies the pitch of every drum that DW makes, and the note is stamped on the inside of the shell as an aid to the drummer or technicians for tuning purposes. “Frank Zappa was the first person to notice that I had a good ear,” said Good, adding that consecutive nights of recording songs for albums meant the tone of the drums, which like many other instruments need to be tuned, had to be exactly the same each night. He spent about eight years, on and off, as a drum technician for the likes of Frank Zappa, Madonna, the Jacksons and Elton John, so he knew drummers had problems achieving a consistent sound. The engineers can thank Good’s experience for that. “When I sit behind my kit and the sound engineer sees that they are DW, they are always pleased because I’m making their job easier.” “The warmth in sounds makes these drums incedible,” said Franklin, who regards the drums’ exotic wood finish as a work of art. She said drummers always notice the tone of her maple drums and Timeless Timber snare. Drummers who have bought from DW include Billy Ashbough of ‘N Sync, Tris Imboden of Chicago, Neil Peart of Rush, Joey Kramer with Aerosmith and Scott Crago of the Eagles.ĭanya Franklin, of the industrial rock group Flesh for Eve, has used DW drums for five years. That meant, Lombardi said, a small company could “fill the niche-to offer custom-designed products with high standards for quality, as opposed to mass production and low prices.”ĭW introduced the Timeless Timber drums in January and sold the first edition of 100 sets within two weeks, Good said. But in the 1980s, Japanese-owned companies started to take over, particularly after they moved manufacturing to Taiwan, where cheaper labor allowed them to sell their drums for less. “DW is one of the few, and certainly the largest, remaining drum manufacturers in America.”įor years, the United States dominated the drum industry. “There is a long history of drums manufactured in America,” said John Parker, vice president of global sales and marketing for Remo Inc., the world’s largest supplier of drum and percussion product heads. Its nearest competitors, Pearl and Yamaha, are based in Japan. In more than 20 countries, drummers can find a DW Drums distributor.ĭW Drums has been reported to have 50% of the world market for custom-made drums. The company-which has 100 employees, including three Lombardi family members-recently moved to a 52,000-square-foot facility here.ĭW Drums grosses more than $10 million a year, according to Lombardi, selling directly to retailers such as Guitar Center and Sam Ash Music.
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