Gear Reviews
Detailed assessments of the latest drum kits and accessories
Innovative Percussion A7X Stick
This new addition to the Innovative Percussion roster of products certainly represents a real ambition for quality. The A7X Brooks Wackerman signature drumstick slides right into your hand quite comfortably, and clearly states its purpose for rock and metal drumming.…
Donn Bennett’s Drum Vault
“If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It” By 1979, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were starting to get somewhere. Their second album You’re Gonna Get It had earned the band a gold record and the band was preparing to record…
ddrum
E-Flex Electronic Kit For 2022, ddrum is rolling out a new addition to their line of products called the E-Flex Electronic Drum Set. It features mesh heads on all three toms, a dual-zone snare pad, two cymbal pads, a hi-hat…
NEW and NOTABLE
VIC FIRTH ANNOUNCES SEVERAL NEW PRODUCTS Rute-X Rods Vic Firth understands that the familiar feel of drumsticks is missing from traditional rod designs. The new RUTE-X rods offer the comfort, response, and balance of standard drumsticks while further improving on…
In the Pocket
Pocket Percussion Expands Its Groove At a time when many retailers are facing difficulties maintaining their businesses, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania’s Pocket Percussion is not simply surviving, but thriving in the challenging and crowed space of retail-drum shops. n 2019, owner/operator…
The Romantics Go Pink!
In 1980, the Romantics were riding a wave of success following the release of their smash hit, “What I Like About You.” The band was formed in 1977 in Detroit, and built a national following slugging it out in bars…
BONE Custom Drums
8.5×14 Carbcutter Snare BONE Custom Drums was founded by drummer Nejc Boskovic in 2005 after earning a degree in Composite Drum Shell Analysis from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering University in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Boskovic’s primary focus for research and development…
Audix
FP7 Drum Mic Package I’m not really one of those cranky, old-school studio rats, but I almost can’t help sighing “Kids don’t know how good they have it these days” when I look at current microphone packages. Way back when…
Latin Percussion
Stainless Steel Salsa Snares I pull the 5.5×13 Latin Percussion Steel Salsa Snare from its box and suddenly I am a child on Christmas morning. Wow! The stainless-steel shell is super beefy, solid, and heavy duty with a clean and…
Restoring the Vintage Marching Drum
Today’s marching drums are typically outfitted with heavy chrome hoops, continuous lugs, a substantial throw-off mechanism, and a multi-ply shell. These drums can withstand exposure to extreme elements, can project well, and provide a durable head that can be tuned…
Sitting In with the Seattle Seahawks
Drums have led me on some pretty epic adventures to places and situations I had thought I could only dream of. One of the most epic is my ongoing adventure with the Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder Drumline. David Garibaldi with…
Donn Bennett’s Drum Vault
Tré Cool’s Burnt Slingerland Kit Tré Cool is one of my favorite drummers. He is also one of the most interesting people I’ve worked with. He’s certainly one of few drummers who can ride the razor-thin line between control and…
New Gear for the New Year
Wouldn’t it be marvelous if 2022 offered drummers new opportunities, savvy ways to improve their technique, and just tons more fun? Cross those fingers, gang. If you’re up for some cool tools to help bring on that brighter, happier new…
Sonor
Perfect Balance Jojo Mayer Signature and Standard Pedals When the futurist, educator, and genre-bending drummer Jojo Mayer turned his agile brain to designing a kick pedal, he distilled his concept into a single sentence: “The Perfect Balance pedal was designed…
