Gear Reviews
Detailed assessments of the latest drum kits and accessories
Paiste - Masters Dark Crashes and Hi-Hats
Product Close-Up Paiste Masters Dark Crashes and Hi-Hats Rich, warm, mix-ready tones from Switzerland’s super-consistent cymbalsmiths. The Masters series started in 2011 as a dozen ride cymbals, made from Paiste’s CuSn20-formula bronze and designed for use in a variety of…
Maxwell Drums - Nesting Kit
Product Close-Up Maxwell Drums Nesting Kit Big, versatile tones in an ultra-compact package. If you’ve ever had to pack up your set and navigate city streets, stairs, and sidewalks, you might agree that bigger is not always better. It’s no…
Gretsch - Renown Birch and Walnut Drumsets
Product Close-Up Gretsch Renown Birch and Walnut Drumsets Two new shell offerings expand the tonal spectrum. Acouple years back, Gretsch revamped its Taiwanese-made “touring drummer” Renown series so that it stood closer in line with the company’s top-end U.S.-made counterparts.…
Sugar Percussion - Stave-Shell Snares
Product Close-Up Sugar Percussion Stave-Shell Snares Discreet design, careful construction, and top-shelf tones. Although it’s a relative newcomer in the crowded world of custom drum builders, the Santa Cruz–based Sugar Percussion has already earned high praise from top artists like…
TRX - Blends Series Cymbals
Product Close-Up TRX Blends Series Cymbals A best-of-both-worlds approach to achieving power and warmth. Earlier this year, the California-based/Turkish-made cymbal company TRX released what it’s calling a “mash-up” of its medium-weight, traditionally lathed and hammered MDM series and its heavyweight,…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Liberty Drumset
Liberty Drums is a UK-based manufacturer that builds its own shells from nearly limitless timbers and veneers into a wide range of handcrafted drumsets and snares. In addition to allowing drummers to design custom kits online at libertydrums.com, the company…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - TRX New DRK Series Cymbals
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP TRX New DRK Series Cymbals Warm, dark, classic sounds with pre-drilled holes for rivets. by Miguel Monroy TRX has released several new options in the past year or so, including the Blends series, which was reviewed in our…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Beier 15" Steel Snare Drums
There’s been a bit of buzz building around the snares coming from Jim Beier’s shop in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Blue Öyster Cult’s Jules Radino, Olivia Newton-John’s Mark Beckett, and Charlie Daniels’ Pat McDonald have been using them live, and Nashville session…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Remo Dorado Cajon
Remo’s new Dorado cajon is a traditional fixed-faceplate instrument that’s handcrafted in California using birch plywood and high-quality compression springs with over 400 coils. The cajon has deep resonance and a lot of versatility. The increased low-end resonance is a…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Stone Thrones Drum Seat Covers
Chris Stone, founder of Stone Thrones, has founded a custom shop that offers something very useful and clever: high-quality and durable drum seat covers. I recently ordered a set of covers for my twenty-year-old Roc-n-Soc throne with a backrest. I…
Bone Custom Drums - Mineral Maple Drumset
Product Close-Up Bone Custom Drumers Mineral Maple Drumset A strong visual aesthetic with the tones to back it up. Although most North American drummers are likely not too familiar with Slovenia’s Bone Custom Drums, the company has been making high-end…
Zildjian - FX Series China Trashes, Volcano Cup Zil-Bel, and Spiral Stacker
Product Close-Up Zildjian FX Series China Trashes, Volcano Cup Zil-Bel, and Spiral Stacker Inspiring, funky sounds delivered in compact sizes. Seizing on the current trend toward drummers incorporating small, trashy stacks and effects into their setups, Zildjian has added 8″…
Fidock - 6x13 Heartbreaker Series Snare
Product Close-Up Fidock 6×13 Heartbreaker Series Snare The crème de la crème of one of Australia’s finest tonewood connoisseurs. Fidock (“fye-dock”) is a boutique manufacturer from Australia that specializes in handcrafting high-end stave-shell drums with rare Aussie species like blackwood…
Remo - Powerstroke 77 and Powerstroke 3 Black Dot Drumheads
Product Close-Up Remo Powerstroke 77 and Powerstroke 3 Black Dot Drumheads Extra-durable additions to the ubiquitous pre-muffled batters. Expanding the sound palette of its Powerstroke line of drumheads, Remo recently introduced a black-dot version of the hugely popular P3 bass…
