Choosing Drum Sets , Top Brands

Drum Set

Choosing a drum set is really a personnal preference, and choosing one can be rather confusing. The main thing is to choose a drum set with a good reputation and one that is pleasing to your ear. It's easy to buy a drum set that sounds good today.

Years ago there were only maybe 5 or so companies that had the drum set making market to themselves. But today you have the many companies that make good quality drum kits. Here are some of the most popular drum brands on the market today...
Yamaha, Tama, Mapex, Ludwig, Rogers, Premier, Pearl, DW, Spaun, Slingerland, Sonor, Gretsch e.t.c

DW Drums
Drum Workshop, or DW for short, is the leading new American drum company and offers a large variety of snare drum shell materials including aluminum, copper, steel, brass, brass/maple combination, a great selection of lacquered finishes, and various types of rims.

Gretsch Drums
Gretsch Drums is a leading drum manufacturing company, based in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Their motto is "That Great Gretsch Sound!". Gretsch was founded by Friedrich Gretsch, a German immigrant who opened his own musical instrument business based in Brooklyn, New York in 1883.

Drum set parts

Ludwig Drums
Ludwig drums are considered a benchmark for high quality craftsmanship. The company, which began with William and Theo Ludwig in 1910, started off with the simple idea of creating a better foot pedal.

Mapex Drums
Mapex Drums is a drum brand manufactured by KHS Musical Instruments Company of Taiwan. Mapex has been in the drum making industry for over 15 years.Mapex offers a wide range of products that everyone from the professional to the entry level drummer will value.

Pearl Drums
The pearl corporation manufactures drumming equipments such as drum kits, hand drums, mallet percussions, etc. The pearl corporation was established by Katsumi Yanagisawa on April 2, 1946. He started manufacturing music stands in Tokyo, Japan. He concentrated on the manufacture of drums in 1950 and renamed his company "Pearl Industry Limited". However, in 1953, the company was again renamed to "Pearl Musical Instrument Company" and the production was extended to making drum kits, marching drums, timpani, Latin drumming instruments, cymbals, stands, and other accessories.

Premier Drums
Premier Percussion Limited is an English manufacturer of drums and percussion instruments.
The company was founded in 1922 as the Premier Drum Company by London drummer Albert Della Porta and drum builder George Smith. At first, the company produced drum kits for wholesalers, who then would sell them as their own, but Premier soon began producing drums under its own name.

John Bonham Drumming

Rogers Drums
Rogers Drums, is a drum company created in 1849 and based in Cleveland, Ohio. Their drums were embraced by musicians from the dixieland movement to the classic rockers of the 60s and 70s. However, the manufacturer was most closely associated with the "big band" and swing drummers of the 40s and 50s.

Slingerland Drum Company
The Slingerland Drum Company is a historic drum company which is linked to the rich history of jazz drumming. The company was founded by H.H. Slingerland,Solick Slingerland, in 1912. Production of drums was started in 1927, in answer to the entry of the Ludwig & Ludwig drum company into the banjo market.

Sonor Drums
Sonor is a German percussion manufacturer. Founded 1875 as a percussion manufacturer[1], Sonor drum sets and hardware are both revered and notorious for being constructed in a very durable, painstaking, and therefore, unusually heavy manner (older models).

Spaun Drums
Spaun offers a wide range of products that everyone from the professional to the entry level drummer will value.

Tama drumsets
Tama Drums is a brand of drums and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama is one of the largest and best-known drum brands on the market today (ref). The brand became known primarily for its hardware innovations and sturdiness, but its drums are also highly regarded.

Legend Keith Moon

Yamaha drumsets
Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha has been building drums since 1967, and builds their drums by hand in Japan. Yamaha drums are also made in Indonesia. The company currently manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits, as well as other percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware. Many professional drummers have endorsement deals with Yamaha Drums.

As far as cymbals go there are only 3 companies that i use and trust. You have Zildijan, Sabian and Paiste.