new member from HB Drums

[manoeuver]

 

If you ask me, any company that sends you an inferior quality product should refund your money including the cost of shipping it back. And if it was me, that's exactly what i would be demanding.

 

some companies deal in inferior products.

[zarazabas]

Ok ok ok so by inferior i mean "inferior to what was advertised/expected/paid for"..... obviously. And from what i can tell Crash didn't get what he thought he was paying for.

 

Shall we place bets on whether or not HBDrums will be back to answer why Crash received his drums in that condition?

[drumtechdad]

 

Shall we place bets on whether or not HBDrums will be back to answer why Crash received his drums in that condition?

 

 

"Not diggin the negativity on this site so unless there are some direct and neighborly posted questioned to me without the uninformed inuendo and speculation posted, I don't feel compelled to participate . . . "

 

I suggest you rephrase your question in a more neighborly manner!

[CrashStitches]

 

Shall we place bets on whether or not HBDrums will be back to answer why Crash received his drums in that condition?

 

 

Not holdin' my breath on that one. He hasn't posted since his hissy fit. If that's how he runs his business, then it's no wonder nobody knows who the hell they are.

 

What a bull{censored} attitude. "I don't need the sales, and I won't talk unless it's on my terms."

 

This was your chance to send a message to the drumming community about your product. A chance to get an independent review by someone who was really excited to receive his latest purchase. Instead you cop an attitude under the smallest amount of pressure, answer no questions, and then just disappear when your product arrives looking like it was never inspected by anyone. So that's the message you sent. I really wanted to be a big fan of HB. As noted before, I have a penchant for lesser-known brands. For example, as a company, Steelsound won my allegiance with quality products at basement prices. HB has not.

 

The hell with it all. If this kit turns out to sound good, I'm taking all the HB badges and insignia off. I mean, he obviously doesn't need the sales, right? So I see no reason to promote for his company. If anyone asks what it is, I'll just say "a cheap birch kit from China that I got off the web."

 

I should be dragging it down to the studio today or tomorrow to get it poppin'. I'll inform as to results later.

[CrashStitches]

I finally (2 days later) got to jam these things a bit. Played on the stock heads for a bit, and the bass and snare sounded like {censored}. The toms, even with stock heads, sounded decent. So I switched the snare and bass heads to a coated G2 and Superkick I respectively. I also swapped the snares out from the ones they sent me (which were way too small, like for a 10" snare) to the ones from my old snare.

 

While I was swapping heads, my buddy from my hillbilly punk rock side project came down, and we jammed some of the old ones. The bass drum immediately came alive, and actually sounds great now IMO. Lots of beef, and great punch with the Aquarian head and FALAM patch. However, the snare, while sounding better with the new head, still doesn't sound that good, and is hard to tune. I chalk that up to bad lug alignment. I kept the stock tom heads on, as budget is tight and they sounded halfway decent anyways. They'll be upgraded soon enough.

 

While I'm disappointed with the QC, the sound is pretty good. The snare is, to put it mildly, an underperformer, but the toms and bass are pretty good drums. I am particularly enamored with the sound of the bass drum. I'll just have to pony up for a good snare. That kinda bites, since my main band is a psychobilly band and the side band is punk, so snare use is very heavy.

 

All in all, For the price ($360 with the 5% discount for waiving accessories and the 10% discount for Labor Day) I'm moderately satisfied. I was very into the sound of a good wood snare, and this one let me down. But the toms and bass are good, and even it out a bit.

 

With all this said, I expect these kits are a lot like Wuhan chinas. It's a roll of the dice. Some are probably gems, and some are probably garbage. Mine's somewhere in the big middle.

 

Before playing I said in a previous post that if I had to do it all over again that I'd just spend the extra $120 or so and buy a Tama Rockstar or Gretsch Catalina Mod shell pack. After playing the kit with a couple decent heads, I might soften on that stance just a tiny bit. Reading the reviews of the Catalina showed that the snare from that kit seems to have a bad rep as well. I guess at this price point, a good snare is hard to some by. However, the finish on the Catalinas is much nicer. My drums literally look like PVC pipes with chrome trim. But for some reason I kinda dig it. Maybe because nobody I know has white drums, especially this tone of flat white.

 

I plan to upgrade with white lacquer wood hoops (from a different drum company) and a new snare (been lusting after the Musashi, but it's "outta my class" as Eddie Cochran might say).

 

Anyways, what else can I say? It doesn't suck enough to return, and it isn't great enough to keep stock. But it will do. Ratings below:

 

(out of 10)

Bass: 8 (hidden gem of the kit)

Snare: 3 (before upgrades...4 with new heads and snares. The big letdown)

Toms: 6.5 (with stock heads, rating likely to improve)

Inside finish: 3.5

Outside finish: 4

stock heads: 3

Packaging: 2 (lugs and washers everywhere, drums very dirty and dusty)

Hardware: 4 (the lugs look cool, but are poorly aligned on all drums)

[CrashStitches]

Crash..,, Your experience with hb made me rethink my next purchase....I am not going down the HB path anymore!

 

Man, just play what you like. My experience is just my experience. Like I said, it's probably a crapshoot and you got a better kit than I did. If you're happy with your buckets, then who can tell you you're wrong?

 

Keep jammin', bro. I damn sure will.

[slap happy drums]

Have you contacted HB about the defects and misrepresentations ?(wooden hoops)

My company goes by the 100% customer satisfaction or Seppuku , I doubt you'll get that from HB but they may throw you a bone or two , hell they might send you out the right kit and cover shipping, you never know till you try.

[John Flynn]

Hey crash, sorry they didn't turn out to be as good as you were hoping for. That's the thing with Chinese made stuff. The QC is usually all over the map (at least in my experiences).

 

When it's a name brand contracting some of their work to China, they usually have a decent QC system in place. But with the no name stuff, it seems they receive goods from China, and just ship to the customer, regardless of condition.

 

I'm not saying this about HB Drums in particular, but just about no name stuff in general. After buying & selling watches for almost 8 years, this is what I've found to be the case with the no name, "rebranded" Chinese watches.

 

Like you said, it's a crap shoot. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

 

I would contact HB Drums and let them know your concerns. Maybe he will work with you on this.

 

Good luck!

[SkiAz4Free]

 

IReading the reviews of the Catalina showed that the snare from that kit seems to have a bad rep as well. I guess at this price point, a good snare is hard to some by.

 

 

Definately the only drawback on this kit... Mine got put in a box last year. I think the only thing it really lacks is a snare bed. Other than that, it's a matching, wood shell snare. I've never made a snare bed, but have seen the jigs for one... looks like a royal pain in the arse. Any outlets for after-market snare beds out there? All it would need after that would be some wood hoops. NOW you've got something to work with eh.

[drumtechdad]

^^ That's what most forums do, have a dedicated area for selling.

 

Otherwise, it's hard to tell the enthusiasts from the dealers in the main forum! I'm all for member reviews, I learn tons from them, but if you opened up the main page to dealers and manufacturers they'd take over.

[SkiAz4Free]

 

^^ That's what most forums do, have a dedicated area for selling.

 

 

But not here?

[genghiskog]

Actually there is a place for you to buy and sell your gear. I don't know if its meant for commercial distributors but you could check it out.

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=77

 

It really isn't hard to find. Its just like finding the guitar forum or the bass forum. It's still the harmony website. There are several other Harmony forums if you take the time to look. There is lots of info for people who want to make their own mix or do home recording or just about anything music.

[Buzter]

I can't testify to the product but I can agree that when I started playing in the early eighties Drums were expensive. You didn't get half the features and it cost twice as much. I got a crappy import set that sounded like garbage and HORRIBLE hardware for much more than these. There is no way these couldn't be better than what was offered thene. That's all I'm sayin'......

 

 

Update feb 2 08' They are worse than what I started with...I'd rather play a bucket with 2

Paint brushes. Stay away..... Sorry HB.

 

 

 

 

Hey guys, You all really need to get outside and smell some fresh air:)...Thanks for the welcome. I probably won't be posting very often due to a busy schedule...I'll try to check in weekly and answer any questions you may have. I didn't see much in the way of questions other than where we get our wood for shells - N America - mostly northwest US and Canadian birch. Just a few words from a guy that's been in this business a long time,...drums have changed just like everything else in America with imports from China at an all time high. We could make our drums here in HB and price them about 4-5 times higher. We choose to cater to musicians that do not have big budgets. You will find most of the brands coming from overseas now yet some will still carry fairly high price tags due to the supply chain, advertising, etc. I am amazed at how folks that have been in drums for some years have forgotten that a basic 5 piece Rogers or Slingerland made in the US sold for $1500 back in the late 70's. Some of the same folks are looking to put our sets under a microscope and compare with sets that are selling for many times more....the point is if you are on a beer budget, you're not going to be drinking Dom Perignon. Some of the DW and top line US boutique brands are incredible quality and we don't pretend to compete with these. On the other hand, go out and look at any plywood no name kit or even the entry level brand names and then compare if you get birch shells at our prices. We are simply not into $5000-$10,000 high end kit sales as my business has always dealt with the enthusiast or gigging musicians on budgets. To date we have sold over 10,000 HB sets and feel we offer a very good value for the buck. Thanks for the nice compliments James,...how much do I owe you?:)Thanks again guys and I'll drop in later. PS Thanks for your order Crash - apparently we are sending you a Duke- right on! Dave

 

[agogobill]

Pretty cool article about old Japanese drums.

[Buzter]

I ordered a 6" tom from HB this week to go with my sonor kit. It should be Friday. This should be interesting. I had trouble finding anyone who sold a 6" tom. I considered building my own. If this doesn't work I guess I'll have to.

[Mickey66]

Well,it took me awhile but I read this thread from top to bottom and I know people who have other business(Dealers,some selling drums) on the internet and I would be safe in saying....your drum set(Crash) was probably drop shipped from a warehouse in the USA....the chain would be....China to USA warehouse.....Crash's order went to the Dealer who placed the order to the warehouse then the warehouse drop shipped to Crash. It is pretty clear here the Dealer is not going to respond....my question was never answered..."where are the shells made?" I had a real good idea before I asked... That was about 5 pages back. I have said this on other threads.....most of the shells if not all of the shells that are made in China(Red China)are made by Yamaha....I found this out one night while surfing behind the "Great Wall" and I found this huge Yamaha plant that makes drum shells....they make top end stuff as well as real cheap stuff for all Major Brands...No joke. A few years ago I bought a 7 piece Kit(made in Red China) from a Dealer friend for $200 LOL....you guessed it.... they were crap...I gave them away to a friend who had a young kid who wanted to learn how to play the drums. This thread wore me out...I have played the new PDP X7 Kit made in Red China and they are very good....I bought them so....sets from China can be good or crap and Yamaha will probably be the real builder(no matter what the brand name says) soooo go in with your eyes wide open and know that all China made drums are not equal.

[drumtechdad]

I notice that Mr hbdrums hasn't stayed around to join in the lively drumming discussions here at HC. :poke:

[Mickey66]

No....and he probably won't because way too many people here know how the biz works these days and here is another thing....how many drummers out there can tell the difference between....maple,birch,poplar,plywood etc. just by looking at a crappy photo on the web.... What most of us do is this....we take the word of the dealer going on some "rep"that is put up in print somewhere....internet....Hmmm. We all must be as carefull as we can or we will be sucker's. Made in China can be a good thing if you can go into a music store and pick the drum up...play it....take it apart etc. when you can't do this you are asking for it.

[Buzter]

I got my HB 6" tom today. The tom was in a small brown box. I ordered a tom arm to go with it. They actually opened the top of the box, put the tom arm on top, closed 2 of the cardboard flaps and taped the hell out of it. I used to wrap stuff like that in kindergarten. Although, the items were undamaged. After removing the tom I noticed the tom bracket was really loose. Upon closer inspection I noticed the retainer plate on the inside of the tom holder was very loose. The screws were about to come out. I think the ill fitting plate was made for bigger drums and didn't fit against the shell very well. The bearing edges are also a little uneven. No real complaints haha, I only paid 24 bucks and some change. I just wish it was a 6x6 or 6x7 instead of a 6x5. I think the heads are pretty bad but I'll try some better heads this weekend. Considering my options(none, nobody makes 6" toms anymore) I like it so far, although it needed a little work.

 

UPDATE

Tried to put new heads on twice. WILL NOT FIT> This tom is not standard. I guess I'll have to make heads out of goat skin or something. Maybe an inertube or saran wrap.

[Rollout]

I don't think HB is selling on ebay anymore??? Anyone have that story??? How about the owner???

[bf156]

Dave, your product is junk and your customer service is appalling. Thanks for getting back to me about my throw-off you probably received from pakistan. Your nice 14 inch predator black tom would of been nice for my set up, if I wanted to go with a John Bonham feel, but now I wouldn't order a washer from you.

 

Here is my post from another drum forum and some one esle's. Have a nice day!

 

Don't buy from HB. I thought HB drums was a reputable business, but alas I was wrong. I received a snare drum from them and the throw-off is shot. Oh know, what to do. Obviously the quick, simplistic, appropriate answer is to simply send me another one but they won't return my calls or emails. If this post saves one person from aggravation and heartache then my job is done.

 

I thought what harm could it do ordering a snare online but I won't make that mistake again. See when the price is real low, beware...seriously beware. Well let me call the excellent customer service at Musician Friend for a throw-off or maybe I'll call the manufacturer of my next drum set. Mapex.

 

or

 

________________________________________

I ordered a Duke (top of the line HB) last Oct. When I finally got it to my door and started unpacking it. I was SHOCKED and mad to see the inferior quality of this supposed top of the line kit! The bearing edges all the drums were cut by poorly trained chimps! the wrap had glue on the outside surface. the Packaging of this junk was apalling at best! no foam ot plastic bags very little cardboard inserts to protect drum against drum. Just absolute CRAPOLA!!!. On top of all of this..my order was only partially shipped. I never got all I ordered from this company. This Dave who runs SurfCity is a JUNK MERCHANT.

I called him and sent emails, and he told that "The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease" HB is a poor company run by a ripoff artist that is intent on selling absolute garbage! I paid $400 for the kit and sold it for $200! I got to the point where I couldn't stand to look at it anymore! DONT BE FOOLED! THIS IS FIRST RATE POO!

__________________

 

 

Greetings, Thought I would introduce myself and offer any input to members regarding the drum industry. I've been in the musical instrument biz since 1976 having operated a retail music company in socal for over 20 years and most recently the founder of HB drums - 1999. I am the designer of our products and use birch shells throughout the line. We have been favorably compared to Mapex and other more mainstream brands with MMR reviewing our HB predator drums as one of the best value drum sets in 2005. Our most successful niche has been in the larger double bass drum kits as we offer a lot for the price by shipping direct to consumer. Our most recent entry has been the retrophonic cocktail drums which are pretty cool and patterned after the old Slingerland cocktail drums...birch shells with two snares and custom bag set. We have several artists using HB and also welcome any drummers to apply for endorsement that are in a touring signed band. We offer a pretty complete line of percussion products, parts and accessories and ship directly from our facilities in Huntington Beach, Ca to the US & Canada. I'll be happy to address any questions that you have or you can post on our site for a faster response, thanks.

[siberian]

Reading this thread reminds me of an experience I had with a local shiester in the Chicago area a few years ago. A co-worker of mine was in the market for an entry level drum kit for his 10 year old kid who was just starting out and learning to play drums. He was scouting local ads and ebay, and found this guy who claimed to be a dealer for some off-brand "pro quality" drums at affordable prices. Knowing I was an experienced drummer, he asked me to tag along with him to go and check out these drums to make sure he wasn't getting ripped off. So I did.

 

So we show up at, what we thought would be a music store. Turned out to be the guy's house. LOL, red flags start going up right away.

 

Now mind you, before going in, I told my friend not to reveal to this guy that I was a drummer or knew anything about drums. I wanted to ask him some questions and see how he would answer them thinking we were a couple of dumb suckers.

 

So he brings out the drums and opens up the box. Of course, as I expected, they were chinese made garbage... not unlike what these HB drums would be. I pretended to inspect them but not in a way that would reveal that I knew what to look for. One thing I noted right away was the tom mounts. In a day and age when everyone is using some sort of suspension mount, even on cheap entry level kits, these drums had the old Pearl style pipe mounts shoved right through the shell. I asked about that, saying that I had "heard" that most drums come with some form of suspension or RIMS mounts nowadays. And he lays this "gem" on us... "Well, they were doing that for awhile, but people are starting to phase those out because they are un-reliable and put too much stress on the hoop. So most of the major drum manufacturers are going back to this style..."

 

Oh really?

 

Trying to hold in my laughter, I just played dumb and shrugged my shoulders in agreement with him. Then I asked about the shells. I wanted to know what kind of wood they were. I said I had "heard" that maple and birch are typically used in pro-level kits, and wanted to know what these were made of. The next thing that spewed from his mouth nearly made me piss my pants in laughter... "Nah, what you heard is wrong. Most pro kits are made of Mahogany, and that the so-called birch and maple used in high end kits is actually scrap wood that lumber mills can't use, so they sell it to drum manufacturers to make shells out of. And when they use birch and maple, it us usually only one ply... the rest is Mahogany. And besides, the sound quality of the drum is not really dictated by the material of the shells. It's all in the tuning and the heads... These kits are used in high end studios all over the place on pro recordings, and concert tours."

 

I'm not kidding you. He actually said that.

 

Upon further inspection, you could see some pitting, and the chrome literally bubbling and flaking off some of the lugs. When I asked about that he said that's natural from oxidation, and that happens to all drums eventually... even expensive high end kits.

 

Looking at the cheap wrap, you could see a huge overlap flap where the seam was... and it wasn't glued down. I can't even imagine how much that would vibrate when the drum was played.

 

The kit came with all hardware, including a kick pedal that... I don't even know how to put into words how "cheap" it was. I asked about the warranty... 30 days. LOL!

 

Trying to remain polite, we said we'd think about it... then we left. I eventually convinced my friend to look for a used kit from a reputable manufacturer... which he did.

 

The whole time we were there, I wanted so badly to just rip this guy a new one. But I kept my composure and just bit my tongue. Later on I mentioned this experience to the owner of a local (reputable) drum shop and he laughed because he knew exactly who that sheister was. Apparently he has created quite a reputation for himself as a rip-off artist and most of the local drum shops know exactly who he is. I can't, for the life of me, remember his name right now, but he was in the suburbs outside of Chicago.

 

Sounds like maybe the guy moved to CA and started HB drums. LOL.

[D Carroll]

Bump part 2.

[robbierobnj06]

 

Bump part 2.

 

 

Thank you for this bump! Wow...I'm speechless.

[DW_Man_TX]

Is he still in business?