Really good drum shops??

[twosticks]

Another thing I've been thinking about from being on this forum:

 

What/where have been some really good places for you shop for drums in person??

 

I grew up Oklahoma City. When I was really young, was a place called "Drums Only" that just dealt in drums. It was before I had a job, money or a car to go there but I heard about it. By the time I got a job, they went out of business.

 

When I did get a job/car was a place called "Just Drums" it was drummer heaven!! Had all the latest cymbals/drums/pedals etc. to try out in person! Had Sabian HH's, DW's, Aquarians' Etc in stock to hit and play on. Was originally owned by a drum guy (before my time) who passed it on to his three daughters (one of which was drummer herself) and in later years sold it to another guy. Was a great place to shop for all things drums.

 

Also went with a guitarist friend of mine to a place called "The Horn Trader" was like a pawn shop with nothing but musical instruments.

Was in the Yellow pages under Musical Instruments. Were all kinds of older/ vintage sets and cymbals. Had some great vintage drums that I still couldn't afford, but also had some great used cymbals and would take trade ins. He had stuff from vintage violins to classic guitars.

 

I had all that in Oklahoma City!, so I'm guessing that other places and bigger cities have to have great places to buy and try out great sets and used stuff as well. Please tell us where you have gone or go to now.

 

I just see so many people (me included) say 'check out your local music store' without letting them know what's all out there if they just look and search.......Please share, Thanks

[mraia]

Here in Long Island NY we have the "Long Island Drum Center"

Nothing but drums, and all the latest toys that go with them.

[WillyRay]

Salt Lake City, Back Beats drum shop. Owned and operated by one of the instructors at University of Utah. Fantastic inventory, super-nice/knowledgable staff. Good prices. 50% off MSRP on sticks and cymbals ALL THE TIME.

 

/willy

[ulank]

The Drum Pad in Palatine, IL.

 

They have two storefronts in a small strip mall, one is the main shop with a few lower end kits and all the accessories - cymbals, sticks, congas, bongos, hardware, heads, books, etc. The other store is where they have about 40 kits setup at all times for people who are actually interested in buying - I don't believe it's open for walk-ins, so it's nice that you don't have every hack banging away on the expensive kits. Just a sweet store and they still do a lot of the cashier stuff manually which gives you time to stand around and chit chat about drums and boobs and stuff. Mom and pop feel all the way, but competitive prices as well.

 

They host all the drum clinics around here too. Before Portnoy came in, one of the employees spent a ton of time acquiring everything in his Siamese Monster kit and created an exact duplicate of it for the clinic. When Portnoy showed up, he expected the usual simplified kit he's used to playing at clinics. Instead, he was blown away that they nailed the exact kit, specs and setup. He said he only had to make a few minor tweaks, otherwise it was spot on. After the clinic, they broke up the kit and made the pieces available for sale. Just a pretty cool story about how dedicated this shop is to drums and drumming from both the gear and the educational side. The beauty is, it's 5 minutes from my house.

[JSimms]

All I have is Guitar Center. It's ok though, they have lots of stuff. I heard about this place called Troy's Drum Shop in Dallas that I am going to go check out, but Dallas is a bit of a hike for me.

[manoeuver]

I love Columbus Pro Percussion in Columbus, OH.

 

Everything you want from a local drum shop.

[ArtVandelay]

Growing up in Staten Island we had Percussion Paradise. the owner was a great guy - small place but lots of stuff crammed in. For a short while, both Chapin and Morello were giving lessons in the place.

 

More recently, I've been to Richie's Music Center in Denville/Rockaway, New Jersey. Not a drums-only shop, but a good drum department. Much more comfortable than the local Guitar Centers. I once spent about 2 hours tryingout cymbals on the kit in the cymbal room and they were really good about it. No pressure at all - it was all about making sure I picked the right one for me.

[D Carroll]

forks drum closet. look at the website, and see if thare is one near you, the store is awesome... the web dosnt even have half the stuff the store has.

[78pbass]

 

Originally posted by JSimms All I have is Guitar Center. It's ok though, they have lots of stuff. I heard about this place called Troy's Drum Shop in Dallas that I am going to go check out, but Dallas is a bit of a hike for me.

 

 

Troy is a friend of mine. GREAT guy and a true drum lover. I'd call first to ensure he has what you are looking for - his stock is reasonably small and rotates fast.

 

but then again, that's whats cool about TDS...that and he carries Bosphorus and Istanbul.

[ThePloughman]

Fresno California, Bentlys Drum Shop, excellent place.

 

All the goodies, some really nice custom stuff.

 

The local guitar center in Modesto, CA occasionally has some vintage stuff, but you have a better chance winning the lottery than finding a worthy 20" BD head.

[BBDrums]

Portland, Maine: The Drum Shop, Pavlov's Music, Gutar center, The Drum Shop is like a candy store to me.

[rockbeat]

 

Originally posted by JSimms All I have is Guitar Center. It's ok though, they have lots of stuff. I heard about this place called Troy's Drum Shop in Dallas that I am going to go check out, but Dallas is a bit of a hike for me.

 

 

I've never been to Troy's shop before, but I've dealt with them over the phone and through email. Really nice folks, and they're the nearest Mapex dealer to me (now 200 miles away since I moved from Arlington ).

 

Up until the late '80s there was a place in Irving called Grant's Drum City. Grant was always on hand and semmed to know all there was to know about drums, drummers and drumming. Great guy. He always had a couple of his really, REALLY nice vintage kits on display, along with the autographed pictures, albums and drum heads he had on the wall from practically every famous drummer you could think of.

 

It was just a really cool place with a real drummer's vibe.

[twosticks]

Rockbeat,

I had heard about Grant's from many drummer friends I knew!

My name is the same so I thought it would be sooo cool to get a t-shirt from there. But by the time I got a chance to go down, I had heard he'd already closed up. Do you know why he closed up??

[JSimms]

Originally posted by 78pbass Troy is a friend of mine. GREAT guy and a true drum lover. I'd call first to ensure he has what you are looking for - his stock is reasonably small and rotates fast. but then again, that's whats cool about TDS...that and he carries Bosphorus and Istanbul.

 

Thanks for the tip. I had contacted them about finding some replacement lugs for a Premier snare drum that apparently no one esle on the planet can get, and they seemed really nice. I was going to swing by just to see what the place looked like--Not really looking for anything in particular.

 

BTW, do you know of any other DFW drum shops? I am way the hell out in Weatherford, so I don't hear about too much.

[JSimms]

Originally posted by rockbeat I've never been to Troy's shop before, but I've dealt with them over the phone and through email. Really nice folks, and they're the nearest Mapex dealer to me (now 200 miles away since I moved from Arlington ). Up until the late '80s there was a place in Irving called Grant's Drum City. Grant was always on hand and semmed to know all there was to know about drums, drummers and drumming. Great guy. He always had a couple of his really, REALLY nice vintage kits on display, along with the autographed pictures, albums and drum heads he had on the wall from practically every famous drummer you could think of. It was just a really cool place with a real drummer's vibe.

 

Late 80's--Well '85-'86 anyway, was just about when I started playing so I never heard of them. Damn it all. I remember driving all the way to the Brook Mays in Irving just to buy some Vic Firth T1 timpani mallets. This was about an hour drive from our place in Weatherford. I would have probably messed myself if I knew back then that there were places that only sold drums.

[Majoria]

Best drum store I've ever been to was the old RIT music in Grand Rapids, MI. They combined with another store and now aren't as good as they used to be but still not too bad. Out here in Massachusetts there is only Daddy's and Guitar Center that are even worth mentioning. I still go back to RIT occasionally as they have a few DW kits and one Sonor with prices that have cought my eye.