DDRUM Dominions

What do you all think of DDRUM? I spoke to one of the salesmen at the Long Island Drum Shop, and he said that Ddrum maple kits are fantastic and a great value for the money. He said he was really taken with them at the NAMM show and that he thinks they are going to be the next big thing.

Now he also recommended Yammy Stage Customs, which are, of course, damn near the perfect drum. In fact he said that if he had to choose he would go with Yamaha over DDRUM, but that there was nothing wrong with the DDrums.

What do you all think? I confess that I kind of like the idea of trying something new and a bit cutting edge, if you know what I mean.

Discuss, please.

Despite the iffy QC, they ARE good kits. Sound nice, tune well, etc.

Be prepared to swap the heads out immediately.

I'd go with the yammies too. Hell even the new stage customs sound killer, the ones with the all birch shells.

Thanks. Whats your rationale there? Is it sound, QC, cost? Any specs? You have a seriously good handle on this stuff, so Im curious what your reasoning is.

Meanwhile, DDrum seems like a shot in the dark compared to Yamaha's shell tech and industry record. The only thing I wouldn't get is the kick mounted 5 piece deal.

Yep, thats what I'm thinking, too. Tried and true vs the young upstart.

Does playing Ddrum give me instant hipness with the young kids? Does it make me cool:cool:

At 42, its tough maintaining that elusive "cool and hip factor":facepalm:

Im not really serious, but are the Ddrums really a shot in the dark? Vinnie Paul just endorsed em.

Shot in the dark now seems like an unfortunate choice of words. Unintentional. I better go read up on these things. lolz

I've messed with the higher end ddrum and they're not bad, but yeah, I gotta agree with CEM, as a 2 kit Yamaha owner, you just know what you're getting.

A great quality, good sounding intermediate players kit.

Some of those ddrums are kind of iffy.

I would avoid Ddrum simply because they don't have the best qc guys, so sometimes the edges end up just awful.

Yeah I had a Dominion maple kit. It was OK, but like everyone says the QC is questionable at best. My floor tom and kick were OK, but the 12" tom had pretty much {censored} bearing edges and never quite tuned up.

Also, literally every single lug screw came super loose. They had lockwashers but were all torqued damn near finger tight. :confused.

Seems to be a consensus that the Yamahas are the way to go.

Heres the thing, and its not a big deal, but its kinda important:

The Yammies finishes are dull. DDrum is sharp.

Doesnt matter all that much, but if all things were equal, the hot finish wins.

That said, seems like the Stage Customs are the way to go.

Thanks gentlemen for all the good advice.

QC mostly. I've seen crooked floor tom leg brackets, shoddy edges, warped bass hoops etc. They're basically Catalina Maples with lesser QC and a {censored}load of snazzy stuff. The Yammies have that tried and true sound, fat and warm and full. The Ddrums sound like any nice asian maple kit, with die cast hoops. That's another thing...the diecasts on every kit i set up (about....4 or 5?) had metal still left in the holes. Like a thin layer across it. I had to find something to turn into a makeshift hole punch whenever i was assembling one of those kits. The yammies ARE a little dull in the looks department. For about 200 bills you can buy wrap for the whole kit, and either do it yourself or have a local guy do it for ya. Shouldn't be too much.

No DDrum. Triggers, hell yes. Drums, I will pass. I believe they are just a flash in the pan company. Doubt they will be here in 6 or so years.

Yamahas all the way. Yeah the Stages are a little dull looking, but like CEM said, rewrap them. Yamaha isn't going nowhere anytime soon.

Thinking about getting a set for the studio anyway, yet to have a birch kit.

No {censored} about the QC!!? Well, thats good enough for me. I'll pass on them and go right to the Yammies.

Thanks CEM. I appreciate the insight.

If the Dominion lines were about $500 instead of $800 i'd give them my own approval, but the stuff you can find out there for $800 is just stupid good for the price. The NEW stage customs sound just as good as the old ones. They're serious drums. And they have snazzier finishes too. Sparkle lacquers and whatnot. Go to the yammie site and take a look around.

I brief sample:

Some of those are supposed to be sparkles, they're not showing well on that pic.

Mraia

The Yammies may not have the cool fades and bursts that Ddrum offers in that price range, but the finishes they do have are absolutely classic and extremely classy. I believe you can get a nice sparkle finish which will be hip now and hip 10 years from now.

I too was considering Ddrums because of the finishes you could get in that price range. My decision was made for me when I landed on a set of Yamaha Maple Custom Absolutes used and in excellent condition for $800. They're silver sparkle and everyone who sees them drools.

$800? Damn. Not fair.

Whoa! ART! Where you been buddy? Been missing you around here!

I have to check out what you and CEM are saying about the finishes, because I thought there was only like 5 of them.

Whoa! ART! Where you been buddy? Been missing you around here! I have to check out what you and CEM are saying about the finishes, because I thought there was only like 5 of them.

I like to take short breaks here and there when work leaves little time for anything but work.

From Yamaha's website they have 8 finishes for the Stage Customs. Nothing exciting but I think that's the point. They probably are a little more timeless than, say, a Ddrum Duo Fade kit (not that that's what you were looking at). The "metallic" finishes in the Stage Custom line seem to be along the lines of a sparkle finish but a little more subdued. If that's the case, then I'd have no qualms about them. And Yamahas are Yamahas. You know they're gonna be good. If you get a lemon, they will treat you right. Ddrum is the NKOTB (in acoustics at least) and I've heard varying stories of their quality and service. They could blossom in the same way that DW did (I remember when they were just a hardware company) in which case a kit bought now could have better lasting value but that's a risk. DW, when they started making drums, (and if I remember correctly) really made quality stuff from the get-go and backed it with good service. Take it for what it's worth. Could be that you are thinking the next kit is the last one you'll get and you don't care about re-sale value. You may only care that it's maple and has a cool finish. If so, get the Ddrums. Or wait it out on Craigslist and see if someone who's getting screwed by this economy is desperate to sell.

It's a little older model - but in great shape. 4 pieces - the guy didn't want to give up his snare drum - 16x22, 9x10, 12x14, 14x16. I wasn't sure about the 16" deep bass drum as I'd gotten used to my Pacific CX at 18" deep. But this is where the difference between a real top-end kit and an intermediate become clear to me. That 16" deep Yamaha MCA sounds a bajillion times deeper than the Pacific CX at 18" deep. And it fits in my passenger seat more easily. The singer in my band really doesn't want to mic the drums up for fear that the doing anything to the sound will make them sound inferior to how they are without anything - I hope I wrote that clearly.

Shallow kicks are a ball. I feel the same way about my 22x14 ludwig 3 ply, i don't even want to change the heads.

Side note, i totally just realized i butchered that link. I meant to post the yammie pic and accidentally put a bob dylan video.

i actually have a yamaha stage custom birch kit with a ddrum maple snare. both sound fantastic and are a great value for the price.

No you don't. You haven't posted a picture, so you only have a ludwig cs.

Shallow kicks are a ball. I feel the same way about my 22x14 ludwig 3 ply, i don't even want to change the heads. Side note, i totally just realized i butchered that link. I meant to post the yammie pic and accidentally put a bob dylan video.

Yeah, I was wondering about that. I saw the video and was thinking to myself "holy {censored}, CEM is REALLY into this stuff if he can pick out the drums that are being played in this dylan video.."

then I realized that Yammies werent around then...

I figured you'd had as much wine as I had, and were feeling a little...fuzzy...

So I'm going with Yamaha.

Tour Custom vs Stage Custom

Tours have that neat sunburst finish, and the Stages got what they got, which aint much.

What do you all think? Is there a big difference between the kits?

CEM, I KNOW you'll have the answers for this...

Now durability. Babying lacquer might add a few minutes to your setup time.