This poll and these posts are ALL opinion, so many factors affect the sound and feel of a kit. Heads, tuning, sticks, playing style, "your hands", acoustics of the room, temperature, humidity, and that's not to mention the drums themselves, sizes, depth, construction, etc. So the only thing we can do is express our opinions based on our playing experiences and perceptions.

And that's all this poll is about. Nothing here is gospel!!!

I love this kind of stuff on forums. An attempt to "disprove" an opinion which includes a rhetorical question, a blanket statement, and a validation of the credibility of the poster's OWN opinion by the sheer mentioning of a well-known drummer. Well played.

Ah. Somebody gets it. Thank you.

The ""NEW"" VINTAGE DRUM FORUM !! ???? Very strange a new drum company poll in the Vintage drum section ??? on the Vintage Drum Forum ??

I actually agree with the poll pretty much so far.

DW has done wonders for reinvigorating the U.S. drum industry. They made a stand against the powers of the east, also opening the door for Gretsch and Ludwig to step back through. Maple Mahogany looks tasty.

Gretsch as a company has always struck me as a bit lame, but they produce some of the most beautiful and musical drums made today. I played a new vineyard kit in NZ and it literally took my breath away. I know that tone a mile off!!!

Ludwig I'm not sure about, I have a new COB 6.5 and up to my vintage stuff it isn't all that.

Sonor today are simply sublime. I've heard Grebb, Harrison et al playing them on YT and live and the tones from those drums sound incredible. I don't dig the ordering process though. I'm a Drummer not an engineer.

Yamaha, ah Yammie! The benchmark for so many decades has come to an end! Let's see what happens this year as they run out of Sakae stock shells. They were good.

Pearl. I had a masterworks kit. Sounded like a Masters really. A lot of hype. Had a Reference kit, the worst kit I have ever bothered to own. And I was an endorsee!!! Nearly lost a session over that kit!

Mapex. King of the Bar bands. Well priced for what you get. I find them a bit sharp sounding. Everytime I hear a drummer playing them it makes my teeth hurt. Not in a good way.

Premier. Were good, now all made in the East. Nah not for me today.

Tama has never been my thing. Played a bubbinga one the other day, don't want to ever see one again. Just my opinion.

DDrum?? Who??

Geckobeats' post seems spot on to me. I wish I had the chance to play all of these kits and compare, but here goes.

Ddrum is the new Mapex. Ffor cost conscious drummer that wants NEW drums. I had quality issues with Mapex in the 90s, but have no recent experience.

Gretsch and Ludwig have loyal customers and "top o' the line" drums sound great (US made).

Tama always makes some great drums, just not to my taste.

Pearl has seen better days.

Premier -- I have no opinion.

I have not played "modern" Sonor or Yamaha, I would like to.

DW deserves number one for quality and consistency.

Gretsch Catalina and (DW) PDP seem to be a popular choice with new drummers. If you use hydraulics and sound reinforcement, I think they perform well for "bar bands" and seem to take the road wear.

Given the money for a new DW kit, I would end up re-wrapping a nice set of 1969 Luddys and modernizing the hardware.....or talk to C&C.

Just an opinion by someone not in the "target market" for PDP, etc.

Is ranking Ddrum second supposed to be a joke?

I would have said Yamaha #1 until their recent decision to cheap out and moving kit and kaboodel to China. We'll see. I'd probably say Gretsch.

I think it is a valid question to ask vintage enthusiasts what they think about current offerings.

I kind of agree with both of you. I reckon keeping it this broad is probably the limit.

I think there is also value in comparing vintage drums to current builds. Are the differences because of available materials, different construction techniques or different tastes in what is considered a high quality sound. Understanding that leads to a deeper understanding of why we love vintage drums; at least from a sonic perspective.

But back to the poll at hand. I wonder if Ludwig is doing so well due to familiarity with the brand name or because of actual experience with current drums? I have not had the opportunity to work with them but have inspected them fairly close an their build quality looks pretty darn good. Love the keystone shaped brackets. Cool concept there.

FWIW/IMHO, the major drum companies haven't 're-invented the wheel", in terms of shell materials&construction.EVERY drum company either uses birch or mahogany or a combination of maple/mahogany or in the case of Gretch/Ludwig it's maple/polar/maple.AND more then 90% use Keller shells!, with the exception of Ludwig&Sonor who have ALWAYS made there own shells!.HOW many different ways can you make a maple or other woods shell?, i.e. it's ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE!, number of plies(thin/thick), different type of lugs, different positioning of lugs.R.I.M.S systems (&variations of the R.I.M.S. system).IMHO i believe that shells have become thicker!, HOW can a drums shell project &resonnat if the number&amount of plies are CHOKING the sound?, AND THEN they(drum manufactuers) put THICK heads on i.e. Pinstripes! :(.I've also noticed 20ply snare drums! :(.Another thing is that more then 90% copy oneanother anyway look at early (&later Yamaha) hardware they copied Rogers!.Once again FWIW/IMHO.the ONLY companies that HAVE attempted&tried to 're-invent the wheel" as far as shells are concerned are the boutique/custom drum manufactuers, such as Brady, Sleishman(1ST EVER COMPANY TO MAKE&OFFER A FULLY -FLOATING SHELL DESIGN BEFORE PEARL but Pearl's snare is NOT completely &totally free-floating the name's a misnomer!), Capricorn,Spirit.THESE companies make&offer DIFFERENT TYPE of shells at least (as well as maple).With the exception of Ludwig ALL the other drum companies have gone back to making thicker shells&DON'T cater for the "vintage" drum collector/enthusiast (except DW who do).BUT WHY are DW &Brady(&other boutique/custom) drum makers far&way MORE expensive then the japanese&even Sonor who in the 80s were " The Rolls Royce of drums", especially in price! :(.They ALL buy there shells from Keller (except Brady&the other 'Aussie" drum companies) apart from session pros WHO can afford a DW top of the line or a "boutique/custom" kit these days?, especially here in Australia! :(.