my craviotto never saw the outside of my house, So I sold it it was a limited edition one super looker to nice to get it messed up. but I played my Radio king 30's model out often.

There is a big difference between a "drum shop" and a drum snob shop. You cannot possibly get more "high end" aura than can be found at Bentleys Drum Shop in Fresno CA. Round trip for me there is 250 miles. I might get in once or twice a year. The most I have spent in the store on a single visit is just over a hundred bucks. Bentleys is 12000 square feet, and not a single guitar. The ceiling above the snare drum area is a gigantic scale model of a DW snare drum. There are at least a hundred snare drums on the wall on any given day, with something from everyone, DW, Gretsch, Ludwig, and a lot of others. Everyone who goes in that place gets treated like you are THAT customer. It is the coolest place ever for a drummer to look, drool, shop, compare or buy. I walked in, about eight months or more since my last visit, and Dana Bentley give me the "How can I help you?" then, points his finger and says...... You are the Rogers guy? I got some stuff you have to see." I get to go into the back room, where he shows me and I get to handle an Ed Shannessy set they had acquired recently. Now if your drum shop isn't treating you like that..... you need a new one. This place treats every customer exactly that same way.

As fothe high end stuff.... I owned an Ayotte Custom for ten years. It got played out quite a bit. The drums were awesome, the snare was fantastic. At the same time I owned that I own a lot of vintage Rogers stuff, some of which is worth every bit as much as the Customs, or any of the other high end stuff available. Granted, if you are playing venues protected by Iron Gates and chicken wire, it wont matter what your "go to" snare or set is, in that place you need a set of exports and some B8 pros that can be left in flames when things get ugly.

Having just come into a Turkish made Zildjian, I admit I feel weird taking it out and using it. It's by far the highest end single item I currently have. Used it at practice the other night and another drum guy sat in for a tune and was really beating it up too, yikes! But you know what, it's just a material thing so I take it out and use it, obviously would hate to have it get stolen or damaged but it's just a thing :D

As far as drum snob shops, we don't really have one here in town. The vintage shop here has a bunch of nice guys that shake my clammy hand when I walk in, heh :)

If you want the ultimate drum shop experience,then Steve Maxwells in either Chi town or NYC is the place to go.It's much more than a drum shop,and the staff is knowledgeable and friendly......and the drums and cymbals......just WOW.Does it cost a little more.....yeah....so what.If you're ever in either city.....then ..it's a must see experience and you'll spend hours there....just talking shop.No place like it.Bowing

Steve B

Well, from a purely business standpoint a drum shop is a bad choice if you want to become rich. I go into drum stores in the N. of Boston area and I know there are a few hundred thousand in retail inventory hanging on the walls or sitting on the floor. And I worked in the Charles Bean Music Company satellite store in St. Pete, FL for one summer, so I understand markup on Import vs American drums and cymbals. But it really makes no sense to me, especially in the age of internet sales, that you would not want to give the customer a good experience- spend 5-10 minutes asking what music you play, drums you own, what are you looking for etc. Especially in an EMPTY STORE on a Saturday afternoon.

Tev - The difference is; those kids don't -own- the store. They don't give a rats as$ if you buy or not, they only want to collect a paycheck for doing as little as humanly possible to earn it. That's why I always preferred mom & pop style music stores. Owners care about their businesses and building a repeat clientele. They treat everybody as a potential life-time client. Big Box stores is a different deal, you're usually dealing with 'first-job' employees, or youngsters who spend their entire work-day asking, 'What time is it? Is it time to go home?'

Seek out businesses where the -owner- (the guy who pays the rent,) is sitting behind the counter. You'll have a different shopping experience.

John