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We believe that great furniture is not only to be looked at but to be used. We take great care in designing our furniture so that it stands the test of time. Well in this article, I’m going to be comparing the legendary DW Collectors series Vs Design series to understand the differences and see which offers the best value for the money.
Cosmic Cat Drummer Tee
While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos. The Frequent Flyer version is fantastic if you travel and gig often while the acrylic version is great if you’re going for aesthetic appeal. Unsurprisingly, the kit also works well in live gigging situations.
DW launches Performance Series drum kits - MusicRadar
DW launches Performance Series drum kits.
Posted: Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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However, the quality of build is said to be of a similarly high standard and all drums are produced with comparable tooling to their Californian counterparts. As a further means of keeping prices competitive, at present DW are only offering one standard shell pack and a limited choice of drum sizes and finishes. These drums are built from North American maple shells that offer a wonderful attack, projection and tone. The DW Series drums come in a selection of stunning finishes. On the other hand, the bass drums give a confidence-boosting low end that can be felt. This Taiwanese company decided to manufacture the design series in its factory in Taiwan to reduce labor costs drastically.
Pro-quality, Taiwanese-made kit
The drums translate extremely well through microphones and work great in a variety of musical styles. The kit has all the same finish options that the standard 5-piece has. The selling point of the kit is that it’s an affordable DW option. However, it still comes in at what many prospective buyers would call a hefty price. Usually the dampening consists of a single pillow in the shape of a dog bone - DW has opted for two separate pillows and dispensed with the middle section. After some minor de-wrinkling of the batter and applying more tension to the front head, we are ready to go.
The Design of the Design Kit
It features all of the great hardware as on the other Design Series kits but rather than the maple shell, you are getting a 5mm thick seamless acrylic shell. The DW Design Series Mini-Pro Drum Kit is designed as a high-end drum kit for younger players. When children are learning to play the drums one of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the size of the drum kit.
Hand-sprayed, wet sanded, and hand-rubbed finishes that enhance the natural beauty of wood grain through elegant gloss finishes. Our team of designers are standing by to help you achieve your vision. With over 30 years of experience, no project is too big for us.
With that being said, this kit is definitely used by pros and amateurs alike. Apart from the kick, all of the heads are in situ and in a reasonable state of tuning - albeit a tad too high for us on the toms. The initial task involves fitting the two supplied BDF2 dampening pillows and putting both drum heads onto the kick.
Mike Portnoy Drum Set and Gear Breakdown
Buying a DW Collectors Series drum set on the other hand is the ultimate custom experience. You can choose to buy any finish or drum set configuration, and choose your woods, hardware type, shell depths, and more. Or you can choose one of the many standard finish options including exotic, hard satin, lacquer, satin, and finish ply choices. But this comes at a cost; with DW Collectors series drum sets carrying a much heftier price tag. The DW Design series drums boast thicker North American Maple shells that produce warm and rounded tones throughout the kit.
Innovative sounds by design.
However, the affordable price does not mean that the drum kit has low build quality. This new Design Series goes with the trend of ’boutique-inspired pro-quality drums. As with all Design Series drums, the shells are 100 percent North American maple; toms and bass drums are 8-ply while the snare drum is 10-ply. The rack toms on this kit sound extremely punchy, having a strong attack with little sustain. No standard snare drum is included, but you can use the 14” floor tom as a snare if you needed to. The kit comes with a 14” snare, 10” and 12” rack toms, a 16” floor tom, and a 22” bass drum.
The Design shells are built in Taiwan; I assume this helps keep the cost down a bit. The STM tom mounts we all know and love come standard with Design Series drums. They are insanely good value and the sound they produce is astonishing. The hand picked North American shells are a delight to play, and despite the fact these drums are built overseas the quality is flawless. That’s excellent news for any drummer who has ever dreamed of owning a fully-fledged DW drum set, but has not been able to justify the enormous price tag.
You can expect to pay three times more for a Collectors Series drum set than if you were to buy a DW Design Series drum set in the same setup configuration. DW understandably has reduced the available choices for the Design Series to the most popular configurations and a select number of finishes. Which in my eyes is a very sensible move, and the finishes are fantastic. Jumping straight into the review, let’s take a look at the finishes on offer for both DW series, and see how they compare. At 20"x12", the bass drum is probably the defining component of the kit. DW felt that it was crucial to incorporate as big a diameter as possible and let the portability come from a reduced depth.
The company is well-known for making high-quality expensive kits and this kit offers many of the same features with more accessibility. I truly wish the lugs were the size of regular DW lugs, but this is just a small gripe. Despite variations in the build process, the shells sound incredible for the price-point.
But this is completely understandable and ought to be expected. To be able to produce drum sets and reduce the price tag significantly requires streamlining manufacturing processes. The shells are smaller and lighter while the rack tom mounts to the bass drum instead of a cymbal stand. The kit is made with a combination of HVLT and HVX maple shells that give it a strong attack with resonating harmonics.
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