A drummer from another band happend to have the first 'drum workshop' kit in the area, a manufacturer name I have never heard before. At one occasion, both of our bands played and I was allowed to use his black DW.
It just made 'klick'. Exactly the drum sound I always wanted and dreamed of. I had to get them. But: the price. These were the most expensive drums you could buy in Germany these days. The 10" tom tom alone was nearly Deutschmarks, translated into Euros roughly. Really al lot of money I had to sell my beloved Sonor, a white Phonic Plus Prototype the first and only drum kit I ever sold , to buy my first and only 'brand new' drum kit. It was 'slightly used' in a studio, therefore I got it for a very good price.
I remember well that I had the choice between a lacquered one and one wrapped with foil. I think, the foil on DW was just introduced these days. After lots of testing: the foil had an effect on sound, the lacquered one sounded even more open and crisp. The Sound To my ears and for the era, it was unbelievable good. Very warm, excellent dynamics. I mean, the sound is voluminous, even played quietly, but the louder you play, the more volume and also more tone. Let's be honest, most drums gain in volume as you play them harder, but their tone flattens out.
The rim systems have just been introduced to the drummers world of Europe, in US a bit earlier , and these DW drums were the first to implement RIMS without any compromises, no holes in the bass drum nor in the toms. The 'pure shell' swinging freely, that sounded convincingly to me and many others. And, it's a thin shell with reinforcement rings, contrary to everything especially Sonor Phonic and Signature series who preached the thicker the louder. This was just wrong. Another point was the quality of the edge.
The DWs were advertised using the 'candle trick': put the bare drum shell on a clean and plane table, place a candle inside, and no light should get outside on the table. Take another drum shell or even a DW which is in fact a Keller shell that is slightly damaged on the edge, and you'll immediately see 'the problem'. The hardware of the drums was not very good.
One of the down-points of 80s DW drums. At first instance, I bought the shell kit with the cheapest rack Gibraltar and without snare, as I had others anyway. Years later, I got the snare offered that belonged originally to my drums.
I just bought it to have the matching snare. The sound range where it really kicks is too narrow for me as 5 x 14, it is a great funk snare, but I don't play funk. Another aspect was: this DW was the most expensive thing I ever owned. Even my car was about half the price. This changed my behavior.
I would not let another drummer play on it on occasions like festivals, where different bands had to share one drum kit. Usually no problem for me. Already at the very first gig, something happened: I talked for a while with the guitar player during sound check.
But this guy had constantly his finger on my bass drum - all the time. When I asked about the reason, he started to explain his 'celebration of the new drum kit'. He hit for what ever over-motivated reason my splash cymbal.
This hard-hitted tiny cymbal flew up into the lights, came down in a bow and left a deep dent in the wooden bass drum hoop. Even before the gig. This part of owning such a great kit really reduced the fun. The whole story escalated at an open-air gig with a lot of rain. The plastic roof above the stage catched water in a big bubble.
I saw it, warned everyone danger of electric shock , we left the stage, turned electrics down. And then it happened: The bubble cracked and all the water came down, and splashed exactly on my drum kit.
I sweared to big heaven that I will never carry this DW to a live gig again. With a few exceptions, this came true. I couldn't sell it, it just sounded too good, and it was my first 'real good' drum kit. Since then, it was stapeled somewhere, or I used it as drum kit for rehearsal rooms. This is the current situation. Next time, I see it again, I could picture all the serial numbers. Some older pictures are still on my computer. If I find them again, I could upload here.
This is what I'm taking about:. That is a beautiful kit Markus, love that blue lacquer with the grain showing! Thank you so much for sharing the story, the discovery, the sound, and the ups and downs. The canopy bursting water over your new kit is the stuff of nightmares! Sorry about your guitar player!
You and I have something in common — we fell in love with the sound! When I bought the kit, it was dusty, the floor tom suspension system was missing an adjustment screw and was held by duct tape, one of the spurs was a bit loose, etc. I bought correct replacement parts, and it cleaned up real nice.
I figured I would put some new heads on it and either keep it in the studio or maybe sell it. Once the heads had been tuned and settled in, and I started playing it, I had a similar reaction as you. They are bright, loud, and full-bodied. With no muffling, the closest thing I could say is they have a timpani-like sound, which is crazy for a tiny 12x14!
Maybe the suspension systems on the floor and rack toms play a part in it? So, same tom, different suspension systems. Did you by any chance stay in touch with the store you bought it from or kept the receipts?
It appears from your picture the serial number is A XX. I'd love to try and zero in on the manufacture dates. Here is a catalog I found which I think is from the same era as our drums, but there are no dates on it, as well as an article that discusses a bit of DW's history. Cheers, -nico. Thanks for sharing the old catalog. I remember the crazy set ups of these kits, nobody would ever play like that. What I had back in the days were mainly price lists probably in German.
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It sounds great and will get you playing beats in no time. PDP consistently releases good drum sets. They all sound fantastic and are highly durable, meaning they last drummers many years. PDP sells a few snare drums that are separate from their kits. Those drums are great as well. PDP and DW are technically the same companies. PDP kits are designed to be more affordable versions of DW kits.
They use the same design technique. However, they streamline the process with machinery to quicken the production process to get more kits faster. This lessens the personal touch given to each kit. Certain cheaper materials are used to cut down on prices.
PDP kits make the quality of DW kits more available to everyone. They use the same custom drum techniques for production.
However, more machinery is used. There are several reputable drum brands out there. Each one has unique strengths and weaknesses. Every brand has kits in different price ranges for different levels of drummers.
With that being said, there are a few brands that are more popular than others. Most drummers learnt to play drums in church. As a church drummer, you need to be sensitive to where the music is moving and be able to catch on to what the band leader and congregation are doing.
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Top 5 Models Reviewed. December 30, Quick Rundown:. European maple shells DW-inspired looks and performance. More boom for your buck Portability achieved without sacrificing quality.
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