A&F drums?

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Dumpy said:
Why would any company drill on a seam? That is my question.
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That's the first thing I noticed and it's also visible in the picture of the other snare that was posted a few pages back.
Hopefully they really did drill the seam after making the weld and didn't make the weld after drilling & installing the bolt! (over the bolt)
I get that the drums might sound great but I'm still perplexed by the construction methods they use. If I'd be paying that much for a drum, I'd not only expect great sound but also a flawless drum. But to each it's own!
 
lrod1707 said:
That's the first thing I noticed and it's also visible in the picture of the other snare that was posted a few pages back.
Hopefully they really did drill the seam after making the weld and didn't make the weld after drilling & installing the bolt! (over the bolt)
I get that the drums might sound great but I'm still perplexed by the construction methods they use. If I'd be paying that much for a drum, I'd not only expect great sound but also a flawless drum. But to each it's own!
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It is contrary to everything I was taught. I won’t even drill on a seam on a ply drum or especially a steam bent shell.
 
dale w miller said:
As someone who has created a unique percussion company at one point, it is very difficult to compete with the bigger companies as the cost of the smaller quantity of needed metal in particular is really expensive. It’s also difficult to find in the limited quantities small businesses may want to invest.

I made 4 products that I probably put in $10-15K into the company just to get it somewhat off the ground. One of the products I pushed pretty hard.

I had a close childhood friend who is fairly famous promote it for me. Once he did I found there were people who liked & bought it, those who didn’t and gave a fair review, those who didn’t and were jackasses about it, and those who liked it and then whined about the price.

Though the jackasses who didn’t like it were being hurtful, it was these Armchair Quarterbacks passing judgments in regard to pricing more than anything that were beyond annoying. These people have no idea about the amount of time it takes to make these products nor what went into the research & design. Most people are lost on the cost as well in regards to the needed supplies, machinery, or outsourcing.

This particular product I’m speaking about, the Rim Shock, cost me $50.25 in supplies alone. I was selling it for $79.95 and that came with a free t-shirt and shipping. I in no way even counted for any of the time put into it either.

I did polls in multiple forums to see what people would pay for an original percussion product and it was overwhelmingly as much as $75 and some as much as $100. Some how I had still had people whining about price as if it was supposed to be competitive with something mass produced. Am I supposed to lose money on it?

To these people I say go ahead, take a chance yourself. Put yourself out there with something legitimately original. Until then, make a respectful & fair review or go shout in the woods.

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What does it do?
 
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bigkickleo said:
For anyone wanting to hear these drums in a good quality demo - please watch these videos (and all the videos produced at their new location are GREAT BTW:
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Hahaha! At the end of the video, bold face text pops up asking: NEED FINANCING?

Great sounding drums in any event! I particularly liked the maple and mahogany drums. WOW!
 
Markkuliini said:
I think that it would be pretty relevant to know if he paid for it. Does he say in the video?
I'm not saying that he's giving false testimony, he clearly likes it. But reactions tend to get quite a bit bigger if the item was a gift.
That is very common, when social media and corporations meet.
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In the video, he says it was a surprise gift from his wife.
 
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DamnSingerAlsoDrums said:
Well I was on the market for a snare and today I went to a local shop. After reading 12 pages of negativity here in the las few weeks, I can't say I had any favorable bias towards A&F, probably more the opposite in fact. But I tried maybe 6 or 8 snares in this price range and guess what I came home with?View attachment 459309
Now I don' use organic artisan beard products, neither do I drink micro batch craft beers fermented from pregnant endangered animals vaginal yeast. I just went in, did the "bang bang" thing a couple minutes on each one and this one sounded better to me than the others. Simple as that. Ugly weld and/or forum hate notwithstanding.
I don't dislike the rat-rod aesthetic in general so...

Feel free to pile up on me, I won't have any less fun bangin' on this thing. ;-)
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FPOTM (Funniest post of the month).
 
Here's an interior pic of Mike Johnston's A&F 5x14 steel snare drum from a recent vid he did discussing his 3 favorite snares (he owns ~50 different snares).
He spoke highly of how it felt and that he liked the additional overtones of the steel (comparing to brass variants).

It's got that A&F bead (they could market it as the gorgeous 'neophyte bead') and looks like they just missed drilling the weld on this one too...

AnF_RawSteel_14x5_Mike_Johnston.JPG
 
I must say I’ve heard a a&f in person unmiced and sounded as good as any other well tuned drum. I’m not much for the looks and think it’s def a hipster thing and the noveltie drums are just dumb to me just cause you can build it doesn’t mean you should. But I can’t knock there hustle. The cymbals tho square? Ugly af < see what I did there that could be the a&f in a&f they just left out the ugly lol but no seriously they sound good not I could buy a used car good but good I’d much rather have a custom kit to my specs from a boutique company or dw or tama then buy a a&f for that kind of money.
 
I work at a place that got the antique white maple kit in. They sound like vintage drums that weren’t cared for properly. Overly expensive and pail in comparison to a good set of vintage kits
 
meek_acceptance said:
I work at a place that got the antique white maple kit in. They sound like vintage drums that weren’t cared for properly. Overly expensive and pail in comparison to a good set of vintage kits
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They better get all the cash they can before they go under because a lot of those “$2000” snares are actually going out of round. I know this because I have worked on a good amount of them. Crappy welding and good marketing, nothing more.
 
Mcjnic said:
Not doubting your word, per se.
Just naturally curious why you would be working on one of their drums?
They warranty their drums for life.
If there was an issue, such as “out of round”, the customer would just return the drum and A&F would either repair or replace it.
The idea that you are working on “a good amount of them” just raises some red flags for me.
Where are you working and how are you receiving so many of their “out of round” drums?
And are you informing the customers that the drum is under warranty by A&F and should be sent to them for repair or replacement?
Are you charging the customers for the work as if the lifetime warranty did not exist?
So much of this is just odd.
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It’s private shop in LA. These 2 snares are mine and they are from 1890-1910 and these are basically what they are stenciling their snares from. And that patina is natural over a 110-130 year period.Take off the hardware and you can literally bend the shell very easily and it’s warped and you can cancel the afternoon trying to make it round again. I’ve had players try their warranty and then they don’t get a response because it makes their products look bad. And how’s that warranty work when and if they kick the bucket? Ask any decent welder that’s worth his weight in salt to look at the weld job and ask if it’s worth that money, a good welder is around $75-$100/hour. Where’s the rest of the $1900+ going? Into hardware? I don’t see a lot of guys on the road using these since they don’t project. I’d drop $2000 on 2 Radiokings any day before I buy this $2000 paperweight. He better get his money that’s all I’m saying. I’ve been burnt on gear in the past so these just made me huff. I’m sure the Instagram world is head over heels seeing these, when I saw the price per drum I was just dumbfounded. $6-8000 for a kit? What ever happened to 30’s and 40’s Radioking kits or WFL’s? Those you can get for cheaper and have money left over for cymbals and have a kit for life. To each it’s own, maybe I’m just a vintage snob who’s blowing hot air.
 

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Mcjnic said:
Ok. You work in a music shop in LA?
Is it a drum repair shop?
Does it have a spot on the web?

This part ... "they don't get a response" ... seems suspect.
It is VERY easy to call and communicate with A&F ... Rami takes the calls directly in many cases.
Several members here have done this very thing.
They are anything but difficult to communicate with ... ESPECIALLY where warranty work is concerned.
They are acutely aware of that variable in this business. They have made it a point to hammer that one out to the public.

You stated that you work on "a good amount of them".
The inference here is that there are quite a few drums out of round.

The further inference is that most all (if not all) of the customers have attempted to contact A&F for warranty work,
only to get "no response".

This statement - "because it makes their products look bad" - reasoning behind the silence is irrelevant and cannot be taken at face value.
If they have not responded, the customer (nor you) would be aware of the reasoning behind the silence. With zero communications comes zero reasoning behind the silence.

So, if that is correct ... and I have to assume you are not lying, as that would put you in an interesting position legally and ethically with A&F, as you are in the drum repair business ... then you are charging the customers for work that should be covered under the lifetime warranty from the original manufacturer ... and that would have further ethical implications.

HAVE YOU REACHED OUT TO A&F to discuss this issue with them?
That would be the obvious legal and ethical action in this case.
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You sure? If they paid for it and it’s theirs and they choose to go to someone else that’s a lawsuit? Who said I charged them?
A whole lot of assumptions where made pretty quickly.
If someone wants them be my guest.
 
Mcjnic said:
Quoted myself so you could see it was me asking you if you are charging the customers.
You did not answer directly but inferred through the "It's a private shop in LA". That would infer a business, which is a commercial venture. It is a logical inference path that you are charging customers.

Also, did not say it was a lawsuit.
What I said was ...




There are quite a few questions that remain unanswered by you ... the most important - HAVE YOU REACHED OUT TO A&F to discuss this issue with them?

My take ...
Unfortunately, I believe you are intentionally misleading the members here for whatever reasoning you may have.
I do not believe you are truthful when you say,



That is unfortunate.
This is a simple discussion of the A&F drums.
If you don't like them, that is genuinely ok with pretty much all of us.
But the lies are really just strange behavior here.
We're drummers.
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Again, assuming things. Private doesn’t mean LLC and worked on means I actually touched them and helped my friends out. I am also a drummer and that’s why I’m on here so where did I go wrong again?
 
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