So I arrived home from the West Coast and The NAMM Show 3 days ago and I think that my reverse jet lag has been reversed. I’m neither waking up in the middle of the night nor oversleeping anymore. My digestive system also seems back to normal too, but I won’t go there. On my trip back I found out how much new product literature can be shoved into a single medium size roller suitcase already filled with clothing. I know that the airline originally thought that I was transporting a suitcase full of bricks across the country, but I and the X-Ray machine confirmed this not to be the case. I also brought back a lot of pictures and many pages of notes (see chicken scratch). This following words and pictures are what I saw and liked. Some of it you will be seeing at a Daddy’s in the near future.
PEARL- Pearl, once again, was the instant talk of the show. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective, but there was certainly a new item again that made folks take notice. Last year Pearl debuted the very high end Demon Drive bass drum pedals, and this year it was the Electronic/Acoustic E PRO LIVE Kit. This is essentially an electronic kit using real drum shells that can also be transformed easily into an acoustic kit. It was designed by drummers from Pearl and is made for drummers who like the versatility of electronic drums but the appearance of acoustic drums. The specially designed 2 zone Tru-Trac Drumheads feel great and they don’t show stick marks. The response is the closest to actual drumheads that I have ever played on an electronic kit. You got the feeling that Pearl spent a lot of time coming up with a head that was not only sensitive but was also durable and felt good. The brain (RED BOX) features some great sounds in a user, drummer friendly box. There is also a very cool option of being able to fill all the memory from your computer to the RED BOX with external sounds from 6 different sound partners. You can get some massive full throttled drum sounds this way. The Tru-Trac heads can be removed and real drumheads can be put on very easily. The drums are made from Poplar and feature a 20” kick drum, a 14”snare and 10”, 12” and 14” toms. All the toms are mounted on an included rack. There is also a choice between EPC2 plastic cymbals, and brass cymbals. The brass cymbal kit is a couple of hundred dollars more. The drums are available in 2 colors, black and an Artisan II dark to light wood wrap.
Pearl’s Raymond Massey demoing the new E PRO LIVE kit
Pearl also added to their ever expanding line of cool percussion as well. I liked the Boom Box Cajon which features a fiberglass glass body, fixed snares and a built in bass port for more bass. Just like with Djembes, folks like to hear that low-end.
Pearl’s new Boom Box Cajon
Speaking of Djembes Pearl has a new EZ Tune Djembe( available in 2 sizes). This is essentially a rope tune Djembe that is mechanically tuned. No muss, no fuss. There are very few people that I know that can tune an actual rope tuned Djembe correctly. This fiberglass body, skin head Djembe makes the traditional be untraditional. E-PRO LIVE sells for 3K plus, Boom Box Cajon is $199.99 and the Djembes are $209.99(12.5”) and $229.99(14”).
Pearl’s EZ Tune Djembe
Pearl Reference drums in beautiful Wine Red Lacquer
TAMA..Tama has come down in price on a lot of drums. They are making Starclassic Birch/Bubinga and Maple kits in China now, and the prices dropped drastically. If you were hoping for a nice pro Bubinga/Birch kit but couldn’t afford one in the past, now may be the time to do it. Tama featured a bunch of new colors in the B/B Series including the beautiful Red Sparkle Burst lacquer. 4 piece shell pack is now $1499.99.
New lower price Tama Starclassic Birch/Bubinga in Red Sparkle Burst
Superstar all-Birch drums have also come down in price, including the popular shorter tom Hyper-Drive series. Tama featured the new jelly bean sparkle Midnight Spectrum in the Superstar series. These looked great with the lights on them. The Imperial star series has come down in price and Tama has added a 6 piece configuration (2 up and 2 down) that sells complete with hardware and cymbals for just under $800. They featured the new Ocean Blue Mist Sparkle in this series.
New Tama lower priced Superstar drums in Midnight Spectrum
GRETSCH- Gretsch showed a beautiful USA limited kit which I have dreamed about for a of couple days. It features Daddy’s Boston/Berklee/Jazz friendly sizes of an 18”kick, 12”rack tom, 14” floor tom and a 14”snare. It is in the perfect color combination of white w/inlaid stripes of gold sparkle. The drums also feature gold hardware. This kit is limited to 30 and sells for only $4249.99. Gather your trades now.
Dream Kit! Gretsch USA Jazz kit .limited to 30 kits
Gretsch also featured a new color in their popular Catalina Jazz kit still available in the same sizes as the above mentioned kit. Last year Gretsch unveiled Walnut Glaze lacquer and this year there’s another nod to the past with Copper Sparkle. It’s similar to Champagne Sparkle only without the slight pink coloring. The Catalina Jazz shell packs are still $649.99.
Gretsch Catalina Jazz in new Copper Sparkle
There were a bunch of new snare drums as well including two new affordable wood hoop drums, and the solid shell and very expensive($1219..yikes) Stanton Moore Signature snare.
Gretsch Stanton Moore Signature solid shell snare
The one that really jumped out though is the new Steve Ferrone Nickel over Brass drum. Pearl used to have a signature Ferrone drum when he was with them. It sounded great, had a striking look and was very popular. Well now you can get it with that Gretsch sound included. This drum is around $600.
MAPEX-Mapex has added some new colors to their very successful Meridian Birch and Meridian Maple. Like last year, all the colors are subtle, basic and beautiful, like fine furniture. Mapex tends to not get to crazy freaky with their colors and they tend to err on side of classy. They also showed the new Horizon kit which featured shallow 2-sided drums including 20” kick, 8”and 10” mounted toms, a 12”floor tom and a 13”snare drum. The drums sounded great and the smaller, shallower sizes will make for easier transport (see schlepping in the city). This kit which features birch/basswood shells also includes hardware and sells for just over $500. There are specially designed case options as well.
New Transparent Walnut Fade Mapex Meridian Birch finish.
New portable Mapex Horizon drums
Mapex also showed their newly redesigned line of 14 Black Panther snare drums. These drums were all beautiful, and are available in unique names in various sizes and shell material. They have redesigned all the hoops to flange inward (ala old Slingerland) and their strainers have redesigned with their “micro-lock” system to not only allow precise tuning through clicks, but also to prevent snares loosening while being played. My favorites here were the 5”x13” Cherry Wood “Cherry Bomb”, the 7”x13” Maple “Blaster”, the 5”x14” Maple “Black Widow” and the 5”x14” seamless steel “Panther”.
They were all nice though and not too pricey. Mapex also showed their new high end Falcon single and double pedal which features interchangeable cams for different feels, a long lightweight footboard, and independent spring assembly for smooth friction-free movement. There are many other little features (including the cool pivoting hoop clamp) about The Falcon that make you realize a lot of thought went into it.
All new redesigned Mapex Black Panther snare drums
YAMAHA-Yamaha showed off their new Matte on Matte Rock Tour Series of drums. Believing that black hardware is so last year, these drums feature a matte finish of either black or silver with matte lugs and hoops. The silver finish looked great and very futuristic (if it were 1984). These kits come in 3 (1 up, 1 down, no snare), 4(w/ steel snare) and 4(1 up, 1 down w/ matching 6” wood snare) piece shell pack configurations ranging in price from $999.99-$1199.99.
New Yamaha Rock Tour Custom in Matte on Matte finish
DRUM WORKSHOP- DW, as usual, showed many beautiful and expensive drum sets. The standout was the Hockey Hall of Fame set made for Neil Pearl that was headed directly to the Hall Of Fame after the NAMM Show was over. This kit was white with hockey team logos all over it. The hardware was all metallic aqua colored.
DW Neil Peart “Hockey Hall Of Fame” Kit
DW has discontinued their 7000 Series hardware and replaced it with the very similar 3000 Series. The main difference seemed to be that the new stuff was less expensive. The 3000 double chain single pedal is $99.99 and the 3002 double pedal is $199.99. This seems like the best deal right now for drummers looking for the stability of a double chain pedal. They also had a 3500 Hi-Hat Stand that is a light weight double braced 3- legged stand without a footplate. This stand is just under a hundred and we should see it, along w/the 3000 Series pedals, shortly.
New lower priced DW 3000 Series pedals
Another DW beauty SSC Exotic Forest Laser Inlay
ZILDJIAN-Zildjian showed a bunch of new cymbals, most of which we had as prototypes at our last Zildjian Day this past September. First off for jazz player’s is the 22” Kenny Washington inspired K Constantinople Bounce Ride. This cymbal is thin and dark w/plenty of sustain. It features a series of 8 new style hammer marks.
New Zildjian 22″ K Constantinople Bounce Ride
Also jazz wise is the 20”K Light Flat Ride. Flat rides have lest sustain and good stick definition. This would be good for bringin’ the volume down. Both of these cymbals sold well as Sound Lab prototypes at Zildjian Day.
Next there are a bunch of new effect cymbals. The A Custom EFX line has been expanded to include a 14” and 20” to go along w/the 16” and 18” already available. Zildjian now offers EFX cutouts in their K Thin line as well in 16” and 18”. These cymbals sound dark and trashy w/a quick response and very little sustain. The Mike Mangini inspired 14” bent up ZXT Trashformer has been around for a few years now. It makes a great inexpensive effect cymbal and each one sounds different. They are now available in 8” and 10” sizes as Trashformer Splashes.
New Zildjian Trashformer Splashes
New Zildjian K EFX Cymbals
SABIAN-Sabian is now offering their highly popular best deal cast XS20 Cymbals in Brilliant Finish. These sound really good and are brighter than the original XS20’S. Sabian also has a 21” Vault Jack DeJohnette 3-Point Ride. We had a prototype of this at our Sabian Day in November and it sold quickly. It is thin and dark w/an unlathed hammered band that runs around the cymbal to dry it up a bit and control sustain. (Hey, it beats duct tape!). There are 3 different and distinct playing areas on the cymbal which makes it somewhat unique and versatile.
Sabian Vault 21″ Jack DeJohnetter 3-Point Ride
DREAM-Dream keeps on knocking it out of the park with great sound and price. Digging deeper into jazz cymbals from the past, they have the new Dark Matter Energy Rides (20” and 22”) that are dark, dirty, dry and lathed just like a good ride should be. Dream cymbals are known for being dark with a lot of overtones. These cymbals feature less overtones and more pure stick definition when played. Dream also has a couple of new mini Pang/China style cymbals in 10” and 12” sizes. These sound great stacked with a thin 10” or 12” Dream Splash underneath. This makes an inexpensive (under $100.) effects package.
Dream Dark Matters Ride
MEINL-Once again Meinl has many new percussion items. They have quickly become the kings of the tambourine, and there were many new models this year. I already stock a bunch of Meinl tambourines, and it will be hard deciding which of the many new models to add to the collection. I really liked the new red tambourines (single and double row of jingles) w/True Feel synthetic (no animals harmed here) head. The heads are durable and textured so you can do some of those thumb tricks. I preferred the single row of jingles version (TAH1BK-R-TF) best. Last year Meinl came out w/a series of Super-Dry tambourines w/hammered brass jingles, which gave the tambourine a unique trashy dry sound. This year Meinl has come out with a durable ABS mountable (STMT2B-BK) version of that tambourine.They also have many smaller 8” compact tambourines that are light and easy to play. I really liked the mixed jingle version (CTA2M-BK) which has half steel jingles (bright) and half brass jingles (dark). Last year seemed like the year of the Kalimba as Meinl came out w/2 small models. This year they’ve beefed up the selection. Included in the new selection is the Wah-Wah Kalimba. It has a bigger body then last years models and features a sound hole in the front. As you play the Kalimba with your fingers you can bounce the body off your body to create a cool effect. Rainsticks create a cool effect, too. They make the sound of, you guessed it, rain. Meinl has a series of inexpensive Bamboo Rainsticks in 16”,24” and 39”. I really like the 24” (RS1R-M) best as it is long enough to create the effect, but short enough to still be portable. It sells for around $30.
Meinl mountable Super Dry Hammered Jingle Tambourine
REMO- You say you love Coated Ambassador Drumheads but they don’t last long enough. You say 2-ply Coated Emperor heads last longer, but are just a bit too heavy. Now Remo has come out with the Ambassador-X. It’s a single ply head 20% thicker than a regular Ambassador. You get single ply response w/durability, and attack more common in 2-ply heads. I think that they may have something here. Remo also has a new synthetic 10” tunable Apex Djembe that sells for only $89.99. The high density one piece ABS drum is lightweight and durable. Remo claims that they dropped it off of a roof and that it bounced but did not break.
New Remo ABS tunable Djembes
EVANS- Evan’s has tweaked their popular EC2 SST Drumheads to further enhance focus, punch, and attack. They also offer the new head in a 10”, 12” and 16” tom pre-pack now. This is fast becoming a popular drum configuration. Evans also introduced its “Inked By Evans” resonant bass drumhead graphics web-site. They have many graphics on line already and many type styles that you can choose from to spell out the name of your band. They have set up this web-site to allow the consumer to design the head easily on-line, be able to see what it will look like w/graphics and words, and then actually order the head and have it sent to you directly. My guess is that eventually you will able to use custom photos and original art as graphics on your front head. In other words, you’ll be able to have a picture of your best girl, your kids, or your kitty plastered in high quality and displayed prominently on your kit. These sell for around $80.00 each.
Inked by Evans
CANOPUS- We are now carrying some Canopus Drums (a jazz kit and 2 snare drums , along with snare wire and straps for now to be exact) in the Boston Store. They are beautiful and sound amazing. We can special order anything direct from Japan from them. I was able to meet Shinichi Usuda (the President) and some other fine men from this company while I was at the show . Previously I had only dealt with Taxi (artist and sales guy) via e-mail and long distance telephone. There’s like an 8 hour difference I think. Along with their normal high end drums (including Neo Vintage, which sound like old Gretsch), Canopus has the new Sword, less expensive, drums. These drums feature the same high quality shells without the wood glue rings. They also have different, less expensive lugs and are only available in a Natural wood finish. That being said, you can now get a real Canapus kit that is real affordable. That’s pretty, pretty cool.
An awesome Canopus kit.
LATIN PERCUSSION-LP showed a couple of unique percussion gadgets. The LP One Handed Triangle (LP311H) allows you to play intricate triangle rhythms with one hand. It is contoured to fit comfortably in your hand, and small enough to carry in your pocket.
New LP One Handed Triangle
The LP PERCUSSO (LP-PER007) is a tambourine and a clave in one. It features a handle grip built in and lever w/ a little beater that hits the clave when pressed. You can play tambourine w/overlapped clave patterns at the same time. The LP Multi-Stem Gajate Bracket (LP388M) takes the foot cowbell set up to another level. It features 3 different mounting brackets (a block, mountable tambourine, and different size cowbells options) which can be rotated quickly to change from one percussion instrument to the next.
New LP Percusso
RHYTHM TECH – The JINGL-ER allows you to attach four tambourine jingles securely to any sized drumstick. It doesn’t add much weight and produces a subtle tambourine effect when played with a drum set. It is easy to attach and remove and sells for just over $10. I love things that attach to drumsticks!
The Jingl-er by Rhythm Tech
REVOLUTION-Revolution is still a very young company. In fact their catalog is really only 4 pages long. They don’t make a lot of things yet. Things they do make are designed by drummers, are well thought out and are cool. The first thing is the FIREFLY. This is a drum key. You’re thinkin’, “another drum key..arrghh!” This key, which isn’t much bigger than a regular drum key, has two sides. One side is for loosing and the other for side is for tightening. Each side acts as a ratchet, so you can get precise tuning and quick head replacement. Each top is gnarled to allow spinning of the key. There is a key chain attachment hole in the middle. This key is well made and sells for a bit over 10 bucks. Revolution also has the triangular shaped STICK SILO. It’s not your father’s stick bag though it does hold a bunch of sticks and mallets. It is free standing so you can stand it near you and have your sticks at arms length while playing. It features a removable top, a pocket on the side, and compartments on the inside so you can separate your sticks, mallets, and brushes if needed. It also has a thick water (also beer and other gross things you may or may not “pick up” on a stage at a club) resistant bottom, and oh by the way , it can attach to your floor tom if you want to go that route. The SILO sells for just under $40.
cool Revolution stick carrier.
NEW STICKS- There was plenty of new stick models from the various stick manufacturers, including many signature models. The one’s that stuck out to me were..
VATER-Cora Coleman-Dunham Signature Model (Prince’s drummer), 52nd St. Jazz Model, and Swing Model.
VIC FIRTH-Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson Signature Model (This model is very strange, thin and long), Cindy Blackman Signature Model, and Kids Sticks in pink. Also don’t forget the recently released Marky Ramone Signature Stick already in the store.
PRO-MARK- Thomas Pridgeon Autograph Model (TX510W)
Rock Star Sightings:
Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner and his lovely wife Johna
Kenny A!!!!
Ludwig limited Bun E Carlos Legacy Classic kit
Truth Tattoo inspired finish drums
drumming great JoJo Mayer (center) w/new bigger hair.
JR Robinson, Danny Reyes, Clayton Cameron(L to R) at Regal Tip Party. Ed Thigpen RIP
Curt Bisquera (L)(session drummer-Tom Petty, Elton John, Mick Jagger etc) and Jim Simonian(drummer/rep Regal Tip/Dream)
Joey Cassata drummer from ZO2 and Z Rock one of my favorite shows.
Rockah Jason Sutter (drummer for Chris Cornell)
We should be seeing a lot of the above and more at Daddy’s in the coming weeks. Stop in and check it out.
Michael Tocker-drums
Remember Daddy’s Junky Music loves to take trades! If you have some old gear that you are looking to trade for new or used gear, just Click Here! If you have any questions about GK bass gear or any other product that Daddy’s sells, don’t hesitate to contact me at 800-373-8393 X100 or contact someone at your local Daddy’s.
As always Daddy’s loves to take trades, so if you have any gear that you’re not using, bring it into the store with you the night of the clinic and one of the salespeople will be happy to get you a quote on your item. You can also get a free trade quote online at www.daddys.com/tradeRequest.php. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Jay Richardson, store manager over in Manchester at 603-669-9346 or myself at 800-373-8393 X100. You can also email jrichardson@daddys.com or bfoley@daddys.com if you prefer to contact us by email. Look forward to seeing you over in Manchester on the 10th!
The Zoom R16 is a 16 track (8 simultaneous) recording device, with 8 combination XLR and 1/4″ inputs on the back panel. One of the things that makes this super cool is the fact that it’s really like three products in one. Not only can you use it as a stand alone recording device, but it also double as a digital computer interface so if you prefer to record directly to your computer you can do that too. Need something to record at the gig? Disconnect the USB 2.0 interface from your computer and bring it to the show with you. A couple room mics, or a feed of your live mixer and you’ve got a decent recording of your live show. Then, all you have to do is take it back home, connect your USB 2.0 to your computer and you can zip all the information back into the computer to edit in more detail using the included and free Cubase LE4 software. On top of that, it’s also a control surface. So, if you’re annoyed with having to point and click on every little button on your monitor with a mouse, you can get your hands on this piece for some real time hands on control of your music. There’s not another product on the market that will give you this kind of versatility all for a paltry $399.99. The Zoom R16 is available in any one of our 
Both models feature a mahogany body, 5 piece maple and walnut wizard II neck, fixed edge III bridge, and the newly designed high output, low noise, LZ series pickups. I had a chance to pick up one of these and play it the other day and all I can say is that the fit and finish is impressive. Ibanez has always made a high quality guitar, and the new RGA’s are no exception. Combine one of these bad boys with your favorite amp and you’ll be in business. Don’t forget Daddy’s takes trades. If you’ve got anything old that you’re looking to trade in so you can get something new for your arsenal then 
