Drum Workshop
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Santa Monica, California, USA (1972) |
| Headquarters | Oxnard, California, USA |
Key people | Chris Lombardi, President and CEO |
| Products | Drums and percussion instruments |
| Website | http://www.dwdrums.com/ |
Drum Workshop is an Oxnard, California-based drum and hardware manufacturing company. Their list of endorsers includes many professional drummers.
Founded in 1972 as a teaching studio by founder Don Lombardi, it originally only offered private lessons and the occasional workshop. However, Don, along with student (and current Executive Vice President) John Good, began a small drum equipment sales operation to cover the facility's operation costs.
This operation soon created the first-ever DW product: The height-adjustable trap seat, which was envisioned by Don. The demand became so great that, after accepting an offer to purchase all of Camco's manufacturing equipment, the primary focus of the DW operation became drum hardware manufacturing. DW's Camco origins can still be seen on their drums today in their unique round "turret" tuning lugs which were designed by George H. Way and originally featured on George Way drums.
Following this, the next big product introduced by DW was the 5000 series nylon strap bass drum pedal, which was essentially a Camco pedal with the DW name placed upon it. However, this basic design spawned the first double bass drum pedal, which allowed drummers using a single bass drum to take advantage of the bass drum speed formerly reserved to drummers using two individual bass drums.
The double bass pedal was soon joined by rotating-base and cable remote hi-hat stands. After additional growth and expansion, the first full DW endorser was found in Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe, after he tried out a prototype DW drumset when he came to the shop to get his pedals adjusted.
DW has since expanded into larger facilities in Oxnard, California, and has grown to oversee two new companies: the value-oriented Pacific Drums and Percussion (PDP) and percussion manufacturer Gon Bops. They pioneered the timbre-matching technique of grouping a set drumshells together by listening to the note each shell holds before it is sanded. Each shell that comes out of the DW factory is stamped with the note of that shell on the inside. Their lineup now includes 4000, 5000, 7000, 8000, and 9000 series pedals; 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 series hardware; and a nearly infinite spectrum of drums that can be custom-ordered in many unique combinations of wood, color, and size. The DW pedals and hardware are manufactured in China, and assembled in the USA.
DW custom drums are cheaper compared to other custom drums such as the Masterworks of Pearl, the SQ2 of Sonor, OCDP drums, and Pork Pie drums.
More recently DW has entered the drum stick market with its 3 Drumsticks brand of sticks.
Notable Endorsing Artists
A full list of official endorsers can be found at http://www.dwdrums.com/artists/roster.asp.