Drum Stores Abroad: Buyer's Guide

[vdonati_fan]

I hope there's no thread like this posted yet otherwise please delete it, dear Mods.

A guide for us drummers and percussionists if we're abroad and are looking for drum stores in that country.

Please post the following information:

Name of Store:
Address:
Country:
Specilaty items:
Remarks or Comments about the store:

It's some sort of a review of the drum store as well.

[timpanista]

Name: Tom Lee Music
Address: (Main) Cameron Lane, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Country: Hong Kong
Speciality Items: Pearl Drums Percussions and Hardwares, Yamaha Drums and Hardwares, Tama Drums and Hardwares, Gretsch Drums and Hardwares, OCDP, DW Drums and Hardwares, Roland Vdrums, Paiste, Zildjian cymbals and sticks, Vic Firth sticks and accessories, Vater sticks, Remo heads and percussions, Evans Heads and Accessories, Latin Percussions, Gibraltar Hardwares.
Remarks: cheaper price than in US and Ph.

Name: Parsons Music
Address: (Main) Times Square, Causeway Bay
Country: Hong Kong
Speciality Items: Taye Drums and Hardwares, Ludwig Drums and Hardwares, Vater sticks, Promark sticks, Sabian Cymbals,
Remarks: almost same if not a bit cheaper than Tom Lee. in terms of books and drum publications, Parsons has more books than Tom Lee (also cheaper)

[jckazs]

Name of Store: Pro Drum Shop
Address: Professional Drum Shop, Inc
854 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA
Country: US
Specilaty items: great selection of drum gear...meron din silang restoration at repair services
Remarks or Comments about the store:
Old school drum shop...been in business for decades. yung mga tao, beterano na sa drums. hindi lang sa drumming aspect pati sa products


 

[sandythedrummer]

Name of Store: Music Collection
Address: 3rd Fl. Siam Paragon Mall
Country: Bangkok Thailand
Specilaty items: Premier, Powerbeat, Tosco, Hapoon, Vater, Hotsticks
Remarks or Comments about the store: Shempre it's cheaaper kasi walang Foreigner Tax


Name of Store: Drum Heaven
Address: Soi 13, Thong Lo
Country: Bangkok Thaiiland
Specilaty items: Meka Drums, Pearl, Dream Cymbals, Zildjian, Promark, Tama, DW
Remarks or Comments about the store: The Ultimate Drum Heaaven in Bangkok

[phfreq]

Name of Store: Ellis Drum Shop
Address: Branches in St. Paul and Richfield Minnesota
Country: USA
Specilaty items: purely drums and percussion stuff. Makes their own brand of snares and kit too.
Remarks or Comments about the store: This is a pure drum shop. Lahat ng tao drummer. kahit ung manager at ung mga sales and support. Pati ung ojt drummer din. Maraming selections, very knowledgeable sa drum stuff. Hindi sya yung pinakamura (though konti lang ang difference) pero yung nakukuha mong info and service more than makes up for the small difference.
Eto yung site nila  http://ellisdrumshop.com/



Name of Store: Guitar Center
Address: Edina Minnesota (marami pang ibang branches ito throughout the USA)
Country: USA
Specilaty items: music stuff
Remarks or Comments about the store: Most likely may idea na kayo sa guitar center. Music stuff. Madalas marami silang mura pero depende sa tao na nagbabantay ang makukuha mong info. Pero madalas, sa experience ko, halos wala or mali pa yung info na nakukuha ko.. he hehe.. Pero oks lang sa akin kasi madalas nakapagresearch na ako.. Ok din dun kasi you get to try yung mga nakadisplay.. Kaya lang madalas ung ibang display eh marami nang wear kasi ang dami nang gumamit.. Ok din kasi makikita mo alin ung mga parts nung item na masisira after long periods of use.. Parang stress tested ung mga items kung baga.. hehee..  Madalas din ung mga snares parating tightly tuned to the point na halos hindi mo na marinig ung tunay na resonance nung shell. Pwede mo ring galawin yung tuning pero dont expect na may maitutulong ung mga bantay (yung iba meron siguro though sa experience ko eh iba)

Marami ring items dito ranging from drums, bass, guitar, keyboards/synths, recording pati DJ and lights stuff.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/


Name of Store: Best Buy
Address:Richfield Minnesota (marami pang ibang branches ito throughout the USA)
Country: USA
Specilaty items: electronics, computers, appliances
Remarks or Comments about the store: Best buy is really an electronics and media (CD, DVD, etc) retailer pero fairly recently may mga branches sila na naglagay ng music instruments. May mga drums and guitars and synths/keyboards din though parang guitar center, hindi din kasing knowledgeable ung nagbabantay compared dun sa mga specialty drum shop. Ang drum items na nasa kanila eh DW and zildjian (at least yun ung nakita ko nung time na nagpunta ako). Dito ko natry yung PDP BOA and ung iba pa na DW items. Hindi properly tuned and setup yugn drums. Magspend ka ng maraming time para ikaw pa ang magaayos ng setup nila. Ang maganda lang kasi you get to spend more time tinkering with the item and hindi rin ganong karami ang tao na nandon sa musical instrument area nito relative sa guitar center. Limited nga lang ang choices.

http://www.bestbuy.com/


Name of Store: Music Go Round
Address: Minnesota (marami rin itong branches throughout the USA)
Country: USA
Specilaty items: used musical instruments
Remarks or Comments about the store: May mabibili kang used and brand new items dito pero karamihan used. SIla ung bumibili ng lumang gear sa mababang presyo tapos ibebenta nila ng may markup. Yung choices mo eh depende sa available nilang stock though ok din naman.. Relatively mahal for used items pero at least nandun na lahat and mura pa rin compared sa mga brand new



Name of Store: Schmitt Music
Address: Minnesota (minneapolis / st. paul though meron din sa ibang states)
Country: USA
Specilaty items: piano
Remarks or Comments about the store: Piano talaga ang specialty nila pero nagbebenta din sila ng drums and guitar stuff.. May mga lessons din sila. Relatively mahal sila compared sa iba pero may mga times kasi ito lang ang malapit or madadaanan mo or matyempuhan na sila lang ang may stock nung item na gusto or kailangan mo though bihirang bihira ito.
http://www.schmittmusic.com/index.htm




Name of Store: Personal / Individual sellers (craigslist.org)
Address: anywhere listed in the site
Country: anywhere
Specilaty items: anything
Remarks or Comments about the store: Basically free ads site ito na yung mga individual seller eh pinopost ung items na gusto nilang ibenta. May mga brand new maraming used. Ok to kasi makikita mo ung mga pics, tapos pwede ka makipagmeet in person dun sa nagbebenta.. Medyo marami ring good deals and good items na nakuha ako dito.. Maganda to kasi you get to meet the seller in person, makakausap mo and matetest mo rin ung mga items. Depende na lang sayo and sa seller ang usapan.

So punta ka lang sa site na to tapos puntahan mo ung city or place na nandun ka tapos punta ka sa musical instruments category then search galore ka na . Dependent yan din sa place na kung nasan ka kasi may mga places na konti lang talaga ang nagbebenta, meron naman na sobra sobra.. Generally kung nasa heavily populated city ka or malapit ka don, mataas ang chances na may makita ka. Dahil din sa nature nito, hindi lahat ng gusto mo or kailangan mo makikita mo sa time na gusto mo

http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.html


Hope these help.



Sana may magpost ng mge tindahan sa middle east. Iniisip ko magpabili ng mga cymbals don (lalo na yung bosphorus and istanbul stuff )