9 Best Drum Brands – Today’s Top Drum Kit Manufacturers!

The Pearl company started making drums in 1950. Originally a company that made music stands, they shifted their focus to drums very shortly after being established. Based in Japan, Pearl has continued to produce some of the highest-quality drum kits on the market.

I’d say that Pearl is arguably one of the most famous drum brands to non-drummers. I’ve met so many people that ask if I play on a Pearl kit once they find out I’m a drummer. While Pearl drums aren’t as popular as they used to be in the early 2000s, the brand still sits near the top of the drum industry.

Pearl holds the record for having the most sold drum kit of all time with their Export Series. That drum kit accurately represents what Pearl brings to the table. They provide great quality drums at affordable prices.

I think the reason they’re so popular is that Pearl Export kits used to be seen all over schools and universities, so people started getting very familiar with the Pearl name.

They also have some fantastic pro-level kits. Whether you’re playing live or in the studio, Pearl has a huge range of drums for every situation.

The company originally started as a drum teaching studio in 1972. The founders, Don Lombardi and John Good, eventually started making drum equipment to cover costs and that grew into the huge business that it is today.

DW drums were at the top of the food chain for the longest time in the drum industry. Only the best drummers were seen playing them. However, they’ve become more accessible in recent times and I’ve seen plenty of casual players with DW kits.

I also feel that the other drum companies have caught up and are producing fantastic kits that can compete with DW. So, the drums from DW don’t seem as exclusive anymore. With that being said, there’s nothing quite like playing the drums on a top-end DW Collectors Series.

DW drums are known for two things. The first thing is their immaculate tone and construction. The second is their price. The high-quality aspects of DW drums don’t come cheap. 

The company puts a big focus on their Collector’s Series drums. These are drums that are highly customizable by the customer and include a wide variety of shell types. Naturally, these drums are the most expensive on offer by DW.

However, they do offer more streamlined products for cheaper. Even though the Performance and Design Series drum kits feature many of the same design qualities, they’re just not as customizable. 

The Design Series kits are aimed at intermediate players while the Performance Series kits are a great choice for pros who don’t want to spend as much as you would on a Collector’s Series.

Tama is a company that is mainly based in Japan. However, they have a few other branches where their drums are made and distributed from.

Their hardware and less expensive drum kits are manufactured in China while they have several offices around the world for marketing and wholesale distribution.

Tama drums cover a wide span of styles and settings. However, I’ve seen a huge trend of metal drummers playing Tama kits. It’s arguably the most popular drum brand in the metal scene. I think it’s because of the punchy tones that the drums are well-known for.

The only jazz drummer I’ve seen use a Tama kit is Peter Erskine. While he’s one of the most famous jazz drummers around, I remember people questioning using Tama drums to play jazz. That just tells you how the brand seems to cater more to the heavier styles of music.

One of Tama’s strengths is their production of heavy-duty hardware. They were actually one of the first companies to produce heavy-duty hardware in the 20th century that didn’t impact the construction of the drum shells, allowing them to keep their tone.

This type of hardware construction is also the reason why many metal drummers love these kits. If you've ever played sampled metal drum kits from a VST or downloaded a loop library of metal drums, what's the first thing you noticed?

Tone-wise, metal drums sound pretty thin, meaning they sound kind of punchy but without any of the thick fatness of funk drums or hip-hop drums, for example.

This is intentional — when playing rapid kick drum patterns in metal or death metal, having too much sub-bass or low end would create a muddy, unclear sound.

So, inadvertently, because Tama drums are a bit more cheaply made than other brands, they also, as a result, are punchier and cut through more.

That's why jazz drummers who lean more into the fusion category, like Billy Cobham and Peter Erskine (as I mentioned earlier), are probably drawn to Tama sets.

So, if you're looking to get a good sound in a smaller space, especially for recording in a home studio, these might be your cleanest option. They also can be extremely quiet for practicing in apartments or untreated rooms since they emit fewer low frequencies.

At present, Tama has 4 main lines of drums that they sell. The Imperialstar is their entry-level drum kit aimed at beginners. Their Superstar line of drums are slightly improved and aimed at intermediate drummers.

The Starclassic drums are their most famous line of instruments. The Star is their flagship drum kit. It has the best sound and is the most expensive out of all their products.

Mapex is arguably the smallest drum brand on this list. Their drums are not the most well-known, yet they're popular enough that most drummers have heard of them. The company was established in 1989 and is based in Taiwan.

One huge strength of Mapex is that they have quite a few drum kits on offer that are affordable, yet exhibit features that you’d typically see on higher-end kits. Things like having toms that mount to the cymbal stands instead of the bass drum are common in their lower-priced products.

They even launched a line called ‘MyDentity’ which allows you to custom order intermediate drums. Other companies only offer this sort of customization in their high-end lines of drums.

One thing that I really appreciate about Mapex is how they sell a fair amount of mixed wood drum sets that are affordable. Typically, drum brands will only mix woods for shells with their top-end drum sets. You can find a few different intermediate kits from Mapex that have a mixture of birch, maple, or mahogany woods.

Having a kit with mixed woods gives you a fantastically unique sound. Mapex has made those sorts of sounds more attainable for many drummers out there.

The most famous drums from Mapex are their Black Panther snare drums. These snares have a great tone and are very versatile.

It’s not uncommon to see a drummer using a Black Panther snare along with drums from another brand. Mapex capitalized on their popularity and produced Black Panther drum kits, which are now their highest-end kits.

Perhaps the most popular lineup of drum kits from Mapex is the Armory series of drum sets. They're quite versatile and a great option for intermediate drummers.

These snares have stood the test of time and they’ve been used by drummers for decades. A tightly tuned Supraphonic produces one of my absolute favorite snare drum sounds.

Some famous drummers who endorse Ludwig are Nate Smith, Questlove, Ian Paice, and Carmine Appice.

I can’t even describe to you properly how many Gretsch drum sets I’ve seen at all the jazz festivals I’ve been to. I’d comfortably say that the majority of jazz drummers in the world primarily play on Gretsch drum kits.

I think it’s because the drums produce sounds that are quite musical and blend with the jazz style incredibly well. This is especially true for Gresch bass drums. Most of them are quite boomy, and you need a booming bass in jazz settings.

The most famous line of drums is their Catalina Series. These are affordable drum kits that work in a variety of settings from rock to jazz.

The drums were very popular in the early 20th century when jazz music started to take shape. It’s for that reason that Gretsch kits are still popular options for jazz drumming today. Similar to Ludwig, there are a lot of vintage Gretsch kits that you can find around the world. Some of them are over 50 years old.

Along with jazz, Gretsch has become the sound of the modern indie alternative rock band. Bands and artists like St. Vincent, who ride the line between indie singer-songwriter and '80s electronic retro pop, use Gretsch.

Other hard electronica-influenced acts like Nine Inch Nails also use Gretsch kits heavily to blend with drum machines, synths, and heavily processed tracks.

Unlike Ludwig, which also has that similar vintage vibe, I find Gretsch kits to be more precise. That's why they lend themselves so well to modern electronic music — if you're adding live drums on top of premade loops, they have to mix and blend well.

So if you're somebody who either wants to tour or record with more of an edgy, processed, or indie alternative sound, this might be the brand for you.

Likewise, if you want that raw, more untuned, unpolished vintage sound, I think your first choice should always be an older Gretsch kit.

For me personally, Gretsch’s downfall comes with the tom mounts on all their kits. I can never seem to position my toms comfortably when I’m setting up a Gretsch kit. It’s always easier to mount the toms onto cymbals stands. I also sometimes use another snare stand for the rack tom if there’s only one of them.

The most notable drummers that endorse Gretsch drums are Mark Guiliana, Mike Johnston, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Keith Carlock.

Yamaha is arguably the most famous name on this list. This is thanks to the fact that they sell all kinds of musical instruments as well as engines and motorcycles.

Yamaha Drums were established in 1967 in Japan. They’re the only brand on this list that specializes in making acoustic as well as electronic drum kits.

The company has several acoustic drum lines available. The cheapest is the Rydeen kit which is aimed at beginners and anyone on a budget. The most expensive is the PHX kit which is Yamaha’s flagship drum set.

Although the tonal difference between every drum kit is huge, the quality of the construction is very similar.

I’ve taught drums on a Yamaha drum set for several years. It’s quite old, but it’s handled being played on frequently by hundreds of drummers. I feel that it perfectly represents all of Yamaha’s drums.

Every Yamaha kit I’ve played on has felt incredibly sturdy and durable. It’s one of the only drum brands I’ve played that never has wobbling toms, no matter what type of kit it is.

Yamaha also has a fairly successful line of electronic drums, making it one of the best and most diverse brands in my book.

One thing that separates Yamaha’s drums from the competitors is how they mount the toms. Most of their kits use the YESS mounting system which makes the toms very easy to position. Typically, a high-end kit won’t allow you to mount toms onto the bass drum. However, Yamaha has made it possible without affecting the tone of the bass.

Their Stage Custom drum kit is one of the most affordable drum kits that will work in a professional setting. You also have the Tour Custom (mid-range) and Recording Custom (high-end) series of drum kits.

Since Sonor’s drums are a bit more specialized, you won’t see them as frequently in music stores as you would with other drum brands.

Something that has always caught my attention is how good Sonor toms sound. No matter what kit you’re playing on or listening to, the toms generally sound amazing. A great example of this would be from the drummer, Benny Greb.

If you watch any of Benny’s performances on YouTube, you can scroll down and see how at least 3 people have mentioned how good his floor tom sounds. It’s become a bit of an ongoing joke, but it’s so true.

I’ve played some gigs on older Sonor kits that aren’t being produced anymore, and the toms sounded amazing on those kits as well.

To me, Sonor kits are the polar opposite of Yamaha kits. They're the unique, cool kid's drum of choice — just look at Joey Waronker, Beck and Thom Yorke's drummer for both their studio albums and live tours.

I've seen Joey perform before, and he's by far one of my favorite younger drummers. He's incredibly talented and a chameleon of styles, able to sound like both an electronic drum machine and Ringo Starr. Plus, he's got incredible taste in drum sounds.

He uses a unique early '70s Rosewood Sonor kit with added Pearl Sensitone snare. Joey represents the Sonor sound perfectly because he thinks outside the box, like many of the famous drummers who endorse this brand.

If you're looking to get a kit that has the strengths of many previous brands without their weaknesses, I'd say Sonor is the way to go.

It has the vintage vibe of Ludwig, the reliability of a DW, and the cool factor of Gretsch all in one.

The trick is to mix up the cymbals and additional drums with other brands to really elevate and distinguish your sound.

The most famous drummers who endorse Sonor are Benny Greb, Aaron Spears, Chris Coleman, Gavin Harrison, and Jojo Mayer. All these drummers have been instrumental in evolving the craft of drumming, making them highly valuable players to the Sonor brand.

Pacific Drums and Percussion is a drum company that was established by DW Drums in 1999.

The purpose of the company is to take the expert craftsmanship of DW’s drums and use it with drum shells that are more affordable, creating great drum kits at relatively low prices.

Instead of being manufactured in the US like DW, PDP drums are manufactured in China. They use machinery for a lot of the process in order to cut down on costs.

It's a similar tactic to what Behringer has done with many legendary brands. They buy out companies like Klark Teknik and TC Electronic, which were considered more boutique brands, and mass-produce them in China — but with very high specs and quality control.

There's a lot of debate about these types of brands, which seem like the "lite" or special edition versions of their main brand. But in truth, does it really matter if they deliver on the quality?

I own many expensive vintage units and I'm not ashamed to say that I also own some of their Behringer counterparts, and I think they did a fantastic job in capturing the magic while still lowering the cost.

That's how I feel about DW and PDP. I've heard both of them played and recorded, and while they do share similarities, I would say PDP definitely has its own sound, and it's quite good.

In fact, I would pick it over some of the other brands like Tama any day. Another plus of cheaper Chinese production is that it allows the company to produce the drums in large quantities, meaning there are a lot more PDP drum kits out there than there are DW.

I love how most PDP kits utilize the design features of DW kits. Things like the True-Pitch tuning rods and the MAG snare throw-offs are more accessible to people who don’t want to spend a large amount of money on a DW set.

I’ve also always found PDP sets to be very reliable when it comes to tuning. The PDP Concept Maple, in particular, stays in tune for an incredibly long time before you need to tune it again.

The most well-known kit from PDP is the Concept Series. Similar to the Yamaha Stage Custom, it offers pro-level use at an affordable cost.