Feel better how mate? hehehe.

Sonor stacks up like DW here. I would imagine there are trade arrangements with Oz and Europe that might make Sonor seem a little less expensive.

DW, Sonor SQ2, Gretsch USA etc etc are truly expensive however despite the quality nature of the product is still cheaper (in real terms) than it was in the 60's for our beloved vintage drums.

As for who can afford them. I went to the Monaco Grand Prix 2 weekends ago courtesy of Red Bull Racing (long story). Honestly, Neil Pearts entire DW kit could not buy you a table on a certain yatch for a post race dinner for you a 5 mates!!! Mumbling about a few hundred quid between makes falls into insignificance when a just a ticket to the bar cost €2000!!!! I got in on the guest list though!!! HAHAHAHA!

I voted Gretsch as number one in my vote, Because I just love the look of and the $for$ purchase price of some of the current models. I am not in the market for a current model kit, but if I was, they would be my first choice.

Yamaha quality is very consistent too, on most of their products, and any Yammy's since the 1980's has potential to be a nice sounding kit IMO..

The only think DW gets number one for , is marketing they are the best but their product is all other peoples designs.. good drums yes great drums NO.. same with most all companies the quality of wood is just not their to make the same quality of shells that was made in the 40's 50's and 60's which to me were the 30 years of the best drums.... all the companies in the poll put out good drums but IMO none are great drums but as for a gigging kit i put down Ludwig, Pearl and Tama and i do not think there is much difference in which way you rank them, I left out DW for one reason price gouging again IMO they are overpriced but are the same quality as the rest...

Actually I wanted to include 10 drum companies and it was either orange county or DDrum or Peace or something and DDrum seems more well distributed than the others. It's listed 2nd alphabetically. Hoping to keep the list neutral.

I love Yamaha, but not sure what will happen from now on. Not sure if they would compromise on quality and making in China does not necessarily mean compromised quality. Almost everything we touch is made completely or partially in China.

DW is def tops in my book. If I didn't have such a big investment in Yammy so far I'd switch to DW. That's what Peter Erskine told me...in a dream...or something.

I listed DW, Mapex, and Tama in my top 3. I do agree that DW kits are far more expensive than they are worth... but, they are very nice drums. I played on a Mapex once, a few years back, and those were some of the best sounding modern drums that I have played on. The Mapex kit was one of the top line kits (i dont remember which model). The Tama Starclassic series drums a few years back were really nice!

This may sound dumb, but the thing I just can't get past on Gretsch drums is the 5 lug toms. Something about that just irks me.

I dont own any new kits currently. everything I have now is early 70s and prior. I am thinking of adding a Pacific (DW) kit for a gigging kit to play on. If I do, I will be looking at a used PDP Platinum Series or similar most likely. After doing research for a while, it seems that the higher quality lines of PDP give the most "bang for the buck."

Well??? seriously dude? I used to keep my posts to vintage topics, I didn't even list my newer drums on my signature but I've seen so many posts on every topic, and posts that stray to TV shows, vintage cars, rock bands, famous drummers, and even 4 different posts on Mikey777 and his whereabouts and health???

I just figured that vintage thing has been relaxed a bit. And besides, at least this is about drums! Not people, movies, bands, tv shows - and finally these drums may be vintage eventually!!!!

It still makes it no less ridiculous. As I mentioned you place a New drum pole in the vintage drum section not in the general section, and Rules are for a reason not just a season ?? this is all nothing but opinion to boot.

Well you're right on two counts, I should have put this in the General section, and this is absolutely all opinion. Thats why it's an opinion poll, just to see what people think.

This is a very interesting topic and I envy all that have owned or extensively played these new kits. My opinions can only be based on my experience playing at jazz festivals. Most of the kits provided at these multi-venue festivals are Yamaha, Tama, or Pearl. The only reason that these kits sound remotely like jazz, is because I bring my own snare and cymbals. Granted, tuning and set-up time is very limited and the heads are usually not right for acoustic jazz...but these drums just don't feel right to me for the music I'm playing so I'm putting Yamaha, Tama and Pearl at the bottom. My other experience comes from an adult jazz camp that I teach at. The campers bring their own kits for the week long camp and I get a chance to play on them for lessons and workshops. Most of the kits are vintage Gretsch, Rogers and Ludwig but one kit is a new Gretsch bop kit that sounded unbelievable and unmistakably had that "Gretsch sound". So I'm putting Gretsch as #1. That's the best I can do as my "newest" drum set is a 1982 WMP Slingerland.

Odd question. I do not rank drum companies ... Modern or otherwise. Most all have produced some very fine instruments that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy through the years. I would imagine if a company produced substandard equipment, they would have a limited existence. We, the holders of hard earned monies, ultimately decide their fates. With that said ... I like a nice old Rogers kit ... or a Slingerland ... or Ludwig ... or ... ... ... :)