First off, I hadn’t bought a new custom set since 1980, so I needed an educated drum shop, not the know nothings at Sweetwater, Musicians Friend or Guitar center. If I wanted someone with limited knowledge I’d go there. Since I don’t live anywhere near a drum shop, I chose between 2 on the east coast, ( there’s not one in every state ). I narrowed it down to Portsmith in NH, and Dales in PA. I went with Dales because they were a few dollars cheaper and I thought their shipping charges would be less to Florida. I dealt with a guy named Kevin, who basically was describing every detail option over the phone, without showing me online what the options were. I had to visualize in my mind what he was taking about. That’s not the way a drum shop should be selling. He knew I hadn’t bought new drums in over 40 years, and couldn’t know what the options looked like. I went with Ludwig, not because they are the best, but because they were able to make a custom set in less than a month. Kevin asked me if I wanted the bass drum spurs that folding in. I had 2 Ludwig sets, one from the 70s, and one from 1980. They both came with thick squared metal spurs that folded or slid inside. That’s the only spurs I knew of, and I thought that was what he was talking about. He was too lazy to get me to go on Ludwig’s website or to email me links to it. When I got the 4 drums ( for $3,300) I was shocked to see these cheap old fashioned spurs, something that looked like what companies had in the 20s -60s. They might impress someone who wants a retro look, but not me. Every company has much better ones. I called Kevin there to complain about it, and he proceeds to tell me that Ludwig has 3 different spurs, one that folds in like mine, the thick square ones that slide in, and the telescoping ones that fold in. Details he never told or showed me over the phone. Then he tells me that to install the thick square ones, the parts would cost $100, and drilling the large hole for the spur would void the warranty on the drum. Then he tells me he will find out if the telescoping ones will have the same holes. He never got back to me in 2 weeks. I called him and he again put me off claiming not to hear from Ludwig. Last week I called and asked to speak to the owner - Dale. I was told by someone else that he comes in sporadically, and he didn’t know when he would be in. Like he didn’t have the owners phone number to tell him to call me. So I don’t know if he got my message and is ignoring me, or they never gave him the message to hide what they did to me. The bottom line here is to never use this drum shop. It’s being run by workers who don’t believe in customer service, with an owner that hides from his customers. They don’t know how to sell or make good on their mistakes.
Dale's Drum Shop Reviews
Here’s some advice of who not to buy drums from.
First off, I hadn’t bought a new custom set since 1980, so I needed an educated drum shop, not the know nothings at Sweetwater, Musicians Friend or Guitar center. If I wanted someone with limited knowledge I’d go there. Since I don’t live anywhere near a drum shop, I chose between 2 on the east coast, ( there’s not one in every state ). I narrowed it down to Portsmith in NH, and Dales in PA. I went with Dales because they were a few dollars cheaper and I thought their shipping charges would be less to Florida. I dealt with a guy named Kevin, who basically was describing every detail option over the phone, without showing me online what the options were. I had to visualize in my mind what he was taking about. That’s not the way a drum shop should be selling. He knew I hadn’t bought new drums in over 40 years, and couldn’t know what the options looked like. I went with Ludwig, not because they are the best, but because they were able to make a custom set in less than a month. Kevin asked me if I wanted the bass drum spurs that folding in. I had 2 Ludwig sets, one from the 70s, and one from 1980. They both came with thick squared metal spurs that folded or slid inside. That’s the only spurs I knew of, and I thought that was what he was talking about. He was too lazy to get me to go on Ludwig’s website or to email me links to it. When I got the 4 drums ( for $3,300) I was shocked to see these cheap old fashioned spurs, something that looked like what companies had in the 20s -60s. They might impress someone who wants a retro look, but not me. Every company has much better ones. I called Kevin there to complain about it, and he proceeds to tell me that Ludwig has 3 different spurs, one that folds in like mine, the thick square ones that slide in, and the telescoping ones that fold in. Details he never told or showed me over the phone. Then he tells me that to install the thick square ones, the parts would cost $100, and drilling the large hole for the spur would void the warranty on the drum. Then he tells me he will find out if the telescoping ones will have the same holes. He never got back to me in 2 weeks. I called him and he again put me off claiming not to hear from Ludwig. Last week I called and asked to speak to the owner - Dale. I was told by someone else that he comes in sporadically, and he didn’t know when he would be in. Like he didn’t have the owners phone number to tell him to call me. So I don’t know if he got my message and is ignoring me, or they never gave him the message to hide what they did to me. The bottom line here is to never use this drum shop. It’s being run by workers who don’t believe in customer service, with an owner that hides from his customers. They don’t know how to sell or make good on their mistakes.