I recently took possession of my first set of Black Label drums (actually, my first set of custom drums…period) and was so impressed with the process that I decided to write an open letter to Dennis and all of his prospective customers. First and foremost, while I have been a bass player for a good portion of the last 15 years, I have been a drummer for over 20 years and was, and always will be, a drummer at heart. After opening a high-end boutique bass specialty store in 2003 (www.blueberryhillbass.com) and devoting the majority of my life for the last 10+ years to basses, bassists, and playing bass, I recently decided to revert back to my original passion…drums. Through this process, I decided that I would finally treat myself to a custom, hand-crafted, professional set of drums, and thus began the research process to find the perfect person for the job. I began researching every name in the custom drum world…from small, one-man-shops who were virtually nameless and unknown to well-known brands with large marketing budgets and endless options to choose from. The process was long, and many different drum builders were seriously considered, but I ultimately decided to reach out to Dennis Stauffer at Stauffer Percussion.

Dennis was not only extremely knowledgeable about his own products (which one would assume, but is not always the case), and was also extremely knowledgeable about other brands and products within the industry. This made communication very easy…something that is extremely important when discussing custom musical instruments. I was able to tell Dennis what I was looking for and he knew exactly where I was coming from as a musician. He made countless recommendations that helped me understand the scope of what he was able to do to create a drum set that met my needs and was an absolutely joy to talk to and work with through the entire process. In fact, Dennis took the exact same approach that I take with my own customers at Blueberry Hill. I’ve found that the best formula is to be hyper-knowledgeable about the subject matter you’re consulting on. By making honest and dispassionate recommendations, the customer has all the information that s/he needs, and can then make decisions with perfect information, feeling confident that something isn’t being forgotten or omitted that will later lead to dissatisfaction. Dennis was a true professional in this regard, and I feel that I not only received great advice throughout the process, but that I actually gained a friend as a result of our detailed conversations. And keep in mind that I wasn’t promising to purchase a Peart-esque 30 piece monster set-up. This level of service was all over a simple “old school” 4-piece ’60′s-inspired drum kit, nonetheless!

As for the actual kit itself, upon opening the boxes once it arrived, I was immediately impressed with the kit components…the quality of the hardware and mounts, the quality of the shells, the quality of the wrap, etc. I was even impressed with the performance of the head recommendations that Dennis made. Excellent choices all-around, and the small hole on the Fiberskyn front head was a nice touch. We also discussed a new Black Label logo front head that would showcase the detail of the drum badges in greater detail, and Dennis worked overtime to create a front bass drum head that exceeded my own expectations. You wouldn’t get this kind of commitment to perfection and personal attention to detail from many other drum companies. And as for the craftsmanship of the actual drums….outstanding! I frequently talk to customers who are concerned about buying an instrument that they have never seen before, and I can fully understand their hesitation. I even had a bit of my own through this process. However, all of those concerns evaporated as soon as I opened the box containing that first tom. Dennis does exceptional work…bottom line.

And lastly, a drum kit review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning performance and tone. Upon the opening of each well-packaged box, each drum emerged perfectly tuned and ready to go. The rack tom was full, warm, and punchy. The floor tom had a deep, thick resonance that was warm, yet powerful. And the bass drum sounded a lot bigger than a 22″ diameter drum. The feel of the batter head was great and the overall drum was resonant, punchy, and deep. There was a guttural thump to it, while still maintaining the depth and resonance typically associated with a much larger drum without a ported front head. Very nice!!!

Overall, my experience with Dennis and Stauffer Percussion (Phattie, Black Label, Cocktail Drums) was an extremely positive one all the way around. Dennis was timely with his telephone and e-mail responses, he had detailed and thoughtful answers to every question I could come up with, and in the end, he delivered a killer set of professional-quality drums. Not only was the process of working with Dennis on a set of Black Label drums fun, but the end result is something that I will enjoy for countless years to come. I hope that you feel the same when you order your set as well. ; )

Thanks,

Jay M. Lewis
Blueberry Hill
www.blueberryhillbass.com

Jay’s new set of Black Label drums:

The past ten years have been quite the journey, filled with more experiences and opportunities than I could have imagined at the beginning. I’ve been be a one-man shop in a garage and a subsidiary of a larger company where I worked with some of the world’s most skilled craftsmen. I’ve worked with hundreds of amazing drummers worldwide and I’m humbled by the number of them that choose to play Phattie and Black Label drums as they tour and record. Reflecting on these experiences over the past months, the future of Stauffer Percussion has become very clear. At the end of the day, it’s not about building the most drums, having the most endorsers or printing the flashiest advertisements. My goal is to ensure that from the time you first contact me about your custom kit, until the time you sit down behind your new drums, it’s all about you loving your drums. After 10 years of diverse experience in the industry, this is what drives the work I do and it will continue to be my focus going forward.

I want you to love your drums.