On our forum recently I asked two topical questions. I want to go over one of them. My questions was: "Whos going to make it and why?". I wasn't interested in my own feelings or the impressions of our sales staff. I was interested in the views of drummers in other areas.

There are so many drum manufacturers now. We don't know how many in the low end area. The high end has tons of them and there are probably 20 real brand names.

When I was a teenager, there were seven from which to choose- Camco, Gretsch, Leedy (Chicago), Ludwig, Premier, Rogers and Slingerland. Then there were imports sold through the big catalog companies like Sears, Spiegel, Montgomery Ward, etc.

Some of the old names still exist, some don't, but even the survivors went through amazing ups and downs. The big three today are Pearl, Ludwig and Tama. After number 3, it gets a little fuzzy since a number of companies are in the $3-4 million range.

We'd love to hear from Gallery readers on who you think is strong and poised for the future. The insight of the public is important because customers see things that store buyers may miss.

Please write to us at hcangany@DrumCenter.com.

And if you'd like to read about how things were in the old days, consider buying a copy of my book for Modern Drummer The Great American Drums !