Today on the review plate is a 22” custom kick head done up by DrumART.com. DrumART is owned and operated by Jim Feck, who has been doing this work since 1997. He will literally take any piece of artwork you can come up with and put it on a kick head. Additionally, they partner with istockphoto.com, which has over 1.5 million royalty-free images (they do charge for these images but the pricing is very reasonable). DrumART will also do the artwork for you for additional fees (see the pricing link below.) They also have an industry first removable custom bass drum logo for those that prefer other head brands, already have a head they want to use, or don’t want a permanent logo.
I first really got an idea of what DrumArt does during Winter NAMM 2008 when Jim had mentioned on one of the drum forums that he had done all of the resonant display heads for dDrum booth.
I had mentioned that I may want a new head soon and that, after seeing the amazing work done at that show, I’d definitely be having him do it when I get ready. Given my penchant for procrastination, welcome to Winter NAMM 2009. This year Jim and co. did the work for Ludwig’s 100th Anniversary displays, and again, every bit of work there was top quality.
During the show this year I had the pleasure of meeting Jim and his lovely wife, Melissa, at the Pearl Drummers Forum dinner.
During the course of the conversation he offered to do up my next head as a review sample, and of course who am I to say no to an offer like that.
As everyone who knows me knows one thing I’ve always done is put an image of Betty Boop somewhere on my kick head. It’s a tribute to my better half. For the last several years I’ve had a black and white image just over the port on my head but this time around I wanted more. Color, bigger - a sexier Betty if you will. So I googled for images and found exactly what I was looking for – so with that, and a fiery red version of the Drumrock logo, I was set.
Working with DrumArt to work the images is probably the best exercise in customer service I’ve had in a long time. Since there was no purchase involved in this ”transaction” I can’t really say how that aspect would go however given the nature of the entire process I can say without reservation that Jim/DrumArt provide a quality customer service experience from initial contact through the end of the process.
And what of that end result? Well, as you’ll see this head was no exception to the quality rule. I decided on a black Aquarian Regulator head. I emailed Jim the image along with an example of the font I used for the current Drumrock logo. I wanted the port to be in the “blankest” part of the skin to sort of fill in that gap. Once Jim had all of that information, they set to work and less than two days later, into my inbox pops a shipping notice! Talk about fast service! One week later, sitting on my doorstep, I found a box.
And in that box I found this:
Along with the head was a note from Jim regarding the “purchase”/transaction, three small stickers resembling the head, and two different DrumART.com stickers, both of which will find their home on the back window of my truck.
Jim warned me that the image that I had of Betty would look a little fuzzy close up as they blow them up to a size several times larger than what I had sent. When I looked at it up close I was just as pleased as they do such a fine job with the image manipulation that it looks like it had almost been hand painted on the head. The Drumrock logo was perfect. The port was exactly where I wanted it and was topped off with a brass toned port ring.
From up close or from a distance this head is simply outstanding and I’m proud to have this product on my kick. Everyone that asks me about this head will get nothing but an earful about the great job DrumArt does and me telling them that they should go right now and start the process and get a new head!
Obviously, I can’t do anything except give high marks and praise to DrumArt and its owner, Jim Feck, for providing an excellent all around customer service experience along with a simply outstanding product. The work they do is the best I’ve seen from a company that does custom bass drum heads.
Pricing is excellent and can be found here: http://www.drumart.com/pricing/index.cfm. The price includes the cost of the Aquarian head and shipping is a very reasonable $15.00 for a single head, $10.00 for a single removable logo.
If you’re in the market for a new kick head, and you want something unique to you, that is quality work, and will enhance your kits appearance you absolutely cannot go wrong with these guys. DrumArt is the only place I'll be getting my custom heads from. So head up to DrumArt.com, take a look around, and give your kit that final “you” touch.
