I could have done it by myself, but where's the fun in that?
My sincere and humble appreciation -
C & J, Uncle Eric, Al Faminoff, John Bartelink, Kerry & Patti Crutchfield, Lorne Wheaton, Neil Peart, David Libman and Paul Quin (Team legal aid!), Paul Delong, Doug Inglis, Howard & Irvin & Steve, Dave Abruzzesse, Kurty Bird, Shane Wilson, Jesse Cahill, Cory Weeds, Frankie's Jazz Club, Remo, Don Deniston, Don Lombardi & John Good, Bob Rock, Matt Johnson, David Webber, Paul Mason, John Aldridge, Todd Sucherman, Cooper Acoutin, Lorne Terry, Jerry & Joseph Chen @Reliance, Mr. Liao, Enno & Sheena, Jo & Clark @LH, Dave Johnson, Jeff Woods, Rueben Spyker, Forrest, Don McAulay, Gary McCracken, Greyson Nekrutmam, James Trussart, Jared & Dave and Team Drumeo, Shawn Crahan, Joey Jordison, Vinnie, Stanton Moore, Shane Kinney, Jim Petit, Jimmy Chamberlain, Henry Luniewski, Carter Beauford, Mark & David Montizambert. < LOVE!
How do I distill 60+ years into something that matters to you— a drummer considering a Dunnett Classic? Why should it matter where this all started? A kid on a farm, blasting Kiss while doing dishes, air-drumming with spoons to Detroit Rock City. Maybe it doesn’t. Because you’re not here for my story. You’re here because you’re done compromising. Maybe you’ve never felt it before—that moment when a drum just speaks back. When it disappears under your hands and becomes part of you. Isn't that what you’re really looking for? And not just a new best friend drum - a forever drum. Because like me—maybe drums didn’t just become something you play. Maybe they became something you needed. They were there when nothing else made sense. When life got loud, or heavy, or complicated—drums. Even if it was just sticks on your knees. Or your hands on a table. Or rhythms in your head when the world wouldn’t slow down. That doesn’t go away. So when you’re choosing a drum, you’re not just choosing wood or metal. You’re choosing the experience that goes into designing and building an instrument that responds to you. A drum that fits your hands, breathes life into that sonic dream and becomes your sound.
Dunnett Classic drums are born from that understanding. I get it. I get what it’s like to chase a sound in your head. I get what it means when a drum inspires you to play longer than you planned. I get that this isn’t just gear—it’s identity. Every drum I make carries that with it. Not just precision or design—but intention. Something you can sit behind and feel immediately: “Yeah… this is it.” No drummer buys a Dunnett Classic drum because of specs. You’re buying it because of what happens when you hit it. And if I’ve done my job right— it will do more than just sound great.
1976
My Uncle has a country place...
A drum is more than an instrument. It is a system—of energy, response, and intention. In an age of endless information—most of it subjective—it has become increasingly difficult to understand the true nature of a drum. Here I return to first principles. What follows is not opinion. It is a framework.
Every drum shell is defined by four properties: weight, density, displacement, and form.
But the shell is not the voice. The drum is the voice. Tone does not live in one component—it exists in the interaction of all parts. Of those parts, the drum head remains the most influential. The wrong head will diminish even the finest instrument.
There are no loud drums. Only loud drummers.
When I began building drums in 1989, I pursued the lightest shells possible, believing they offered the greatest tonal freedom. Over time, I came to understand that heavier drums have their own place—equally valid, equally powerful. Dunnett Classic drums are built across three weight categories—light, medium, and heavy—each offering a distinct tonal language:
• Light: Titanium, Magnesium, Aluminum, StereoPly)
Maximum versatility. Wide tensioning latitude. Full expressive range.
• Midweight: Stainless Steel, Model 2N)
Balance. Control. A centered, adaptable voice.
• Heavy shells: Model K, Sledge)
Focused and cutting. A high fundamental that projects through dense, amplified environments—not through volume, but through frequency. The trade-off is reduced tensioning range—but absolute clarity of purpose.
The MonoPly solid wood line follows the same principle, with weight determined by species:
• Light: Poplar, Basswood, Milkwood
• Medium: Maple, Walnut, Cherry, Birch
• Heavy: Rosewood, Cocobolo, Bubinga, as well as Oak and Ash
Each material carries its own response.
Each offers a different way to be heard.
There is no single solution. Only intention.
Let’s reject the myth of complexity where it doesn't belong. Bearing edges are one of the most overstated aspects of drum design. They matter—but far less than we’ve been led to believe.
A guitar string vibrates between the bridge and the nut, yet no one defines the instrument by the angle of those contact points. The same principle applies here.
The inner bearing edge plays no meaningful role in performance.
The outer edge is the true point of interaction—the place where the head meets resistance. Even then, variation in angle or contact area has minimal impact on resonance.
What matters is tension feedback.
A properly shaped outer edge should reduce friction, allowing the head to move freely and translate tension kinetically without resistance.
Across Dunnett Classic drums:
•Classic series uses a rounded counter for fluid head movement
•StereoPly™ and MonoPly™ feature “LA Camco” style edges
•Model 2N™ incorporates a hybrid edge—rounded batter side, straight snare side
•Model K™ and The Sledge™ use finely rounded edges on both sides
Design serves response. Nothing more.
The air vent was never about tone. It was about equalization. Originally, it allowed calfskin heads to adjust to humidity. Today, it often exists as little more than a badge mount.
But air still matters.
An unvented drum creates a sealed pneumatic chamber—one that enhances sensitivity and transfers even the lightest energy to the snare side head. Under heavier playing, that same pressure can resist the drum’s response. Control of air is control of feel.
The Hypervent™ system was designed to give that control back to the player—allowing the drum to be vented or unvented instantly. Because a drum should not dictate. It should respond.
Snare beds are not optional details. They are essential.
Without proper snare beds and snare straps (plastic straps are packaging), snare set tension adjustment becomes limited and inconsistent. The drum loses range. It loses nuance.
Classic snare beds are designed for maximum latitude—allowing precise control over snare wire tension and accommodating extended configurations such as the Presence™ 42-strand system.
Sensitivity is not an accident. It is engineered.
I have never tuned a set of drums. I tension them. This is more than semantics.
Drums are not bound to fixed notes in the way tuned melodic instruments are. What matters is not absolute pitch, but relationship—intervals between voices. This is where expression lives.
Understanding tension is understanding control.
Understanding intervals is understanding music.
Since 1989, my work has never been about following trends.
I do not build “lifestyle” instruments. I build tools for expression. Instruments of permanence.
I remember what it felt like—to walk into a drum shop for the first time, to feel the weight of a well-made instrument, to imagine what was possible. That sweet emotion still matters.
And it still drives everything I do.
A drum should not limit the player.
It should reveal them.