Eddie Ryan Custom Drums - Established London 1971

Having a custom made kit allows you to chose the sizes, the finish and holders that you want.  You can not get this from an off the shelf kit. It is like having a suit made at Saville Row or buying one at Burtons!

My new hand made shells are made in the traditional way from Birch ply with solid Maple glue rings which gives the drum a lot of attack. The outside is finished with Maple veneer or indeed any wood of your choice e.g. English Oak, French Walnut, American Ash, Mahogany etc.

The shells are tuned and selected for each individual drummer and the sound that they are striving for eg. A rock player normally likes a deep sound with sustain. So I select shells with a deep tone. A jazz drummer would usually prefer a higher sound with a lot of attack and a crisp sound, especially the snare drum, the bass drum having an open sound. There are many options available. The choice is yours !

Quote from Russell Morgan, drum teacher and session drummer. I made him a kit in 1985 and he had it for 5 years.  He sold it reluctantly to a friend who kept on to him to sell it and bought a Yamaha kit. Sold that and bought a Pearl Kit, sold it bought a Gretsch. Sold it bought a Ludwig, sold it, bought a Sonar.  He rung me in January 2006 and said " I have tried every make of kit but cannot get the same sound as i achieved with your drums!".  I have since made him a new Eddie Ryan kit comprising of 22x15 Bass Drum, 14x10, 12x8 and 10x7 Tom Toms. I am in the process at the moment of making a 13x6 Snare Drum. He keeps ringing me up saying "how marvellous they sound and record".

Recently I was asked to make a reproduction Ajax kit i.e. made in the traditional Ajax way. The result was a 18 x 14 Bass Drum, 14 x 14 & 12 x 8 Tom Toms and a 14 x 4 Pipper Snare. Here is the result!