DRUMANDSTAGE FORUM

SQ2's do not, but the UPID number sticker allows for looking it up on the configurator.

krusher74 wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 10:33 am

If I were back in retail, I would be cursing Sonor for them. It's just an over-complicated thing to tell a customer and then explain in a way that does not sound like sales bullshit. Those are conversations that make customers want to "go away and think about it" code for I'm now confused or think you are bullshiting me and won't be coming back.
Just telling them they can have birch /beech or maple in a mismatch would be somthing i would not mention unless necessary.

Do you think? I'd have genuinely thought most, if not all, German made Sonor stuff wouldn't need any sales push at all. Do people really go to a store and say 'I wanna buy a drum kit that costs as much as a small car, but I've no idea which one, sell them to me!' and then expect a sales person to have to do a pitch on whichever product it is?

Maybe buying stuff here is different, but regardless of which brand it is, by the time it's decent money, I'd expect 100% of buyers here to know what they want before walking in, or at least have done heaps of research and want to talk through and understand specific points. Maybe want to actually hear the difference between shell type A vs shell type B. Regardless, the choice is almost made and the money is virtually spent.

In those circumstances I don't think the odd shell depths or the 'you can have any one of three woods for each drum' thing is going to stop buying, more just want to know more before buying.

Dave, while I think you are correct to a huge degree, I also think that if people walked into a store without being locked in on what they wanted and a high end Sonor drum set was set up, with good heads and properly tuned, it would be totally advantageous for future Sonor sales. We are all hard core Sonor guys, largely. We don't need selling. But, Sonor is really missing out on sales over and above that by the simple fact that people that DON'T get what Sonor is about and walk into the store and put their hands, and sticks on a set.

I have given up on the KHS American team giving a rip about me and what I am trying to do, so I am going to stop trying to be politically correct and just call the USA end f things as I see them.

In the USA, the Sonor brand/product line is managed by a team that also manages a competing drum company. Unlike when I was a dealer and we had to buy a diverse product array. I had to get a bit of the Asian stuff, I think I had to have an S Class Pro AND a Delite AND a Designer, plus some hardware items and seems like at least two Artist Series snares.

NOW, it's my understanding that you can get whatever you want with a $5,000 buy in, plus order and SQ2 - OR - you can split it up with Mapex and still have the $5,000 buy in. 20 something years ago to be an upper level dealer (I don't think they have levels anymore) you had to actually have a good representation. But, from what I have seen these days, since it's the corporate mentality of clumping as much crap under as few people as possible; one might surmise that it all boils down to profits, and as long as the drums division numbers are good; corporate is happy.

Granted, KHS America is really doting on and taking really good care of the Sonor Artists, which was severely lacking in days of old, and lost Sonor many endorsers. Maybe just the brand recognition through the endorsers is the sales numbers they need so that having the goods out where folks can see and put their hands on the gear isn't necessary.

Sonor, and parent company Hohner are both old companies with a much different ideology than you expect from modern businesses, so maybe they are fine with just holding their own. It seems to have been working so far, so maybe they are getting exactly what they want from the US in terms of sales.

DaveInNZ wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 5:29 pm

krusher74 wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 10:33 am

If I were back in retail, I would be cursing Sonor for them. It's just an over-complicated thing to tell a customer and then explain in a way that does not sound like sales bullshit. Those are conversations that make customers want to "go away and think about it" code for I'm now confused or think you are bullshiting me and won't be coming back.
Just telling them they can have birch /beech or maple in a mismatch would be somthing i would not mention unless necessary.

Do you think? I'd have genuinely thought most, if not all, German made Sonor stuff wouldn't need any sales push at all. Do people really go to a store and say 'I wanna buy a drum kit that costs as much as a small car, but I've no idea which one, sell them to me!' and then expect a sales person to have to do a pitch on whichever product it is?

Maybe buying stuff here is different, but regardless of which brand it is, by the time it's decent money, I'd expect 100% of buyers here to know what they want before walking in, or at least have done heaps of research and want to talk through and understand specific points. Maybe want to actually hear the difference between shell type A vs shell type B. Regardless, the choice is almost made and the money is virtually spent.

In those circumstances I don't think the odd shell depths or the 'you can have any one of three woods for each drum' thing is going to stop buying, more just want to know more before buying.

Anything and everything can happen in retail, as Jules said we are the 1% of overeducated Sonor nerds and the average Sonor buyer is not us.

Retail ranges from the guy who does not even have a job that will come in weekly and waste hours of your time talking about his dream sonor he will never own to the mom that shows up in her brand new rangerover and want the best drum you have for her boy who just decided he is going to be a rock star. The average is somwhere on the middle but they are not as educated on the product as you would expect.