Sonor History
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2025 7:53 pm
Horst Link interview from 1985 issue of Modern Drummer.
“It is Sonor's range of drumkits and the company's dedicated, but possibly slightly controversial, approach to drum design that will be of most interest to readers of Modern Drummer. Sonor makes five different ranges of drums. They are, starting at the top: Signature (Heavy and Light), Sonorlite, Phonic, Phonic Plus, and Performer. For the purposes of instant recognition (the other differences will be dealt with as we go along), the Signature series has the gold badge, the Sonorlite series has the black badge, the Phonic series and Phonic Plus series have the silver badge, and the Performer series has a silver badge with a yellow flash below the logo. There would be a tendency for any potential customer to line up, in his or her mind, this range of drumkits alongside the products of any other company that makes a range of four or more different-quality kits and start thinking in terms of equivalents.
Sorry, but this just can't be done! In Europe, Sonor's Phonic/Phonic Plus range (the third one down!), which the company describes as the "foundation" of their program, is slightly more expensive than most British, American, or Japanese kits aimed at the professional end of the market. This means that they have two ranges that go beyond this level. The Performer is cheaper, but it is hardly a budget kit, being priced somewhere between anybody else's professional and mid-range kits. In America, Sonor drums are even more expensive, so the ratio becomes even more extreme. You could almost say that Sonor starts at the point where other drum companies leave off. Why?
I had a round-table discussion with Horst, Andreas, and Oliver Link, and also Steve Gardner, Director of Sonor UK, the British marketing operation, who gave the salesman's viewpoint. Horst Link explained their approach to quality in manufacturing. "We don't try to compete with the big manufacturers, like the Japanese, in terms of quantity; we compete with quality. We maintain a quality that is better and has a higher standard than anything else. Our drums are expensive there's no doubt about that-but we have no intention of making compromises. We will never sacrifice quality for a cheaper price. You might suggest that, if we brought the price down, we could sell more drums, but we can't bring the price down and maintain the quality. We would rather sell fewer drums than compromise in this way.
The idea of the Signature series was for us to come out with a drumkit that couldn't be made better. It should really be the best! Forget the price. Even if it was so expensive that nobody could afford it, we just wanted to build the best. We never intended it as a big seller, but as it turned out, it exceeded all our expectations. For the home market, we sell more Phonic, Phonic Plus, and Performer kits, but in other countries where we are 'in the lions' den' and the competition is greater, like America and Japan, the Signature is the best-selling kit in our whole range. There is also the fact that we sell more kits in America than anywhere else, so you can see how successful it has become."
Sonor buys a few small components such as screws, threaded bolts, small pressed items, and the rubber feet for stands. Three thousand different raw materials come into the factory, and they are used in the manufacture of 2,000 different parts. As certain parts are used for more than one item, they actually produce 2,800 different finished products.
It is part of Sonor's policy to manufacture "in series," in order to ensure that they always have enough manufactured items in stock to meet any orders that come in. This means that they will produce enough of the items that they have to tool up for at any one time, so that the relatively straightforward procedure of assembling them can be done quickly and efficiently on demand. This also means that a customer won't have to wait months, until the next time the production line is making a drumshell of a particular size. The shell can just be taken from stock, covered if necessary, and assembled.”
“It is Sonor's range of drumkits and the company's dedicated, but possibly slightly controversial, approach to drum design that will be of most interest to readers of Modern Drummer. Sonor makes five different ranges of drums. They are, starting at the top: Signature (Heavy and Light), Sonorlite, Phonic, Phonic Plus, and Performer. For the purposes of instant recognition (the other differences will be dealt with as we go along), the Signature series has the gold badge, the Sonorlite series has the black badge, the Phonic series and Phonic Plus series have the silver badge, and the Performer series has a silver badge with a yellow flash below the logo. There would be a tendency for any potential customer to line up, in his or her mind, this range of drumkits alongside the products of any other company that makes a range of four or more different-quality kits and start thinking in terms of equivalents.
Sorry, but this just can't be done! In Europe, Sonor's Phonic/Phonic Plus range (the third one down!), which the company describes as the "foundation" of their program, is slightly more expensive than most British, American, or Japanese kits aimed at the professional end of the market. This means that they have two ranges that go beyond this level. The Performer is cheaper, but it is hardly a budget kit, being priced somewhere between anybody else's professional and mid-range kits. In America, Sonor drums are even more expensive, so the ratio becomes even more extreme. You could almost say that Sonor starts at the point where other drum companies leave off. Why?
I had a round-table discussion with Horst, Andreas, and Oliver Link, and also Steve Gardner, Director of Sonor UK, the British marketing operation, who gave the salesman's viewpoint. Horst Link explained their approach to quality in manufacturing. "We don't try to compete with the big manufacturers, like the Japanese, in terms of quantity; we compete with quality. We maintain a quality that is better and has a higher standard than anything else. Our drums are expensive there's no doubt about that-but we have no intention of making compromises. We will never sacrifice quality for a cheaper price. You might suggest that, if we brought the price down, we could sell more drums, but we can't bring the price down and maintain the quality. We would rather sell fewer drums than compromise in this way.
The idea of the Signature series was for us to come out with a drumkit that couldn't be made better. It should really be the best! Forget the price. Even if it was so expensive that nobody could afford it, we just wanted to build the best. We never intended it as a big seller, but as it turned out, it exceeded all our expectations. For the home market, we sell more Phonic, Phonic Plus, and Performer kits, but in other countries where we are 'in the lions' den' and the competition is greater, like America and Japan, the Signature is the best-selling kit in our whole range. There is also the fact that we sell more kits in America than anywhere else, so you can see how successful it has become."
Sonor buys a few small components such as screws, threaded bolts, small pressed items, and the rubber feet for stands. Three thousand different raw materials come into the factory, and they are used in the manufacture of 2,000 different parts. As certain parts are used for more than one item, they actually produce 2,800 different finished products.
It is part of Sonor's policy to manufacture "in series," in order to ensure that they always have enough manufactured items in stock to meet any orders that come in. This means that they will produce enough of the items that they have to tool up for at any one time, so that the relatively straightforward procedure of assembling them can be done quickly and efficiently on demand. This also means that a customer won't have to wait months, until the next time the production line is making a drumshell of a particular size. The shell can just be taken from stock, covered if necessary, and assembled.”