Well, I had a chance to speak with Chris Ward this afternoon. As you may already be aware, Chris is the General Mgr. of Sigler music center and co-designer of the Custom Classic drum line. First let me say that Chris is a top notch guy. Honest, very straight forward and committed to building Custom Classic drums to very high standards. The same pleasant, knowledgeable person we have all seen in the YouTube and Ebay videos is the very same person I spoke to on the phone today. ! A class act!
In this conversation I was able to find out about some things that are on the horizon and currently in the works with Custom Classic.

There is alot more to creating a line of drums than just making a phone call to a factory and saying "Send me 225 of those"
More than just slapping a badge on a cookie cutter drum set. These kits, while they may slightly resemble kits by other big name manu-
facturers, are truly Custom Classic drums! The Pro Birch Hybrid is the brainchild of Steve Lane. You may recognize Steve as the demo drummer on the CC YouTube videos. But Mr Lane is also in charge of Sigler music center's e-commerce sales. Another true gentleman.. I had the pleasure of speaking directly with Steve when I ordered my new Hybrid! Quick shout out to Steve and a congrats as his daughter is due to deliver him a grandchild on the 15th of this month. Congratulations Grandpa!

This was a very pleasant and informative phone conversation with Mr. Ward where I was able to express some of the concerns that a few CC owners on these boards, as well as others that have PM'd me on and other drummer forums had expressed. As I reiterated these issues to him,
I was pleased to hear Chris thanking us for reminding him that he needed to address these issues on his next trip to the CC manufacturing facility in China. All future runs of CC drums will be fitted with heavier duty hinged floor tom brackets and the snare stand should be seeing a cast (?) basket cinch nut instead of the current plastic one! Chris is also going to visit another manufacturer in China that works with maple shell lay ups and discussing the re introduction of the insanely popular Pro Maple 6! Now that is exciting! PM6 owners know what those drums are all about!
This shows us that this forum is a viable tool not only to educate each other and potential CC owners, but also to be a platform to point out issues we may be having with regard to our Custom Classic gear. We have spoken, and Custom Classic is listening. I will be having another
telephone conversations with Chris Ward and with Steve Lane in late October, when Chris and Sigler owner Randy McFarland return to the states from their trip to China. I will be sure to inform you of any further developments.

There are some steps to be taken, but Chris (Ward) and Steve (Lane) are very smart businessmen and in due time, things will fall into place. We just may be seeing a more complete line of Custom Classic gear in the future! Custom Classic drums are not your average "run of the mill', slap on a badge - cookie cutter drum sets that are sold all over the internet. No. They are bona fide, high quality intermediate/semi pro level musical instruments that fit into a price point not seen in major manufacturers offerings of drums with the same quality spec! Don't let the low price fool into thinking these kits are just beginner drum sets. Custom Classic is the real DEAL!

Thanks again Chris and Steve! It was a real pleasure speaking to you both today! Can't wait for my new KIT!
There will be further updates when Chris arrives back from China later this month!! Stay tuned!
**Also, watch for the launch of http://customclassicdrums.com/ very soon [center][center]

Cool stuff. Thanks for the update, James. Exciting news to be sure. Am looking forward to Sigler once again offering up a Maple shell kit. Should be as popular or more so than the first line was I hope. Any hints on future hardware improvements? I have the original CC line of hard ware and they are still as tight as when they were new. Very stout. But I've read that the current hardware line is somewhat less than that. Which seems to be the only negative that is ever mentioned about these kits. Cheers and thanks again.

I've met Steve Lane in other aspects and talked with him before buying my Hybrids and I can attest that he is a heckuva nice guy. In fact I have always had good service at Siglers by any of the employees I have dealt with.

I want to make clear that even though I have commented on a few things pertaining to the hardware were not what in my opinion call heavy duty or even medium duty, I believe that for the price the hardware is still a good value. In fact for what the hardware package would cost I would have given that for the hi hat stand, bass pedal, and cymbal stands alone gladly.

James when you get those Hybrids in I guarantee you are going to be bouncing off the ceiling! I have seen the drums at the local store and that finish is beautiful. Everytime I set mine up I still think "I can't belive these cost only $500!!!".

My next goal is to get a jazz set up in cherry fade...if the wife will let me!!!

Man, this is so cool! I feel like I'm participating in the birth of a new superstar in the drum world! I feel strongly that CC is on the right path to being a major player in the market, and I'm proud that our input here is being used to shape their offering.

I've done some more playing on my kit, and though I have previously complained about the snare stand, I can say that it's fine once you set it up. I only see the snare stand being a problem for gigging, where it is broken down and set up frequently. At any rate, it's nice to hear that they are going to address the issue. There's absolutely no reason to have this outstanding problem when it can be fixed easily and probably cheaply. Regarding all the other H\W, honestly I think it's perfectly fine the way it is! I would have liked to receive two boom stands instead of one, as I'm having to play around with the tom mount on the straight stand to get my crash in place while also placing the 10" tom where I want it. But, hey, that is a small gripe and one that will be resolved in time. I have also previously expressed some concerns that the hi-hat pedal was going to stick, but these concerns have all been dispelled. The hi-hat stand works just fine........better than fine, actually!

I sure am glad I ordered the Sunset kit, since it did include the new round hinged floor tom legs brackets. I'm not sure what the problem was with the previous brackets, but I can tell you I have no issue whatsoever with these round ones!

Oh, by the way, I'm loving the bass pedal too! I would stack this pedal up against anything else out there in the sub $150ish range any day.

Yeah.. it's kind of exciting! I will have my Hybrids by the 20th! WOOT!

Oh my, you are going to be so giddy when you get your acoustic kit! I played an electronic kit for a short while, and it just ain't the same as playing acoustic. Nothing can replace the visceral satisfaction of playing real drums and cymbals! Oh, the cymbals, that may be what I missed most when I had the E-kit! I also missed being able to better control sound levels, and in general the subtle nuances of acoustic drumming.

Yeah.. I found a buyer for my Pearl Vision VX kit.. that will be gone on the 15th and some of the proceeds from that sale will go to the Hybrids!!

What the designers of Custom Classic are trying to do here (IMO) is offer (among others) the working drummer on a budget a viable alternative to the higher priced big- name- brand equipment. There are alot of drummers that won't deviate from the norm. I was on the fence for a few months before I decided to pull the trigger on the Pro Birch Jazz. Taking that chance and not really knowing what to expect started this love affair for CC.
Knowing what it takes Chris and his team to have these kits built just deepens my respect for the brand.

Hold your heads high! Custom Classic drums are truly the real deal. ...prolly the best kept secret (so far) in the drumming world!

The same problems you've just addressed are those very same problems I was concerned about
When can I expect for these changes in design to come into effect?
Also, any more news from Steve and Chris?

Hey Don...

Chris is due back from the CC factory in China any day now and I will be in contact with him shortly thereafter to get any updates he may have. The floor tom leg brackets on my PBH are the upgraded, hinged heavier duty units that are replacing the previous models that had some problems with the wing screws stripping out. As far as the snare basket cinch nut being plastic..Chris Ward and Randy McFarland (Sigler owner) are bringing this up at the factory.

I have the CC hardware and after spraying the basket pivots and tier wing nuts with a penetrating lubricant, the stand is ROCK SOLID! No worries! I would recommend the hardware pack along with the drums in a second!

Alright thanks
Can't wait to hear if anything is going to be changed.. IF so, it just might be worth waiting for..

I was going to buy the 7 piece birch set but they were out of stock. my son wanted to get the 6 piece maple but out of stock. so I called sigler they said they would be back in stock in a month. this was many months ago. so finally we gave up waiting and moved on to a used pearl mc maple 7 piece and the gretsch catalina 6 piece maple. we just figured since they never got them in again and they even took the videos off that they were probably out of business on the drums and just selling off the rest of their stock, its a shame as we would have bought 2 sets but I cant wait forever and they should not have been out of stock for so long thats bad business to me. there was a lot of promoting going on other sites ie people talking about how great they were and all but you cant sell them if you dont have them in stock

thanks for the welcome
The videos were on the siglar music website
I dont really care for the hybrids sound. thats why I didnt get them. I prefer the more tradional sizes. glad your happy with them.

But I have to disagree with you guys on the business side of these drums. as they are in their infancy and they are trying to get the name recognized what good is all that if you cant supply them. they are going to get a bad name. as a business man if they are selling that good wouldnt you want to always keep some in stock and I would be on the manufacturer like a coat of paint to get me more. and if they couldnt supply them find another. you just cant stay out of stock for this long and expect to get a good name out of it sorry not trying to start an arguement this whole thing just doesnt sit right with me it just doesnt make sense.

chewy,

No worries, and no arguments here. You have a valid gripe, and nobody can blame you if it doesn't sit well. I totally get it.

But what's more important here is that you have some kick-a$$ Pearl and Gretsch stuff now! All that matters at the end of the day is that you have drums, but it's definitely Sigler's loss!

Sigler's isn't the first company to do this. Sometimes suppliers don't meet the deadlines as promised and get the product to the store. I remember trying to buy a Ruger 9mm pistol once and for nine months they were behind production because they were more popular than expected. Swapping suppliers is hard when the product is only made from one company.