Memorial Day Weekend

Well another memorial day weekend is upon us. That glorious American invention the 3 day weekend is upon us. They'll be picnic's, Barbeque's, impromdu cookout's perhaps even a sperm of the moment trip down the shore. Who knows what is in store for you this weekend.

For me I already know. My invitations to the parties must have gotton lost in the mail. So they'll be no picnics, or barbies for me this weekend, I have decided to give my kit a good cleaning. I have some cymbal stackers I wanna add. I also want to swap out a few of my cymbals and perhaps reconfigure some of my set up. I also want to lubricate my double kick pedal ( it;s got a little but noticable squeek) When your doing studio work that kinda noise is absolutelty forbbiden. Better to address the issue now than at a studio that charges $75 pr Hr while you fix something you knew you needed to adress.

Depending how motivated I am I may begin to polish and clean my kit. Nothing like the toms sparkling and the chrome shinning. Cymbal stands gleaming and the cymbals blemish free. It is a sight to behold. Were gonna do another poll. I think polls are an excellent way of getting some two way conversation going between yours Truly and my blog readers.

The only hassle about cleaning and or tunning my kit is that it is gigantic. In Fact this is the largest kit I have ever used. I currently have 13 toms , 22 cymbals ( more when I'm done today) a double kick pedal I have another single kick pedal for a cowbell. I have both a standard and remote cable HH. When you really get into cleaning a monstrocity like that it's a commitment. There is a certain satisfaction you get from having your instrument sparkle. It's like when you clean your car it seems to run better. Drum's are the same way clean your kit and the Aurua of the living things a kit is made up from rapture in a harmonic confluence and that exersize you were having trouble with is gone poof!!

Anyway gonna go do some parradidles with my feet for a little bit and then I'm gonna start to work on my kit. You guys have a great weekend and until next time T

My Surgery is getting close

Hey Gang ! It's T. My surgery draws closer and a little more nervouse I get. Don't get me wrong I don't think I'm gonna die, but there's just something about getting sliced opened and having a few feet of intestines removed just doesn't sit well with me now, as long as this helps my chronic stomach issue's it will all be worth while.



In yesterdays post I aplogised profusely to the customers who's products shipment has been delayed. Once again I feel compelled to do so again. I only hope all those effected are understanding. When we opened shop one of the things I really wanted to do was have lightning fast shipment. While the vast majority of our packages do leave our facility quickly, when they do not I really take it to heart. I have decided that at minumum a part timer who can fill in when I'm not here and is capable of filling and shipping orders on his own is a must. We've gotten to big for just one guy.

Now a little update about what's directly ahead of Cymbals & Snares. The biggest development of course is our own website. I spoke at lenght to the owner of the company today and they are ready to go, so this weekend sometime I will meet with the design team to discuss layout, color combinations all kinds of cool stuff. I'm getting really excited about this, Our own website will be at the center of the Cymbals & Snares universe.

Product wise you will see an expansion of cannon and TKO stands. Both companies are a bit under the radar but they make excellent quality stands and gear. They are one of the classic "Other Name brands" we speak of. Great quality and very affordable pricing. The presence of Taye will increase we will be adding entry level snares along with some of their mid-range snares. We also will be carrying once again Taye's innovative Snare " Boom" stand along with some of their award winning bass drum pedals. We are not gonna announce the addition of any new products until we have them in. But keep checking our Blog for once a box is delivered we will announce the Brand and or product. We are looking for an exciting summer and fall selling seasoned. Be good everyone Till next time T

Were having a temporary Shut down till July 1st.

Hey Everyone It's T, Your favorite internet percussion retailor. I come to you tonight in a very meloncholey mood. Anyone who know's my company and has talked to me know's. For those of you who don't know let me enlighten you. I have had a chronic stomach condition. It's a combination of some really bad Ulcers, one of which burst last month and several more that are near poping. On top of that I have a chronic intestinal infection which has gotten worse. For three years doctors have been guessing as to exactly what I have. They think they have it narrowed down to a thing called H. Pyloauria problem is there are many variants of this infection. So they need to scope me and biopsie the infection to determine what strain it is so they can effectively treat my strain.



Since April 1st I have been in the hospital 2 times both were for over a week. On may 9th I went back into the hospital I wound up catching a staph infection and wound up in the hospital for 15 days. I just got out a few days ago. Quite frankly my freinds I can't take this any more. When my ulcers flair the pain can be unbearable. This has been going on for three years, time to figure out what's wrong with me. Among other things I have a business to run and it's now effecting that. This I cannot have. I have worked long and hard to build this business. I have worked diligently to build a reputation I can be proud of I have worked hard to build a reputation for excellent customer service which I'm proud to point out we now have over 500 feedbacks in our Ebay store and a 100% satisfaction rating. That doesn't come by doing nothing.





After this latest stay in the hospital the doctors have decided to do two things. For the Ulcers the ones that are bleeding or near bleeding for lact of a better way to explain it they are going to courdirse ( burn them) closed. and for the intestinal issue's the most infected part of my intestines are bye-bye. They are going to remove about 2 feet of infected tissue and then use an aggresive policy of strong anti-biotics on the remaining infection. I have been advised it can take upwards of a year to cure the intestinal infection. To say I'm exsasperated or distraught is an understatement. It has lead me to do some heavy thinking and I have made some descions.





First the recuperation period is a few weeks. During this time Cymbals & Snares will be moving into a better facility. I have come to the conclusion it would be impossible to maintain the level of service our customers have expected of us. Infact we are currently behind on orders placed while I was in the hospital during the last two weeks. We need to apologise to those customers and get them their products asap. As a company were in between a rock and a hard place. Were way to big and busy for one guy to run but just shy of being able to hire some help. I think we need to hire atleast 1 part timer to help out and be able to continue to operate the company at the most basic level in case I get sick again. Were just gonna have to bite the bullet and do it. We can always find some stuff for him/her to do.





With our impending move and my surgery I have decided to have a month long shut down. I just don't see any way around it. I refuse to allow our customer service be effected more than it has been already. During the shut down we will also be able to do some much needed upgrades if we are to succesfully continue our growth as a company. They say hindsight is everything, I had I knew this last stay was going to be over two weeks I would have considered earlier to stop taking orders. It looked like it was only gonna be a few days and then I caught a staph infection which laid me up for another week. You cannot imagine how draining something like this is. You ache and simply have no stregnth.



To our customers who are awaiting shipment of their product's rest assure they will be shipped out shortly. I have a freind who also runs an Ebay business, he has voluntered to assist me in packing and shipping out the orders that are waiting. With any luck everything will be packed and either shipped or ready to ship over this long holiday weekend. I also owe those of you waiting for products a huge apology. I attempted to send out a few emails from the hospital on a freinds laptop but I was so doped up it was impossible. I ask for your understanding and your forgiveness. If you look at our feedback you can clearly see this is a anomoly. We do not do business like this. You can't imagine how upset I am at delaying your product shipment. I ask once again for your forgiveness.



When we re-open on July 1st they'll be some changes. Some of the old brands are gonna be gone and we'll be adding some new ones. Our own proprietary website is under construction and will debut sometime in late july or early August. We will be adding more hardware, more snare drums, another brand or two of Cymbals. ( don't worry Wuhan, Silken and Diril aren't going anywhere) We are also adding a whole new department : ELECTRONICS !! we will initially be offering Drum mic's and drum mic packages and of course all the accesories mic clips, cables ect,ect. We will be moved into our new warehouse space . Along with our very succesful You Tube channel we will be utilizing our blog more than ever hopefully as a way to keep communications with our customers open and a two way street.



Right from the start when I founded Cymbals & Snares I knew what my vision was. Our tagline " Home of the Other Name Brands" would be the foundation of our whole company. Selling the smaller name, lesser known brands who's quality is excellent and their prices reasonable. Those of us ( I'm one too ) who are drawn by that are a little different than the average player. Where not looking just for sales were trying to develope a home on the web for all those who shop at C & S. Our Ebay store, Our You Tube channel Our Blog and our soon to be opened Website are all components in this. We must be connecting to someone we've had over 1,200 satisfied customers so far . 48,000 Video views on our You Tube channel in 3 months ! It's thinking of that , which is what pulled me through this last prolonged stay in the hospital.



Everything C & S does we do with our customers in mind. We are striving to create a home on the web for US the Cymbals & Snares Family. Please feel free to comment , make a suggestion call me a dickhead, but participate with out sales and just as important imput from you who are reading this we can wind up just another Drumshop. We are trying to utilize todays technology to develope a drumshop like no other. Give us a hand if we succed we all will benefit from it. I'm getting tired folks so there's what's been going on. I will keep everyone posted diligently over the next few weeks. Thank You and God Bless T

Breaking The " Herd " Mentality.

Today I'd like to discuss the "herd" mentality that exsist in the percussion world. We all know drummers who are subject to such thinking. I have a freind who is stricken with that mentality. He is a fanatical devotee to certain brands. For instance he will not consider playing any cymbal That is not a ( No free promotion for anyone )let's just say brand X. Now the big Cymbal and Drum companies spend millions of dollars a year for advertizing. They also go to great legnth's to have an impressive roster of endorcers. So the herd mentality is created and maintained by them. They love guy's like my freind, who will purchase brand X cymbal's at any price. Maybe that's why they can charge what they do for cymbal's. The same goes for the big drum companies. It's essentially the same story. If more people would at least look at the alternatives and give them a chance maybe the big guys would lower their prices. Believe me as a Percussion retailor there's room for movement by the big drum & cymbal companies. They just don't do it because they don't have to.
When your a company like us ( Cymbals & Snares ) and you intentionally specialize in Alternative brands, and not carry any of the major brands. We automatically lose drummers who are like my freind. An entire segment of the drumming world is eliminated as potential customers. This means we need to work harder to attract those of you who are willing to think out of the box about brands. It takes time to get your company name out there and takes time to develope a reputation amongst drummers as the place to go for the " Other Name Brands". Slowly but surely we are getting there. We have been in business for 18 months name recognition and the products associated with it will take some time to accomplish. It's time we are willing to put in. We have recieved so many emails praising our approach to the percussion scene I know were onto something, I know were on the right track.
Still, I wish there were a way, an approach I could use on the brand loyal drummers to at least look at different brands. I believe the only way for them to even look at a different brand would be if there were some financial constraits put on them. Like a baby, buy a new house or a job loss. Even at that I know guys who would either just wait until the situations changes or look into purchasing used Cymbals. God forbid you consider something less expensive, or a different brand. Who ever said or where is it written that a good pair of Hi-hat's must cost around $300 and up ? It kinda makes you wonder about some drummer's you know. How easily they dismiss anything that isn't brand X.
There is hope on the horizon. With the proliferation of Cymbal and drum companies today and the ease these other companies can be accessed, I think the super brand loyal drummer is a declining group. Our email and the various drum forums are full of stories and posts that refrence the fact at one time they were strickly X brand drum's or Cymbal's until I found brand Z. As the major Drum and Cymbal companies face a slew of competitor's which will inevitably begin to nibble at there market share. The big guys have a few options in which to fight back. One is the most obvious a price cut. Make your Cymbal's more affordable again, make a smaller profit per unit which will probably be offset by larger sales. They also can buy their competitors and shut them down. I see the second option as not being very popular with the drumming community as a whole. This may back fire and cause many drummers to harbor Ill will towards the offending company. Drummers can be a funny lot sometimes. You never know exactly how the drumming community will act as a whole in any given situation.
Since Cymbals & Snares opened it's cyber door weve sold our "Other Name Brands" products to well over 1,000 customers. We have a perfect feedback of 100%. So there is obviously a good size market already in place for what we are doing. That's not to take away from our efforts to help develope this niche also. We have put a ton of man hours into everything from getting our business liscence and tax ID # to listing our product's. writing description's taking Video's working on our Store and our ancillary supporting sites such as You Tube and Blogger. The list goes on and on. Those of you who are willing to give the smaller guys a shot and have done business with us, already know how good and affordable some products can be. Those of you who are brand loyal we just ask you just take a look at we have to offer. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you see and hear. Until next time everyone....... T

Spring is Here !!

Hey Everyone It's T, President of Cymbals & Snares with our latest blog. Everytime I make a post I always says were gonna start to blog a few times a month. I haven't quite lived up to that promise but I assure you I'm working on it. Our Ebay store and our YOU TUBE channel really keep me busy. Plus I'm not gonna elaborate but things in my personal life have seen better days, None the less Blogger is a excellent platform for keeping Our customers, Newsletter subscribers, YT subscribers and freinds updated about the goings on of everyone's favorite Internet percussion site Cymbals & Snares.
We ended the first quarter of 2010 very strong. Our numbers were up signifigantly over 2009. However sales in the opening weeks of the second quarter were a little slower than we'd like, but as the weather starts to break we confident sales will pick up. We've signed up with a new vendor TMP inc. Our first products from them are " On Stage" drumsticks. These are an excellent line of stick's. Available in a variety of weights and sizes as well as wood types. Hickory select, Maple and North American Hickory these are very comprable to bigger name brand sticks but at C & S their far cheaper. Check them out. TMP also carries various brands of drum mic's. We are currently working with our sales rep to figure out which ones we will be stocking.
Our Website is comming. I know you've heard this before. This time we have signed a contract with a very reputable local web design/hosting company who will begin development of our own proprietary website. Were very excited about this. This will not effect our Ebay operation at all. It will join our Ebay store,our YOU TUBE site and of course our Blogger site in the C & S family of sites. We are building our company and Internet presence one site at a time. This will be a key addition and will be by the end of the year our flagship site. We will keep you updated as the site develops.
In a constant effort to bring you new product's we at C & S are constantly evaluating and talking to new companies. Look for a re-newed Taye drums presence by early summer as well as several new companies products C & S will be carrying. We don't wanna tip our hat just yet because until we sign the contract ain't nothin a done deal. Our main focus is to get spring sales moving and our number one priority over the next month to six weeks is to get our Website up and running. So we will be pretty busy. That's gonna be all for this Blog look for our next one sometime around the May 22nd. Thanks everyone T.