I want to learn more about these drums. Ive seen International touring bands who use this brand (not available in Australia) and they are one of the best sounding kits Ive ever heard. I had to fight my way to the front of a mosh to try and check out what drums I was listening to. And Ive heard them on recordings too. BRILLIANT! I got a quote over the net for my dream set-up....Way out of my price range for now... Something about them which I cant explain.....


Your thoughts??

I'm from Vancouver and know a bit about them. Ray Ayotte ran a store here called Drums Only! it was THE drum store in vancouver in the 70's and 80's. Ray started making his own custom drums around that time, eventually they closed the store and went strictly into production of custom drums. I've never owned a set but have played many shows where they were supplied with the back line and they are great playing and sounding drums.Ayotte were on the frontline of custom orders back in the day. The last I heard Ray Ayotte now works with Taye drums, hope this sheds a bit of light. cheers!

I have an Ayotte Custom with 22x18 bass drum, then 8,10,12,14,16 toms.

As with a lot of custom drum makers you get what you pay for, and specify exactly what you want, so in terms of investment the idea is that you wouldnt need another drumkit, unfortunately I can never resist a bargain....

As for sound, the bass drum mic'd is awesome, i've played loads of different kits from the usual suspects (Pearl, Tama as well as your DW's, OCDP, Spaun) and this thing is something else, it tunes dead easy and you can get any sound you want out of it. The toms feel great to play (you ever find kits that just 'feel' right when you hit em?) unfortunately, I havent had them properly mic'd with a decent sound guy yet (only had em a little while) but they project really well.

Another thing Ayotte have kinda made their own is the wood-hoops (although there is quite a few companys that are now using these)Depending on what kinda music you play and what sound you want, these are worth checking out if you can find somewhere to get some sticks near em, really brings out the tone of the tom

If you're struggling to get the full custom job, have a look at their 'pro' line...its the same drums, made the same way, but you buy them as a pre-designed package. You might find your ideal set up is already listed, and will save you a penny or two

Only issue i've had is trying to tune the 16", but I think the only issue with that is because I have the 14" tuned so low (these babies can really rumble) I'm finding trying to get the 16" lower is difficult without it beginning to sound a bit - baggy if you know what i mean.

Love 'em though, great sounding kit and always makes me smile in a sound check

Thanks for that input. The drummer for Our Lady Peace uses them and his drums sound brilliant on their recordings. The 1st drummer in Nickelback also used them and had the best live sound Ive heard for a while!