ABOUT HARD BOP DRUMS:
About Us.
 Hard Bop Drums is currently the only company in the USA specializing in both Stave and Segment shell drums. We also make some ply-shell kits using Keller Shells' new "Vintage" shell line. As most serious drummers know, there are many 'cookie cutter' drum companies out there using Keller's basic maple shells to build their kits. Since there is very little they can do to separate their sound from all the other minions, they try to distinguish themselves by offering extravagant (and often times WILD) drum finishes, GIANT holes in their drums and other such gimmicks. At Hard Bop Drums, we take pride in our integrity as we are all about making THE finest sounding and highest quality custom drums on the market. Hard Bop Drums is first-and-foremost about sound and we strive to find the finest materials available to build our customers the best sounding drums available anywhere.
Our Staff.
 Rob Schuh: If you wanted to put a label on what Mr. Schuh does at Hard Bop Drums, and wanted to compare him to the music industry, he would be the producer and director all in one. Rob does the finishing on all the kits and snares, layout & drilling for tom brackets and floor tom legs, final drum assembly, shipping logistics, and any number of the little things that are required to make our customers' drum-buying experience go as smoothly as possible. An accomplished professional drummer in his own right, Rob excels at finding the right wood and size combinations that will sound best for what the customer is looking for. He is able to use his 35 years of drumming experience to steer customers in the right direction.
 Tom Schultz: Hailing from Mesa Arizona, Tom has been commissioned to perform all custom bearing edge work, lug drilling and any other woodworking duties that typically go along with building or refurbishing drums. A professional wood worker for over 35 years, he has had his own drum building company (TJS Custom Drums) for over 10 years. In Tom Schultz we have found the best wood worker available for our customers.
Our Philosophy.
 At Hard Bop Drums, we are about more than just building a custom drum kit for our customers. We know that many of our customers may not be certain as to the exact sound they are looking for--or the best choice of materials to fulfill their needs. And with all the misinformation running rampant about various drum shell materials these days, there is much confusion within the industry as to the sound characteristics of particular drum shell materials. Therefore we strive to help our customers find just what they are looking for in a custom drum kit.
 To give an example, Rob was recently contacted by a buyer in Norway who wanted a full Jazz kit in solid Bubinga. While we could have simply built the kit for the customer (at a higher sales price) Rob took the time to discuss the customer's needs. He informed the buyer that while Bubinga is a hard wood that provides the crack & cut needed for snare drums, these qualities would likely result in undesirable characteristics in a full kit as they would simply sound too hard and be too loud for use on a small Jazz kit. Thus the buyer ended up going with a walnut kit and hence constantly RAVES about his drum sound. Conversely, another customer needed a kit that would cut through the band on a loud R&B gig, with good bite and resonance at those volumes. The customer was considering either a Mahogany or a Walnut kit, but after discussion with Rob he decided on a Purpleheart/Bubinga kit. In each instance the extra time invested in the pre-construction planning of the kit resulted in the customer getting THE best possible instrument for his music...and for his money.