Whitney Drums

Whitney Drums makes what are arguably the most unique cocktail kits in this article. Featuring “fat-in-the-middle” Penguin shells (2" larger than the head diameter), these drums boast a completely unique lug-less design. The drums are very lightweight (just 18 lbs. for the three drums), and have 3-ply all-birch shells with 9-ply birch collars and 6-ply birch bearing edges with a rounded cut.

Whitney’s Sidekick Penguin set can be played while sitting down and includes three drums that function as four since the 15" x 14" “kicktom” bass drum doubles as the floor tom. There’s also a separate 12" x 5" snare drum with real throw-off and a 10" x 7" tom. All three drums mount on a single cymbal stand and cleverly don’t require legs for the vertical bass drum so this kit will take up less floor space than most.

More incredibly, the drums actually nest inside one another for ease in transport – simply remove four thumbscrews on the kicktom and pack the snare and mounted tom inside it. The complete set of hardware includes a DW5000S Sidekick pedal (which Whitney designed for DW), a cymbal stand with hardware for mounting the drums and two cymbals, blankets for the nested drums, and a padded bag for drums and another for the hardware. The drums come in a variety of lacquer finishes and wood hoops for a factory-direct price of $1,899 with wood hoops, or $1,749 for chrome hoops.