Organisers are thrilled to welcome Zebra Drums to the debut of The Europe Drum Show, that takes place on the 29th & 30th March 2025 at Messe Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Zebra Drums is a small company owned and run by Sjoerd van den Beuken, which specialises in the making of handcrafted solid stave free floating drums.
“These drums have a different approach to almost everything than a conventional drum does. I build these drums from an engineering point of view together with some plain simple logic. I always imagined building a drum that could offer more to the drummer. More in sound, tuning, tuning range and playability. I found a way by making my own shells, redesigning the free floating concept and creating a revolutionary new suspension.”
“I take great pride in building the most resonating and stable stave shell as I can. Building a stave shell isn’t hard, but building it well is hard. By well I mean that it is durable. It took me 5 years to perfect the shell, by that I mean until I was satisfied with the result. In my opinion all shells have to look flawless, inside and out. What distinguishes my shells from others?”
“Each shell is carefully made with a strong stave shell construction from a hand picked selection of woods. Very special care is given and much effort is made in creating a stable thin shell without using reinforcement rings. Every stave is glued together with a special interlocking fingerjoint. This way you can build a much thinner shell (as thin as 5mm!).”
“All shells are only made using quartersawn staves. When inspecting my shells you will not ever see the normal grain pattern (flame-like grain). You will only see straight grain patterns (straight grains always alternate in dark and light stripes, hence the name Zebra), comparable to the neck of guitars. This way soundwaves travel better through the wood, which again improves sound characteristics.”
“Every shell I make is finished inside and out. Especially the insides and bearing edges of the shell are important. After some research I made my own recipe of special wax to seal and finish the insides and bearing edges to create a barrier so moisture can’t penetrate. This again improves the stability of the shell.”
“There is this conception that stave shells are always loud and have thick shells. In most cases that is true but with my unique thin shells this could not be further from the truth. This all has to do with the way my shells are constructed. That is not to say that if you wanted a thick shell this wouldn’t be possible! It’s possible to choose from a number of shell thicknesses, depending on the style you play and what you desire in a snare drum. This is something we can discuss about together and come with a type of shell suited to your needs.”
Mapex will be appearing at The Europe Drum Show with a range of drums and snares for you to try. Catering for a variety of players from beginners to pros, [...]
