Over the years, Drum Workshop (DW) has acquired a fantastic reputation for their very high-quality products. From the superb sounds of their drums to their amazing drum finishes, not to mention their industry-leading hardware, DW has worked their notoriety into the practice rooms and stages of virtually every drummer on the scene today. Years ago, similar to other drum companies, DW began developing different levels of their hardware ranging in quality and price for the novice player all the way up to the pro drummer.
| Category | Value | Rating |
| Features | 35% |  |
| Usability | 35% |  |
| Sound | n/a | |
| Documentation & Support | 10% | |
| Price | 20% | |
| OVERALL RATING = 3.3 3.6 stars or better: Outstanding, WIHO Award 3 stars or better: Worth considering 2 stars or better: Suited to specific needs 1 star or less: Not recommended |
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In this review, we looked at a few specific pieces from the mid-priced (in the line) DW 7000 Series. DW sent us a boom cymbal stand, a straight cymbal stand, and a hi-hat stand from this collection.
This set of hardware comprises a well-constructed, lightweight package suitable for any level drummer on the scene. For drummers who don’t require the heft of DW’s flagship 9000 series hardware, the 7000 series provides many of the same advanced hardware features in a significantly lighter-weight package. We may all love the look and feel of double-braced hardware that can withstand gale-force wind while playing an outdoor festival, but if you’re carrying your jazz kit to a lounge gig in Manhattan or London, or moving it in and out of hourly rehearsal rooms with your rock band, lightening the hardware load can be a huge help.
Fortunately, with the 7000-series hardware, you don’t have to give up the features that matter most in terms of flexible configuration — just a little bit of weight in your hardware bag.
Features
The first piece of hardware from this line is the DW CP7700 Boom Cymbal Stand. The stand arrived well packaged and all parts of the stand were pre-connected & assembled. All that was required to do was to raise the stand up to the desired level and adjust the legs at the base. Consistent with the lighter weight of this series (compared with DW’s 9000 series and other pro-level hardware), the 7700 stand features a thin body and single-braced legs. There are two standard areas for making height adjustment (note: this particular stand can raise up to a considerably tall level!) and both areas include sturdy, key-adjusted memory locks.
The top of the stand comprises of a DW swivel head, which could be used for either a straight stand or a transition into a boom stand. Once converted into a boom stand, the boom arm itself is conveniently long for various adjustment choices, and it also contains a smaller, key-adjusted memory lock as well. The end of the boom arm utilizes a DW tech lock feature, which is a toothless-tilting system (with a key adjustment) for the angle of the cymbal. The angle adjustment itself is made easy through use of a large, black “reset” handle.
Last but not least, the cymbal is set on a DW releasable cymbal seat, which can be adjusted wider or shallower (depending on the desired motion/movement for the cymbal) or it can be totally removed from the stand altogether.
The next piece that was included in the package was the DW CP7710 Straight Cymbal Stand. This stand has virtually the exact same feature set of the aforementioned boom stand. However, the one obvious difference is the inability to convert this stand into a boom stand toward the top. The swivel portion of the stand does not allow for a conversion into the boom stand, but it does swivel the angle of the cymbal for desired positioning.
The last piece we looked at was the DW CP7500 Hi-Hat stand. In addition to the stand, a small package consisting of a DW sticker, an Allen wrench and a large DW drum key were included in the box. The stand was packaged separately from the DW 379 hi-hat clutch and the hi-hat rods. Notice the usage of the word rods in this case, which is perhaps one of the coolest features of this package! Unlike many other hi-hat stands, this particular one came equipped with two separate rods: one rod is a standard length while the other is a shorter rod for more flexible stand positioning within various drum kit configurations. Nice touch!
Consistent with the other hardware pieces, the stand itself is relatively thin and has single-braced, lightweight legs (note: there are three legs on this mid-level stand as opposed to the two-leg feature on some of the higher-level hi-hat stands). The pedal is set on a radius rod (the thin metal brace at the bottom of a pedal) rather than the heavier duty pedal plate found on some pro stands. The tensioning for the pedal spring comes via a wheel tension adjustment found at the top of the pedal chain on the base of the stand. Once adjusted to its desired tension, the wheel tension can be locked into place by a very small tension rod. Finally, the bottom hi-hat cymbal sits on a lateral cymbal seat, which is a fully adjustable angled cup holder for the bottom cymbal.
Usability
In general, we found this series of hardware to be very easy to manage, fully adjustable, and designed extremely well for all levels of drumming. Although it offers characteristics that are consistent with typical mid-level designs (single-braced legs), certain design features (two hi-hat rods, sturdy memory locks, adjustable cymbal seats, etc…) put this series in a higher class of hardware.
But one area of note for drummers, however, is the recognition that this series is lighter in weight than DW’s 9000 line, and features such as the single-braced legs may cause stability issues for some drummers. Players who are involved with heavier styles of rock music, or (perhaps) drummers who play various outdoor gigs (i.e. windy conditions) may need a series of stands that have a bit more heft to them (like the DW 9000 hardware). This, of course, is more a matter of opinion than any specific design flaw. Otherwise, for a lighter-weight series, the hardware is constructed very well for its purpose, and is well appointed feature-wise.
Documentation and Product Support
We didn’t find any documentation or paper work included in the boxes for the hardware (no surprise for drum equipment in general). Fortunately, coming from an industry-leading company such as DW, product support for this equipment is easy to come by as these stands are sold in all major music stores and contact with the company is very accessible over the Internet or by telephone.
Price
DW CP7700 Boom Cymbal Stand (MSRP $149.99) can be found in most retail stores in the range of $90-110 or so. The DW CP7710 Straight Cymbal Stand (MSRP $133.99) can be found in most retails stores around $80-90. The DW CP7500 Hi-Hat stand (MSRP $208.99) sells in the range of $125-140. These are very fair and respectable prices for mid-level stands from a major company.
Contact Information
DW Drums
http://www.dwdrums.com
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