DRUM MUSEUM

Featuring the drums of the E.W. Kent Manufacturing Company

The Kent Drum Company was started in the late 1940’s by two brothers, Ed and Bill Kent . Located in Kenmore, New York, The Kent Manufacturing Company produced snare drums, drum sets and accessories. Little is known about the company, however. Before starting the Kent Manufacturing Company, Bill Kent was employed by the Gretsch Drum Company for a time, probably in the 1940’s. As of 2006, Ed Kent was still residing in the Kenmore, New York area.

The E.W. Kent Manufacturing Company offered quality drums at an affordable price. While they may not have measured up to the "big four" (Slingerland, Ludwig, Rogers and Gretsch), in terms of construction quality, E.W. Kent made some great looking and great sounding drums.

Below is a quote from the cover of a 1962 Kent catalog. Note that the date mentioned (1937) is misleading. The date actually refers to a Kent distributor and not the Kent Manufacturing Company. The Kent brothers started their drum company after World War two, most likely in the late 1940’s.

THE KENT FORMULA

The year 1937 saw a new drum factory rise in Kenmore, New York. Two brothers, Ed and Bill Kent had opened their doors.

These two men decided that if the new factory was to be a success they would need a formula which would have all the necessary ingredients for making drums. After much thought the simple formula was born.

1- PART STYLE 1- PART BEAUTY 1- PART PERFORMANCE

1- PART QUALITY 1- PART VALUE

Through this formula the name of Kent on drums has meant one of the finest drums made in the U.S.A.

The added ingredient of twenty-five years of experience has made the KENT DRUMS one of America’s leaders in the drum field.

The company definitely cut some corners to keep production costs down, such as using the familiar tin foil Kent logo badge, as opposed to the standard brass badges used by most drum companies. These tin foil badges were white with gold lettering during the 50’s and early 60’s but were changed to blue and gold by the mid 1960’s.

The original Kent snare strainer mechanism was probably the weakest feature. These strainers were poorly designed and were prone to breakage.

Sometime around 1965, an attempt was made to offer higher quality drums by adding the patented "Adjust-O-Matic" tom tom and cymbal holders, employing hex-type rods similar to what Rogers was selling. A new ,"Ultra Deluxe" snare strainer was introduced, along with eight-lug snare drums, bass drums and floor toms. A complete E.W. Kent "Deluxe Professional" drum set , complete with cymbals, stands and pedals sold for $450 during the mid 1960’s. In an attempt to compete with the other American companies, Kent also offered a 15X25 cocktail "Combo" drum, which was double headed with internal snare wires and reversible foot pedal. They even made timbales and had a line of marching drums, including a 10X26 Scotch bass drum and a 16-lug 12X15 parade drum. I believe that E.W. Kent made the only 15X15 floor tom available at that time.

E.W. Kent finished their drums in basically the same finishes as the other American companies. Sparkle finishes: Red, Gold, Silver, Green, Blue, and Capri. Pearl finishes: White Marine Pearl, Black Diamond Pearl, Capri Black Pearl. Other finishes were used but not catalogued such as Rose Marine Pearl and various Oyster Pearl finishes.

E.W. Kent Mfg. Company also produced drums for other companies during the 1950’s. These drums were very similar to E.W. Kent products, utilizing the same maple shells, metal hoops, tin foil badges and snare strainers. Paramount and Revere were two of these companies. The Paramount snare drums incorporated unique snare mechanisms as seen in the photo below. It would appear that standard E.W. Kent lugs were altered for these two companies. They have the same hole spacing and basic shape but the ends were rounded off.

At some point, towards the end of the 1960’s, Kent drum shells were being imported from Japan and were no longer made of maple. However, the badges, hoops, and lugs were still American made (see photo below). By the early seventies, the E.W. Kent Manufacturing Company was selling only Japanese drums that were probably made by the Pearl Company of Japan.