Sabian acquires Gon Bop

[cdldrum]

Just learned this on another drum forum I frequent....

wonder what happened... thought DW was in it for the long haul.

Peace, Chas

http://www.sabian.com/EN/newsevents/SABIAN_GonBops.cfm

[Jibaro]

Interesting yes.

DW owned the name and developed the models and price points but if Sabian keeps the same lines it could be a seamless transition.

And if not, there could be some great deals on discontinued model inventories!

[burke]

I wonder if they'd move any of the manufacturing to New Brunswick? It would be very cool to have that in my backyard.

[bongosnotbombs]

The article states the California series congas will continue to be made in California.
I think all the other models were from overseas.

In a way this doesn't surprise me, what with the continuous changes that happened
to the line during its time at DW. I hope the new relationship with Sabian will be beneficial
to Akbar and the Gon Bops line.

[umannyt]

I'm not surprised either. The signs were there. The following is my personal analysis:

During the 1st year of DW ownership, DW was really gung-ho about the Gon Bops name by coming out with CA Series congas and bongos with various color selections in either lacquer or satin finishes with plain, burst and even fancy colors and design (multi-colored stripes, checkered, conga type painted on the shell, etc.). DW came out with a relatively large catalog for 2007 showcasing these color options. CA Series congas were street-priced around at $700 each and the same-series bongos were street-priced at around $300 each.

Then, in 2008, one could see severe cost-cutting measures implemented by DW. The color selections for both the CA Series congas and bongos were very visibly limited to just 2: either Natural or Mahogany. Yet, the prices for both CA Series congas and bongos almost doubled! (I read somewhere that DW had significantly underpriced their CA Series congas and bongos for 2007 and, therefore, suffered a loss.) Also, the 2008 Gon Bops Catalog became almost a miniature version of that of the year before. I know 'cause I own a copy each of both catalogs.

From a Sales and Marketing standpoint, DW/Gon Bops didn't sell enough CA Series congas and bongos to help their bottom line financials. This isn't surprising given (1) their high-end pricing structure and (2) the reality that the market for high-end congas and bongos is obviously not as big as the market for high-end kit drums.

Meanwhile, on their entry-level to mid-level Tumbao and Tumbao Pro congas and bongos and various hand-percussion instruments, which were expected to sell in much greater volume than their CA Series line, I believe that DW/Gon Bops didn't go as good a job in marketing as Latin Percussion (LP), Pearl, Meinl and the other major percussion companies did with their own competing entry-level to mid-level products.

Again, just my personal analysis--even speculation,

[pcastag]

I agree, also the CA series were marketed to a certain extent as hand crafted boutique drums, but they were made by a large corp. People who were interested in paying a high price were probably more inclined to order from an artisan that they could actually speak to, like jay, Mario or Matt, and like Akbar used to be with his Sol drums. the midline drums sound fantastic, I've played on the tumbao series and they have a great sound, IMHO the CA. series were too much for what you got, an extremely well crafted drum for sure, but it lacked that special ache that the matts, SOS, and even mopercs seem to possess. I think their best bet is the Alex Acuna series, they look great, probably sound great, and are reasonably priced. The CA. series is destined to fail unless they do something about the cost, or move production to Mexico using the same wood.
PC

[bongosnotbombs]

The CA series has gone down considerably in price lately. Mine was $500, which I consider worth it for the quality of drum I got, that and the 2 week wait compared to months (even years!) for others

The music store down the street also has two CA drums, a conga and a tumba, which are also much better priced than the ridiculous $1,000 plus from a while back. I would put the build quality of the shell up to any drum, hand made right here in California, with an incredible sound as well. The hardware, though it is excellent quality and well designed, is missing that certain "ache", it's obvious it was mass produced. A great drum and I hope Akbar and Gon Bops do well with Sabian. It did seem like they could never quite sort it out with DW, what with the finish option changes, the wild price fluctuation and also all the online distributors never changing their descriptions from skin heads to the remo heads the drums are supplied with now. I know that one bit me.