Hendrix Drums

Archetype Series Drum Kits and Snare Drums
Ultra Thin Solid Stave Construction

Why Ultra Thin Stave?

Less Glue:
Archetype Ultra Thin shells require 95% less glue than a comparable ply shell. Glue dampens natural wood vibration and muddies natural wood tone. Less glue means a clearer tone and superior resonance.

Less Mass:
Historically stave shells have been made extra thick in order to maintain necessary strength. This caused them to have less resonance and a higher pitch. Archetype shells are only 1/4¨ thick, which is even thinner than many companies ply shells! The secret is in HD´s integrated reinforcement rings. The rings are not glued in, they are part of the actual shell. They provide the necessary strength while the thin shell wall enables the shell to resonate freely and lowers the fundamental note, thus greatly increasing the tuning range.

Vertical Wood Grain:
Vertically oriented wood grain lowers the shells fundamental note, locates the bearing edge on the end grain of the wood, which is much stronger than the face grain. It also increases the shells responsiveness and sensitivity because sound travels twice as fast with the grain than it does against the grain.

Unstressed Wood:
One Ply drum shells are bent under a great amount of heat and pressure, this changes the internal structure of the wood grain and muddies the drum´s tone as well as raising its pitch. Archetype shells are completely unstressed and in their natural state, thus producing the purest possible wood tone.

Drum Kits
American Black Walnut Walnut is our most popular wood species. Pictured above is a great example of our mirror gloss finish on walnut. It is a beautiful wood and sounds even better. Walnut is 30% softer than maple which gives it a warm tone, a naturally low fundamental note, and lots of body. This kit makes for an exceptional deep and punchy rock kit and can easily be tuned up for a full bodied jazz or fusion kit. Walnut is extremely versatile and can be tuned and tweaked to sound just about any way you want it to. It is our most popular wood for a reason.
American Black Cherry Cherry is the softest of our Archetype wood species. Above is an example of cherry with our satin finish. Cherry is 35% softer than maple and produces a clear warm tone with lots of body and bright overtones. It is the jazz player's dream! This wood sings with a clear and resonant voice and has a very wide tuning range. Cherry has a natural tone that is reminiscent of some of the great vintage drums of the 50's. It is a wood species that is quickly growing in popularity within the drumming community and when you hear this kit you will know why. Check out the new Video!
Archetype Drum Kit Features When it came to designing the Archetype Series, our ambition was to build the most tonal, resonant, versatile, responsive, and attractive drums on the market. To put it simply, we wanted to build the best drums that money can buy, and the features below are a big part of how we believe that we have achieved just that.

Ultra Thin Solid Stave Shells
The combination of shells made from solid wood in its natural unaltered state coupled with an extra thin shell wall produces unhindered pure wood tones, an extra wide tuning range, faster tonal response to light playing, a naturally low fundamental note, and incredible projection. There is no other way to build drum shells that will consistently sound and perform as good as our ultra thin solid stave shells. To read more about the benefits of and why we use this type of shell construction visit our Why Ultra Thin Stave page

Solid Aluminum Chrome Lugs The proprietary HD lug is a small single point lug. The lug body is machined from solid aluminum, as opposed to being cast from steel as most lugs are. The idea behind this lug design was to create a lug that would cause as little hindrance to the shells' resonance as possible. The solid aluminum body allows vibrations to pass through the lugs very easily, resulting in an overall more resonant drum. They are also very light weight, so the shell is not weighed down, allowing the drum to resonate more freely. They also only require one small hole to be drilled into the shell for mounting. Each lug is plated with decorative chrome that looks great and protection to the aluminum body. The threaded insert also floats in the lug body allowing it to be adjusted toward or away from the shell while remaining parallel to the shell body. This ensures perfect tension rod alignment regardless of head seating.

Polyester Mirror Gloss and Satin Finish Archetype drums are available in two types of finishes, our Mirror Gloss finish and our Satin finish. The high gloss finish you see is not a "lacquer" finish, it is actually a polyester finish. True lacquer finishes are quite soft and can damage very easily. We use polyester for several reasons. It is very hard, so it is much more durable than lacquer, and the mirror gloss shine that it produces can't be beat. Admittedly this stuff is extremely expensive and difficult to work with but HD is all about the best, which meant polyester was the only way to go for our gloss finishes. Our satin finish gives the drums a classy vintage vibe and is also not made with traditional lacquer. It is made from a much more durable finishing product, but we can't give away the secret of exactly what it is.
Progressive Bearing Edges The shape of the bearing edge plays a large role in the sound of each drum. So we alter the shape or the bearing edge according to the size and function of each drum. By doing this we are able to get the optimum sound from each type of drum. The Archetype snare drums are piercing and open, the toms are projecting, cutting, and full, and the kick drums are thunderous and punchy.
S-Hoops Every Archetype drum is equipped with the S-Hoop on the top and bottom. S-Hoops bring the best aspects of flanged hoops and die-cast hoops together. They are rolled steel, like flanged hoops, so they are naturally resonant and allow the drum to remain very open and full bodied. They are also rigid like a die-cast hoop, so they generate loud cracking rim shots and cross sticks, without weighing down and choking the drum like a die-cast hoops tend to do. The S-Hoop is becoming more and more popular and many major brands are trying to mimic the it with their own versions, and for good reason, but the S-Hoop still remains the best.
SLEEVED WASHERS SLEEVED WASHERS are a Hendrix Drums product that has exploded in popularity over the past year. They may be small but they make a big difference. You will notice the difference the moment you tune up your new Archetype kit. They eliminate all metal on metal contact between the hoop and tension rods, produce smoother and more accurate tuning, enable lower tuning without any "rod rattle", protect the chrome on hoops and rods, and reduce backing out of tension rods so the drums stay in tune for longer. SLEEVED WASHERS come as standard on all Archetype Series drums.

Snare Drums

American Black Walnut Walnut is our most popular wood species. It is beautiful and sounds even better. It is 30% softer than maple, giving it a warm tone, low fundamental note, and lots of body. This makes for an exceptional deep and punchy rock snare or you can tune it up for a cutting full bodied jazz or fusion snare. African Sapele Sapele has a very similar appearance to mahogany and is slightly harder than maple. This drum has piercing attack, tons of volume, smooth mid tones and a very wide tuning range.It will cut through the mix in any music style. American Black Cherry Cherry is the softest of our wood species. It is 35% softer than maple and offers a clear warm tone with lots of body and bright overtones. Cherry is the jazz player's dream! This wood sings with a clear voice and has a very wide tuning range.

Archetype Snare Features Archetype Snares were designed with one major factor in mind...VERSATILITY! These snares are arguably the loudest, most sensitive, and tonal wood snares that you will ever hear. Every Archetype Series Snare comes with a laundry list of high end features that all work together to make what we believe is the best sounding, best looking, and most versatile snare on the market. Check them out below!

14"x6" Ultra Thin Solid Stave Shell
The foundation for the drum is the 14" wide by 6" deep by 1/4" thick solid stave shell. The 6" depth allows the drum to tune well in the low, mid, and high register. 6" deep snares have become very popular over the past several years for those reasons. The thin shell wall allows the drum to be open and resonant with a very large tuning range, and because the shell is solid stave, the sensitivity, responsiveness, projection, and tone are all as good as it gets.

Polyester Mirror Gloss and Satin Finish
Archetype snares and ktis are available in two types of finishes, our Mirror Gloss finish and Satin. The high gloss finish you see is not a "lacquer" finish, it is actually a polyester finish. True lacquer finishes are quite soft and can damage very easily. We use polyester for several reasons. It is very hard, so it is much more durable than lacquer, and the mirror gloss shine that it produces can't be beat. Admittedly this stuff is extremely expensive and difficult to work with but HD is all about the best, which meant polyester was the only way to go for our gloss finishes. Our satin finish gives the drums a classy vintage vibe and is also not made with traditional lacquer. It is made from a much more durable finishing product, but we can't give away the secret of exactly what it is.

S-Hoops
Every Archetype snare is equipped with the S-Hoop on the top and bottom. S-Hoops bring the best aspects of flanged hoops and die-cast hoops together. They are rolled steel, like flanged hoops, so they are naturally resonant and allow the drum to remain very open and full bodied. They are also rigid like a die-cast hoop, so they generate loud cracking rim shots and cross sticks, but don't weigh down and choke the drum like a die-cast hoop would. Many major brands are trying to mimic the S-Hoop with their own versions, and for good reason, but the S-Hoop still remains the best.

HD Solid Aluminum Distance Adjustable Chrome Lugs
The HD lug is a small single point lug. The lug body is machined from solid aluminum, as opposed to being cast from steel as most lugs are. The idea behind this lug design was to create a lug that would cause as little hindrance to the shells resonance as possible. The solid aluminum body allows vibrations to pass through the lugs very easily, resulting in an overall more resonant drum. They are also very light weight, so the shell is not weighed down allowing the drum to resonate more freely. And they only require one small hole to be drilled into the shell for mounting. Also, each lug is plated with decorative chrome that looks great and adds strength and protection to the aluminum body. The threaded insert also floats in the lug body allowing it to be adjusted toward or away from the shell while remaining parallel to the shell body. This ensures perfect tension rod alignment regardless of head seating.

R7 Three Postion Throw
Dunnett snare strainers have the reputation for being the best performing and best looking strainers on the market. The new Dunnett R7 three position throw lives up to the reputation. The 3 position swing lever enables 3 different snare sounds with just the flick of the lever, and in our opinion is the classiest looking throw on the market. It is also features a quick release function that allows you to change the snare side head without having to de-tension your snare wires.

Dual Adjustable Wires
The FatCat Dual Adjustable Wires enable you to acheive just about any snare sound you want without having to change wires. This 24 strand carbon wire snare unit allows you to adjust the center 12 wires independently from the outer 12 wires. This makes it possible to tighten all of the wires with the strainer adjustment to get a tight snap sound, and then slightly loosen the middle 12 wires so snare remains sensitive to ghost notes and light rolls. You can finally have a tight sounding and sensitive snare sound at the same time!

Tight Screw Tension Rods
Every Archetype snare comes equipped with Tight Screws. These tension rods have a small nylon insert in the threading of the rod. The nylon insert grips the inside of the lug threading as it is being screwed in. This causes the tension rod to say in place and in tune no matter how hard you are playing. No more re-tuning your snare in the middle of a show!

Sleeved Washers
SLEEVED WASHERS are a Hendrix Drums product that has exploded in popularity over the past year. They may be small but they make a big difference. They eliminate all metal on metal contact between the hoop and tension rods, produce smoother and more accurate tuning, enable lower tuning without any “rod rattle”, protect the chrome on hoops and rods, and reduce backing out of tension rods so the drum stays in tune for longer. SLEEVED WASHERS come as standard on all Archetype Series drums.

Vintage 30 degree Round-Over Edges
Each Archetype Snare drum has the timeless vintage 30 round-over bearing edge. The 30 degree inner cut gives the drum attack and crack, while the small round-over counter cut gives the drum a warm tone while allowing the drum to remain very open and resonant.

Additional Product Information

Pricing Information
Hendrix Drums Website
Hendrix HD Brochure
Jazz Trio with Al Sergel playing Hendrix Drums