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The Dixon Predator is the latest product from a company looking to broaden its horizons

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• Review

Dixon's Predator series is a competitively priced all-maple kit from the renowned hardware company turned serious drum maker. It's the latest product from a brand aspiring to broaden its manufacturing horizons and market share into new areas.

While hardware has traditionally been Dixon's core product, over the years the company has dipped its toes into drum making waters producing affordable snare drums and also catering for the entry level sector in the '90s with its DX and Temp kits.

However, midway through the current decade Dixon decided to enter drum manufacturing in a much bigger way. Rather than targeting the mass-market areas straight off, Dixon's first 'proper' range of kits was its high-end Artisan series launched in Europe in 2004.

"There is no question that this is a lot of kit for the money. Not so long ago such a package would have been inconceivable at the price."

Artisan drums feature exotic woods such as bubinga, zebrawood and walnut along with the more conventional maple and birch.

Since the introduction of the Artisan series Dixon's drum line has expanded to a total of five ranges, four of which (including the Predator kit reviewed here) were launched together in 2008.

Below Artisan is the all-maple Outlaw series while the two cheapest Dixon offerings are the birch Chaos series followed by the birch/mahogany Demon series.

Sitting right in the middle of these ranges is the Predator series. The five ranges are available in virtually all territories except the USA, where only Chaos, Demon and Outlaw are marketed.

Build

Although Dixon has created a substantial array of drum ranges covering all price points the Predator series currently consists of only one five-piece kit.

Three different finishes are available and the component drums that make up the kit can be ordered individually. Dixon will take custom orders for other sizes but no alternative off-the-shelf drums or kits are offered at the moment.

Lack of options aside, Dixon has clearly done its homework in sizing up the kit. Based around a 22"x18" kick and 14"x6 1/2" snare, the kit features a pair of in-vogue super-short rack toms (10"x6 1/2" and 12"x7" respectively) and an appropriately larger 16"x14" floor tom.

Finishes

The three choices of finishes – Lava Red (as in the review kit), Metallic Brown Burst and Metallic Silver Burst are all lacquers. While the quality of the finish cannot be criticised, it's not unreasonable to point out that the colour scheme and depth of sparkle are not hugely imaginative by today's standards.

This is accentuated by the brushed metal Dixon badge found on each drum. Cutting the logo out of the badge to expose the finish behind ought to look sleek and modern. Unfortunately, here it just looks rather basic.

While it's best not to dwell on cosmetic details it's also worth remembering the importance of first impressions. Punters are only too capable of making snap decisions that mean they don't even bother sitting behind a kit.

Predator drums are built in Taiwan from North American maple. The shells are tidily made with well-cut 45 degree bearing edges. Dixon states that the drums all share a seven-ply construction, but my eyes counted an extra ply in the kick and snare drum shells. While the snare and toms are all 7mm thick, the bass drum shell is a fraction thicker overall at around 7.7mm.