Musikmesse 2012: Drums, drums and more drums

We've spent the last few days covering the miles at Frankfurt's Musikmesse show. Head inside to take a look at what we saw. Here's a clue, we saw a shed-load of drums and (as you can see above) a fair old whack of cymbals.

One of the first sights to greet us in the drum hall was this mighty set-up - Dream Theater Mike Mangini's stunning Pearl Reference Pure kit. Not bad, huh?

While we were at the Pearl booth we took a look at their Eliminator Demon Chain pedal, as well.

According to Pearl, the pedal is packed with the features that made their Demon Drive line such a hit, but with the added strength of a chain.

We first ran into Gretsch's Brooklyn kits at NAMM earlier this year, and we were eager to have another nose around them at Frankfurt. Here's a gorgeous Red Oyster model.

The Renown '57 line is another stunning piece of work from Gretsch.

Core, we like the look of this (see what we did there?) Korea's Core drums had this LED-lit kit on show, and as you can see it clocks in at just shy of 10,000 euros.

And here's another relatively low-profile company doing something a little bit different. Roto Drum build their kits with this stonking great gap in the shells. Why? Well, they say it adds all kinds of tonal and tuning possibilities. Not only that, but their kits can also be packed down to take up less room when carting them around, can be muted for practice and allow easy miking by shoving a mic in the shell gap.

It's not just Roto Drum that we found offering shells that you can lose your sticks in, as this ddrum Dios kit proves.

It wasn't all drums, y'know. There were also plenty of cymbals, including the latest lot from Meinl. These Serpent hats in particular stood out.

That Serpent does look pretty cool, right?

Of course, heading to mainland Europe means you also get to experience the work of some Continental drum builders who may not be widely available in the UK. Here we present Swiss company LB Drums. Ran by two brothers (from taking calls to finishing shells, they do it all) the company offers a treasure trove of custom options for the kit of your dreams.

Like any custom drum builder worth their salt they also do snares, just check this little lot.

Taking centre stage at Ludwig's stand was the brand new Club Date kit.

Plus, Ludwig announced their two new Acrolite snares - one of which you can gawp at above.

And finally, we have Drumcraft. These guys have been doing some sterling work on the Continent for the last few years and are all set to move into the UK right about now.

Phew, we need a lie down after all that. If you're still hungry for more from Musikmesse head to our main page and www.Musicradar.com.