DRUM MAJOR OXNARD INSTRUMENT MAKER IS A LEADER IN THE INDUSTRY.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

OXNARD - Now that he runs a drum company, Chris Lombardi has considerably more respect for the folks who strike snares and pound on tom-toms.

He used to play in a band, whacking his way through poorly covered AC/DC tunes and watched his father, Don, play jazz standards and teach others. But though he grew up around music, the chief executive officer of Drum Workshop Inc. always saw it as a fringe hobby, not a serious business. Even as Don Lombardi built DW into a respectable firm, the high school-age Chris didn't figure that drumming would one day be a mainstream hobby or that DW would be an industry leader.

He couldn't have been more wrong. In the latest Modern Drummer magazine consumer poll, DW won the most innovative, best quality & craftsmanship and most consumer/service-oriented acoustic drum manufacturer categories.

``Back then, I used to think the guys in bands were dorks,'' the 34-year- old CEO said. ``But it's a lot cooler now.''

Cool enough that NAMM, the International Music Products Association, reports that the industry sold 207,275 drum kits last year, up 11 percent from the year before - $142 million worth of goods. The privately held DW, which does not release sales figures, estimates it holds 10 percent of that market. Though a small share, that 10 percent covers the highest end of the spectrum: elite, custom-made kits that pros long to play. While NAMM says an average kit retails for $687, DW's sets cost up to $10,000.

Founded as an educational firm in 1972, DW grew from Don Lombardi's Newbury Park garage to sell accessories and pedals. After acquiring a bass drum manufacturer in 1979, it expanded into making kits. Chris Lombardi began pitching in during his high school years, watching as it developed a buzz among local drummers as an upstart whose tone rivaled major manufacturers like Yamaha, Pearl and Tama.

After DW released its first catalog in 1989, the buzz turned into an outright sensation, with so many requests that it developed a nine-month backlog. These supply problems continued for eight years, as DW continued to expand its facilities and production. It currently operates a 53,000-square- foot factory in Oxnard and a 34,000-square-foot sister facility in Ensenada.

The drum community enthusiastically embraced the exotically finished plywood shells, from garage hobbyists to pros like Kenny Dale Johnson of Chris Isaak's band, Peter Criss of KISS, Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood, Motley Crue's Tommy Lee and the Ramones' Marky Ramone. Their prestige has lent DW a mystique that makes even entry-level players hunger for its drums before they've even played them, based solely on their reputation.

``DW is like a Benz - they're the line everyone knows is at the top,'' said Rick Van Horn, a senior editor for Modern Drummer. ``And they've enjoyed in recent years a lot of high-profile endorsers, so they're the go-to guys.''

Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction plays a 10-piece, chrome-finished birch kit, the latest in a string of DW sets he's acquired since first hearing of the drum maker in 1987. When he first heard the boom of their kick drums, he dreamed of buying a set one day. Now, he receives free drums and service from DW for lending his name to its endorsement roster.

``When DW comes out with something, the rest of the companies come out with it the next year,'' Perkins said in a phone interview. ``If I was with another company, I'd be looking at DW and wondering when I was going to get to play something like that.''

He likes the drums for their artistically crafted look, but also for their durability, so he can lug them around on the road. If an idea strikes him for a new sound, he can call to the factory and they'll craft it for him with a three-month turnaround time.

``It's not 'Throw a blue drum in a box with another blue drum and out the door,''' Lombardi said. ``They're all custom made, whether you're Tommy Lee or the guy going into Guitar Center. You know we manufacture the drums the same way for you as everyone else.''

When an order comes in for a new kit, drum makers match the woods and grains of each individual drum so they will produce the same timbre. Once all the pieces are assembled, each one receives the same finish to ensure uniformity in sound throughout.

``If you're a professional musician, you buy sound more than anything else,'' said Marty Albertson, co-CEO of Westlake Village-based Guitar Center, a major retail client of DW. ``Your ears are much more developed than the average musician, so your ear is very highly trained to listen to the subtle differences in sound and quality. The DW drum has satisfied those ears more consistently than anyone else.''

Larry Robinson, a Thousand Oaks drum refinisher and player in Christian rock bands, loved his DW kit but couldn't keep up with the payments. Though he's making do with his Ludwig and Peavey kits, he'd like to get his hands on another DW set.

``I love playing their stuff,'' he said. ``They do tend to be a little more pricey, but, hey, you get what you pay for.''

The company's biggest challenge over the years has been keeping up with demand, but keeping a long lead time of four to six weeks for production keeps the drums a hot commodity. For those unable to afford the custom kits, DW introduced an entry-level and midpriced line, Pacific, three years ago. Relying on kits imported from Asia, Pacific's $399-to-$1,500 price range has brought in such a swell of novice players that the line now accounts for half of the firm's business.

Ray Mehlbaum, who plays in the punk band Automatic 7 and sells drums at the Sherman Oaks Guitar Center, picked out a charcoal resin finish, four-piece Pacific set for use on his upcoming album.

``I could get whatever I want and I picked theirs,'' the spiky-haired salesman said. ``It's the love that goes into them. Each drum's unique and no two kits sound alike. ... They're like a hot-rod shop, really something different.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Chris Lombardi, 34, CEO of industry leader Drum Workshop Inc., sits amid some of his company's products.

(2 -- color) When an order comes in for a new kit, drum makers at DW match the woods and grains of each individual drum.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(3 -- 4 -- color) Drum Workshop's high-end products are in great demand among professional musicians such as Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band and Kenny Dale Johnson of the Chris Isaak band.

Jeffrey Mayer/Wireimage.com

Kevin Foley/Showtime

(5) Guillermina Garcia works at the DW manufacturing plant in Oxnard. Founded in 1972, DW is now an industry leader.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer