Ayotte Drums
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| Private | |
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Founded | 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Headquarters | Bedford, Quebec |
| Products | Drum kits, drum sticks |
Number of employees | 9 |
| Website | ayottedrums.com |
 https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ray-ayotte Oral History, Ray Ayotte reflects on developing custom drum kits. Interview date January 23, 2007, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Library] |
Ayotte Drums is a custom drum company based in Bedford, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia by Ray Ayotte, who was forced out of the company after losing majority control to his investors in the late '90s. Ayotte is especially well known for their resurrection and improvement of wooden drum hoops, developed as an aesthetic & acoustically pleasing alternative option in place of diecast zinc or flanged steel hoops, although Ayotte also still offers steel hoops. The company's tension mounts (a.k.a. "lugs") assembly is also unique unusual. Using a cut-away lug housing, the traditional tension rod intersects perpendicular to a cylindrical nut (similar to rack-and-pinion) with a nylon plug insert, which once tightened with an Allen wrench makes movement of the tension rod virtually impossible, thus ensuring the drum will stay in tune longer. Ayotte's TuneLock tension system is guaranteed to be indestructible under normal use.
In the early 1990s, Ayotte produced a limited semiprofessional line of maple drums dubbed "Drumsmith", available in a limited selection of colors and sharing the same lugs as their custom line. The most distinctive visual cue between the Drumsmith line and the custom operation lies with the bass drum hoops, which for the Drumsmith line were offered only in a natural lacquer.
Also in the 1990s, Ayotte began producing their most often-requested sizes and finishes in the custom line in advance, rather than wait for a specific customer order. Made in the same facility, by the same craftsman, with the same materials and machinery, the Ayotte Pro line is simply an expedited form of their custom line.
In the later half of the 2000s, Ayotte began offering a new small-scale line of drums, the Velvet series.
Ayotte products are praised often on drum-related forums across the Internet for their sound and build quality.[1] However, the company itself is infamous for their lack of customer service.[2] Wait times for individual Ayotte drums can take many years. One example of a replacement wooden hoop took 7+ years to be delivered after being ordered.[3] In recent months, reaching Ayotte Drums has been very easy compared to earlier years with the new staff, which promises a potentially great growth in resolving these issues. Ayotte drums relaunched their website after a short period of inactivity.
Ray Ayotte rejoined the company in December 2013. After 2 years being retained as an ambassador to the brand, Mr. Ayotte employment was terminated soon after the North American Music Merchant (NAMM) convention of 2015.
Ayotte Drums determined, in 2007, a more efficient factory with a reliable manufacturing staff was necessary to facilitate the anticipated changes arising from probable markets shifts in distribution and demand. The search for an appropriate location began in spring 2008. This required two years including three provinces and more than twelve sites to complete the search.
The factory was moved to Bedford, Quebec in September 2010.
Notable endorsing artists
A number of drummers endorse or have endorsed Ayotte drums, including Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Jon Fishman of Phish, Allen Aucoin of The Disco Biscuits, Eloy Polito Sánchez of Alejandra Guzmán, Ryan Vikedal of Nickelback, and Jamie Chabun of State of the Art. However, most of those artists have gone on to endorse other companies who were more willing and/or able to support them.