Ordering My Whitney Drums

I first emailed Jt Whitney of Whitney Drums in April of 2017 with questions about how high the drums could be set up with the custom mounting system. Jt Whitney emailed me back personally with very clear descriptive answers to all my questions. There were several more emails like this back and forth between us and I was always impressed with his responses.

My process is a one-man show. In addition to fabricating the drum shells and quickstand, I make a lot of metal parts such as the tom mounts, since there are no generic parts that will do the job. You will have a drum set that is very different from any other. ~ Jt Whitney

I sent him a downpayment of half the purchase price in late June and placed my order. I like a deeper snare sound, so I had him make the snare a little deeper than he typically builds. Because of the nesting nature of these drums, that also meant that the bass drum had to be a little deeper to allow the snare to nest within it. I like the sound of a deep bass drum, so this was just fine with me. These are the sizes of my first “alto” kit.

Nesting Penguin 16
with wood hoops and the nutmeg finish

• 16 x 16 bass (upgraded size)
• 6 x 13 snare (upgraded size)
• 6.5 x 10 tom
• 8 x 13 tom

In early August Jt sent me a photo of my shells. This was the first sighting of my new drums and I was pretty excited. I posted the photo to a social network and was immediately inundated with questions from curious drummers and musicians. Jt let me know when the drums were almost done and I sent him the second half of the payment.

The new kit arrived a couple of weeks later in a single box with all the drums nested between thick fleece-like blankets and zipped up in a nice quality AHEAD Armor Case. All the hardware was carefully tucked into the empty voids of each of the box’s corners. Everything was in the one (smaller than you might expect) box and smartly packed.

Having once paid full price upfront for a custom DW brand kit, then waiting over a year for its delivery, and then having to send the first kit back because the hardware had been put on before the finish had dried (causing it to blister and bubble), then waiting another 6 months for the second kit to arrive, I was thrilled with Whitney Drums turnaround time on my order.

In October 2020 I ordered a second custom drumset from JT and he shipped it within 9 weeks of receiving my downpayment check. Everything arrived as before, in one box, perfectly packed, and without any issues.

In September 2023 I ordered a third kit with custom sizes and it arrived six weeks later and exactly as ordered. The stain and finish work is so consistent that when I mix the newest drums with the oldest kit from six years prior, you can’t tell that the drums are from different kits.