Draft:VK Drums

VK Drums, also known as Van Kleef Custom Drums, is a British drum and hardware manufacturing company based in South Yorkshire England. It was founded in 2012 by professional drummer Alan van Kleef, who also serves as the company's CEO. They currently manufacture all drum sets, snare drums, and drum hardware from their South Yorkshire facility.

History
VK Drums was started in 2012 by Alan van Kleef in his garage at his home in Sheffield, The United Kingdom. Alan is a professional drummer who has played for several artists, including Johnette Napolitano, Ariel-X, Rachel Stamp, and Emma Shapplin. MusicRadar Magazine describes Alan van Kleef as a "master craftsman, metal engineer, sound engineer, designer, session drummer and the proprietor of VK drums." The company was incorporated as a private limited company on July 10th, 2013 where the "Nature of business (SIC)" is officially "32200 - Manufacture of musical instruments.

In 2018, the headquarters of the company was relocated to Barnsley, South Yorkshire. In 2021, the company started producing their own tom mounts and bass drum spurs for their drum kits. To date, the company employs under 10 employees and creates custom, hand-made drums such as: snare drums, entire drum sets, and drum hardware with custom laser-cut engravings, logos and designs, and all metal works.

Well known for hand made drums and hardware
As published in MusicRadar Magazine, "van Kleef crafts just about every last piece of his drums from scratch: shells, lugs, tension rods, the lot". "Other metal parts are stainless steel and handcrafted by VK. These include the flat hoops and bass drum V-Klaws, the beautifully polished round lugs and the sturdy VK-007 strainer, which has a calibrated tension knob."

Although the company primarily uses stainless steel to create their drum shells, they also incorporate other materials as reported in Modern Drummer Magazine: "He (van Kleef) makes shells out of stainless steel, as well as copper, maple, birch, aluminum, titanium, and other materials.

Experimenting with precious metals
VK Drums produced 47 snare drum shells made from .925 Sterling Silver in their "Ageless Collection". Many drum enthusiasts wondered why the obscure number but MusicRadar got the answer and reported that: "Silver’s atomic number is 47 and Alan will build no more than 47 of these drums. The 47 drums will constitute the Ageless Collection, Ag being the chemical symbol for silver." MusicRadar also analyzed drum #12 of 47 in the Ageless Collection and concluded that rather than simply being a "vanity product for those with limitless income", they regarded the drum as a "stunning instrument", with it's only drawback being the cost.

Drum Magazine spent significant time with VK's 24K gold–plated stainless steel drum, and was "impressed with its versatility and controlled tones. It looks like a showpiece but plays like a workhorse."

Danny Carey signature snare and drum kit
In 2019, Alan van Kleef was contacted by Danny Carey, American drummer of the Grammy-winning rock band TOOL (Volto!, Pigmy Love Circus, and Zaum) through a mutual friend and fellow drummer, John Tempesta, to create a custom drum kit and snare drum for him, ideally in cast bronze. As per Danny's request, Alan crafted The "Monad" drum kit and snare drum specifically for him. The Monad snare is made from a 14" x 8", 5mm cast bronze shell with stainless steel extended tube lugs. It's decorated with Danny Carey's 7 sided logo laser engraved on every drum and appears 7 times on each shell, which Frontman Magazine reported was "the only over-the-top request" from Danny.

Notable artists
MusicRadar has noted that although VK Drums have only been in business since 2012, they have "quickly amassed a high-calibre clientele" and have created drums for drummers of all different musical styles like Danny Carey of Tool, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sean Moore of Manic Street Preachers and Rick Buckler of The Jam. , Steve White, Thomas Lang, Matt Chamberlain, Steve Gadd, Abe Laboriel Jr, Matt Cameron, John Tempesta, and Carl Palmer.