The inspiration for Gilchrist Drums came from the passing of my grandmother in February of 2006. She was the bedrock of our family, and everyone drew inspiration from her. She was skilled at many things like sewing, knitting, crocheting, playing the piano, and painting. She painted many beautiful landscapes and portraits that hung in the homes of everyone in our family. My grandmother left a legacy in her art. Even after she was gone, her paintings have remained, and have inspired me to leave my own legacy in drum building. I strive to put the same love and vigor for quality craftsmanship into every drum that I build, just as she did in her art.
Gilchrist Drums was born out of a challenge to resurrect a marching snare drum that was badly damaged, and turn it into a concert snare drum. After shortening the shell length, adding bearing edges, and applying a wrap, a new drum was born. The satisfaction that came from saving a musical instrument, led to the creation of the first custom built snare drum that I made to use for the Will Graham Celebration in October 2006. Soon after I continued to built custom snare drums for several of my friends who are band directors, and the business was born. I still own that first drum, and it now belongs to my son, and is a part of his first drum set,
and the beat goes on!
At GCBD, the sky is the limit when comes to custom designing the snare drum, or drum set you’ve always wanted. With the use of digital imaging, we can now create virtually any type of visual design you can come up with. From realistic flames, to classic works of art, glass glitter, stripes, stains, fades, you name it, we can do it. My goal is to be sure that the customer is 100% satisfied with the quality of work that goes into the final product.