Ayotte Drums Inc.

Type	Private
Founded	Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada (1982)
Headquarters	Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Products	Drums and percussion instruments
Website	http://www.ayottedrums.com/

Ayotte Drums is a custom drum company based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1982 by Ray Ayotte, who left the company to work with Taye Drum company.^[1] Ayotte is especially well-known for their use of wooden drum hoops, instead of diecast zinc or flanged steel hoops. However, Ayotte does offer steel hoops as well. The company's lug assembly is also unique. Using a cut-away lug housing, the traditional tension rod intersects perpendicular to a T screw 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 expeditited 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.

[edit] Notable endorsing artists

A number of drummers endorse or have endorsed Ayotte drums, including Jeremy Taggart.

[edit] References

Mike Antifaeff, Ayotte Drums Customer Relations