# Drum, Cymbal & Stick Brand History: From 1623 to Today

> Last Updated: 2026-07-12 · Source: https://metalforge.io

Every drum, cymbal, stick, pedal, and drumhead brand on MetalForge, ordered by founding year — a museum walk from a
17th-century Ottoman cymbal foundry to the touring rigs of today's metal legends. Live page:
[https://metalforge.io/brands](https://metalforge.io/brands).

## The Oldest Cymbal Company in Metal Gear

**When was Zildjian founded?** 1623, in Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire. That makes Zildjian the oldest
cymbal company still supplying metal drummers today — more than three centuries before Lars Ulrich's Zildjian A
Custom setup became a reference sound for thrash metal.

## Drum Brand History: From Marching Bands to Blast Beats

Drum brands anchor every metal kit. Sonor started as an 1875 German workshop building marching drums; Ludwig's 1909
bass drum pedal let one drummer replace two; Pearl and Tama grew out of post-war and 1970s Japanese manufacturing;
DW and Mapex became the modern touring standard. Full founding stories for each brand are in the timeline below and
on each brand's own page.

## Timeline: Every Brand, Oldest to Youngest

### 1600s
- **1623 — [Zildjian](https://metalforge.io/brands/zildjian)** (Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire) — In 1618, an Armenian alchemist named Avedis living in Constantinople discovered a secret alloy of copper, tin, and a trace of silver that could be hammered into a cymbal that rang true instead of shattering. The Ottoman Sultan's own Janissary military bands adopted the instruments, and in 1623 the Sultan granted Avedis both the right to open an independent foundry and the surname "Zildjian" — Armenian for "cymbal maker."

### 1800s
- **1875 — [Sonor](https://metalforge.io/brands/sonor)** (Weißenfels an der Saale, Germany) — Sonor's story begins in 1875, when 28-year-old wood turner and tanner Johannes Link opened a small workshop in Weißenfels an der Saale, Germany, producing military-style marching drums and drumheads.

### Early 1900s
- **1906 — [Paiste](https://metalforge.io/brands/paiste)** (St. Petersburg, Russia) — Paiste's roots trace to St. Petersburg, Russia, where Michail Toomas Paiste ran a music venue and instrument workshop at the turn of the 20th century; the cymbal- and instrument-making business was formally established in 1906.
- **1909 — [Ludwig](https://metalforge.io/brands/ludwig)** (Chicago, Illinois, USA) — Ludwig & Ludwig was founded in Chicago in 1909 by brothers William F. Ludwig Sr. and Theobald Ludwig. Their first product was a practical bass drum pedal, letting a single drummer control the bass drum by foot instead of relying on a second player — a foundational innovation for the modern drum kit.

### Post-War Era
- **1946 — [Pearl](https://metalforge.io/brands/pearl)** (Tokyo, Japan) — Pearl began in 1946 in Tokyo, founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa in the aftermath of World War II. The company's earliest products were music stands, not drums.
- **1951 — [Meinl](https://metalforge.io/brands/meinl)** (Gutenstetten, Germany) — Meinl was founded in 1951 in Gutenstetten, a small village in Bavaria, Germany, by Roland Meinl. The company began as a small workshop producing musical instrument parts before moving into percussion manufacturing.
- **1957 — [Evans](https://metalforge.io/brands/evans)** (USA) — Evans was founded in 1957 in the USA by Chick (Robert) Evans, who invented the first synthetic (Mylar) drumhead in 1956.
- **1957 — [Remo](https://metalforge.io/brands/remo)** (USA) — Remo was founded on June 1, 1957 in North Hollywood, California, by Remo Belli, alongside partners Roy Harte and chemist Sam Muchnick.
- **1957 — [Pro-Mark](https://metalforge.io/brands/pro-mark)** (Houston, Texas, USA) — Pro-Mark traces back to a chance encounter in 1950s Houston: drummer and shop owner Herb Brochstein was sold six pairs of Japanese-made drumsticks by a passing salesman, and found them better made than the domestic sticks he'd been selling.
- **1963 — [Vic Firth](https://metalforge.io/brands/vic-firth)** (Massachusetts, USA) — Vic Firth (born Everett Joseph Firth) joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a percussionist in 1952 at just 20 years old, hired by legendary conductor Charles Munch, and was promoted to principal timpanist in 1956 — a position he held for 46 years until his retirement in 2002.

### Modern Era
- **1972 — [DW (Drum Workshop)](https://metalforge.io/brands/dw)** (Santa Monica, California, USA) — Drum Workshop began in 1972, not as a manufacturer but as a drum-lesson studio: 26-year-old Don Lombardi opened a small teaching space called "Drum Workshop" in Santa Monica, California, offering private lessons and monthly workshops.
- **1974 — [Tama](https://metalforge.io/brands/tama)** (Nagoya, Japan (Hoshino Gakki)) — Tama's history begins with Hoshino Gakki, a Japanese musical instrument company founded in Nagoya in 1908 that started out selling books before moving into instrument sales and, eventually, manufacturing.
- **1981 — [Sabian](https://metalforge.io/brands/sabian)** (Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada) — Sabian exists because of a rift inside the centuries-old Zildjian cymbal dynasty. By the late 1970s, brothers Robert and Armand Zildjian could not agree on the direction of the family's Avedis Zildjian Company, and in 1979 the business split between the two branches of the family.
- **1989 — [Mapex](https://metalforge.io/brands/mapex)** (Taiwan) — Mapex was launched in 1989 by KHS Co., Ltd., a Taiwanese musical instrument manufacturer, as a dedicated drum brand — shifting the company's focus away from manufacturing drums for other labels and toward building its own identity.
- **1990 — [Axis](https://metalforge.io/brands/axis)** (Southern California, USA) — Axis Percussion was founded in 1990 by drummer and machinist Darrell Johnston, who set out to build a bass drum pedal free of the flex and lag inherent in traditional chain-drive designs.
- **1991 — [Vater](https://metalforge.io/brands/vater)** (Holbrook, Massachusetts, USA) — Vater's roots reach back to the 1950s: Boston drummer Jack Adams ran Jack's Drum Shop, and in 1956 stick-turner Fred Maichle began hand-crafting drumsticks for the shop, occasionally supplying custom sticks to touring musicians like Philly Joe Jones, Louie Bellson, and Buddy Rich.
- **1992 — [Ahead](https://metalforge.io/brands/ahead)** (Northridge, California, USA) — In 1992, Rick Grossman of Easton Sports — already known for aerospace-grade aluminum baseball bats and hockey sticks — approached longtime multi-store drum retailer Bob Kasha with a design for a synthetic aluminum-core drumstick.
- **1992 — [Wincent](https://metalforge.io/brands/wincent)** (Robertsfors, Sweden (now headquartered in Gränna)) — Wincent was founded in 1992 by Dan Nylén, who began making drumstick blanks in his parents' garage in Robertsfors, a small village in the far north of Sweden.

## Brands by Category

- **Drum Brands:** Tama, Pearl, DW (Drum Workshop), Ludwig, Mapex, Sonor
- **Cymbal Brands:** Zildjian, Paiste, Meinl, Sabian
- **Stick Brands:** Vic Firth, Pro-Mark, Vater, Ahead, Wincent
- **Pedal Brands:** Axis
- **Drumhead Brands:** Evans, Remo

## FAQ

**Q: What is the oldest cymbal company in the world?**
A: Zildjian, founded in 1623 in Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire. It is also the oldest continuously
operating musical instrument company still supplying metal drummers today.

**Q: When was Zildjian founded?**
A: 1623, when the Ottoman Sultan granted Avedis Zildjian both an independent cymbal foundry and the surname
"Zildjian" — Armenian for "cymbal maker."

**Q: What is the oldest drum brand used by metal drummers?**
A: Sonor, founded in 1875 in Weißenfels an der Saale, Germany, as a workshop building military-style marching
drums and drumheads.

**Q: What is the newest major brand in the timeline?**
A: Ahead and Wincent, both founded in 1992.

---

- [Brands Timeline (live page)](https://metalforge.io/brands)
- [Per-Brand LLM Files](https://metalforge.io/llms/brands/)
- [Gear Guide](https://metalforge.io/llms/gear-guide.md)
- [All LLM Resources](https://metalforge.io/llms/index.md)
- [Site index](https://metalforge.io/llms.txt)

*Last updated: 2026-07-12 · 18 brands, 1623-1992 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*