Interview with Daniel Briechle, owner
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: I started restoring vintage drums from the 1950s and ’60s when I was a teenager. I had a very successful online business but I wanted to push the envelope a little further. I invented a proprietary process for making drum shells very similar to the way they were made in the ’50s. I’ve used this process to put real science — not marketing — into what I create. The results are really acoustically profound.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Well, to the best of my knowledge, there are only three people in the world who do what I do. I am also, as far as I know, the only company to work on such a small production level: usually two drum sets and a dozen snares in a year. Also, nearly half of all the drums I make come from trees that I cut down and mill in and around the Denver metro area. I even have a drum on the showroom floor that is made from reclaimed barn oak from a barn off Colorado 93 between Golden and Boulder.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: Working with my hands. There is something very satisfying about that.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: Getting the facts out about what we do and who we are. We are truly custom. Not “pick out the trim package on your car custom,” but truly custom. We build drums 100 percent from scratch, from the tree to the drum. We also utilize directional and hybrid lamination to produce drum shells that have a defined “tonic” like a marimba bar. We can make a drum out of anything you can dream up — literally anything. Sadly, in the mire that is the Internet, know-it-all skeptics and tenacious, brand-loyal bloggers usually shoot it all down in disbelief and speculation.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: Some of the drums in our showroom are made of timbers that were harvested when this country was still a colony. There are three drums on the floor right now that were made from a 17th-century mahogany headboard. There is another made from a maple tree we fell off West Colfax that has a few bullets in it. We also hold free classes and demos on building and restoring your own drums.
Profile
Business: Briechle Custom Drums
Address: 550 E. 13th Ave.
Hours: Noon-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, by appointment only Monday through Friday
Founded: 2011
Contact: 720-413-3274
Employees: 3
