XL Specialty Percussion, Inc. was founded on one principle: excellence. Since its inception, this belief has driven XL to deliver quality products and exemplary customer service. Recognized as the industry leader in rotationally molded drum cases, marching carriers and accessories, XL remains dedicated to setting the standard of XLence.

XL Specialty Percussion, Inc. warrants all Protechtor Cases™ to the original purchaser against cracking to the structural portion of the case itself. If the polyethylene structure is found to be defective or cracked at any time, the case will be replaced at no charge to the original purchaser. Defective hardware (straps, handles, casters, etc.) is covered for ninety (90) days after purchase to the original owner with proof of date and location. This warranty does not apply to abnormal usage, extreme heats and excludes breakage to handles and straps. Incorrect case sizing is not warranted unless XL Specialty Percussion, Inc. specifically recommends wrong sizing based on information given over the telephone, e-mail or fax. If XL Specialty Percussion, Inc. is not at fault for incorrect sizing and/or ordering, a twenty (20) percent restocking fee will be charged in addition to freight. Please measure the drum appropriately (including hardware) and, when in doubt, consult with XL Specialty Percussion, Inc. before placing an order.

INSIDE XL SPECIALTY PERCUSSION
by Rick Van Horn
Modern Drummer, 2/97

Neal Graham, founder and president of XL Specialty Percussion of Huntertown, Indiana, didn’t actually set out to manufacture anything. He started out to be a performing drummer. After embarking on that career (and earning a degree in music education in the early 1970’s), Neal established a teaching studio in Fort Wayne. Later, he expanded the studio to include a small retail sales operation. That operation eventually became the Fort Wayne Percussion Center--one of the largest and most successful drum shops in the Midwest. "We sort of grew into retail without any real intent or knowledge," says Neal, laughing. Still, the Percussion Center became a pretty well-known shop, with a lot of major accounts and custom building services.

Neal’s retail operation evolved into a manufacturing one in the late 1970’s, when the Percussion Center received requests from several Midwest drum & bugle corps for snare-drum carriers to match the timp-tom carriers that had just come into use. "Our first carrier was very crude," Neal recalls, "but it served the purpose." "The major drum companies didn’t see a need for it, so we went into the carrier manufacturing business. We continued the retail operation at the Percussion Center concurrently with XL’s manufacturing throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s."

What was it like trying to operate both a drumshop and a manufacturing business simultaneously? "The most difficult part," says Neal, "was that at many points I didn’t know which hat I had on. There were times when I was building a product, selling it to a major manufacturer, then buying it back at the retail level and selling it again to consumers. It was going around in a circle. That’s why I finally decided to put my entire focus on manufacturing. Of course, my credentials would not indicate that I am a manufacturer. But my credentials wouldn’t have indicated that I was a businessman when I first got into retailing, either. I was a music educator with a vision that a drumshop might work in Fort Wayne, Indiana. And I was told in the early stages of that effort that it wouldn’t happen. In fact, some of the major drum companies weren’t willing to give us franchises. Fortunately for me my second dad was Maurie Lishon, of Frank’s Drum Shop in Chicago. He gave me the advice and support I needed to succeed. Drummers today may never really recognize how critically important Maurie and Frank’s were to what has developed in the specialty percussion market. Frank’s set the standard for today’s drum shops."

Neal’s experience as a dealer is a major factor in his attitude toward music retailers. "I think my background helps us to understand and appreciate problems that our retail customers can have," says Neal. "I have a little different vision that somebody who came in from IBM and is now the controller of a musical instrument company. I have tremendous respect for the people who are on the front line of music retail."

Neal also feels that his background as a performer and teacher gives him a connection to the needs of players. "Manufacturers often seem somewhat disconnected from the very customers they’re trying to develop products for," he comments. "They have an unrealistic vision of what things are really like in the trenches. As a result, you’ll see products come and go that just never make it."

XL’s carrier, however, certainly did make it--the company quickly grew into one of the largest in it field. But a few years ago a local manufacturer who had been making molded plastic cases for a major drum company came knocking at Neal Graham’s door when that drum company ceased operations. Says Neal, "He asked us if we were interested in selling what he had been making In that initial stage he had only a few sizes--and none of them really fit very well. So we began to build our own tooling, and we ultimately developed the Protechtor case line."

CASE MANUFACTURING

XL’s Protechtor cases are made by a process called rotational molding, which takes a powdered plastic, melts it, and molds it into the exact shape of the case. Says Neal, "Rotational molding was first used to create holding tanks for the recreational vehicle industry, but it’s also perfect for products like our cases. In the last few years, vulcanized fiber--which is what people have traditionally used for making drum cases--has increased greatly in cost. We can now produce a superior product for less money than what fiber cases cost."

Protechtor cases are made of a high-density polyethylene--the same as that used for the slides and toys in McDonalds’ outdoor playlands. "That equipment is weather-resistant and unbreakable," says Neal, "everything that you’d want a drum case to be."

How do Protechtor cases relate to other plastic cases on the market? "If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then we should feel very flattered," Neal responds, "because there are other companies now offering cases following the methods that we established. Yamaha is one; the Hardcase line from the U.K. is another."

"There are also some major companies who make cases by vacuum forming," Neal continues. "That process takes a flat sheet of plastic, heats it up, and sucks it into a form. Now, if you want something to get brittle, the thing to do is to heat it up and then re-form it. This fact contributed to the public’s idea that plastic cases would break. In fact, the biggest problem we had in developing the market for our cases was overcoming that misconception. To combat that problem we have always offered a lifetime warranty against cracking. But we could probably count on our fingers and toes the number of cases that we’ve actually had to replace, because the durability of plastic products made by the rotational-molding process is incredible. Impact resistance is among the highest in the industry. And since the process tends to push more plastic into the corners of the molds than onto the sidewalls, you get an extremely durable, resilient corner. Also, because the material was created originally for the agriculture and RV industries, it’s great for temperatures from 60 [degrees] below zero to 200 [degrees] above. It even lends itself to being drilled or reinforced with metal plates or brackets for transportation or lifting. With some of the thinner plastic stuff, as soon as you drill a hole and put a bracket into it, forget about it."

Protechtor cases are not light, but Neal explains that their weight comes as a result of the density of the material--which is also where some of its durability comes from. "It’s also waterproof," he adds, "and it’s resilient, so it inherently absorbs the shock of a drop or whatever else might occur in transport. Carl Allen, for example, still has a set of cases from the early ‘80s that probably have logged a million air miles."

Most drummers would think of ATA-style cases when it comes to heavy-duty traveling. But Neal suggests that "ATA cases are so bulky that they often take more abuse getting on and off an airplane than individually packed drums do. Imagine trying to shove that big case down a ramp and onto an airplane. But drums packed in our cases get treated more like pieces of luggage. As a result, most of our endorsers who do a lot of traveling have had great success with low breakage rates and no cracking of the cases."

"Of course, drums get a lot of wear-and-tear getting in and out of any vehicle," Neal says, "whether it be a 747, an eighteen-wheeler, or a pickup truck. For example, our cases are very popular among drummers on country & western tours out of Nashville, who have to stick everything on a bus. The cases hold up real well and are easy to get in and out of the venue."
 

CASE MODELS

Owing to the requirements of the molding process, Protechtor cases aren’t available for every existing drum size. "Traditional fiber cases can be individually made simply by changing how much material is cut, bent, and riveted together," Neal explains. "And one of our plastic-case competitors basically makes lids and bottoms and then fabricates a piece of material in between--which can be adjusted to whatever depth is required. On the other hand, almost every one of the sizes that we offer requires an individual mold. We can trim the height of some cases--our 12"-diameter mold can make 8x12’s and 9x12’s, for example. And we can sometimes add some height. When companies like DW starting promoting 18"-deep bass drums, we didn’t have enough depth in our mold to be able to build an 18"-deep bass drum case. So we added some collars on to get that additional size. We try to adapt to the market, and we probably have as extensive a line of molded cases as anybody. As we see a need for something new, we invest in the tooling for it. We are also beginning to actually form and manufacture our own molds here as well--which will give us the flexibility to do more new-product development at a lower cost."

Recent developments include a new conga case with reinforced tubular corners. The outside dimension is a tumba size, while a cone on the inside is a quinto size. "That way," says Neal, "no matter what the size of the drum is, it’s being held firmly either by the outside or the inside of the case. We also mold the shape of the head on the top so that when the case is put together you are essentially holding the conga between the top and the bottom. It’s not really knocking around against the side of the case at all; it’s being secured in the air space in the middle. We are very excited about the potential of that case."

Combination cases are also a specialty in the Protechtor line. "We have a 6"/8" combination case," says Neal, "and a 10"/12". Obviously the most popular rack-tom sizes are 12" and 13", so that will be the next combination we add. Eventually, we’ll do all of them."
 

COLORING PROCESS

XL offers cases in blue, green, yellow, red, purple, and orange stock colors; custom colors are also available. But what color does XL sell the most of? "Black, definitely," says Neal with a smile. "It may be a holdover in drummers’ minds from the days when black vulcanized fiber was all there was. But black is also simpler for a dealer to sell, because it’s easier to inventory. Dealers who are successfully selling colored cases are higher-volume dealers. They’re getting inventory flow on a constant basis, and a lot of orders they’re placing with us are special orders for customers who walk up to the counter and ask for a set of colored cases--which we then make accordingly. Even though we do make stock sizes, we are very much oriented toward accommodating individual customers’ needs. Our dealers, in turn, are very good at communicating those needs to us. As a result we feel that our customer satisfaction can be very high."
 

CASES AND DEALERS

One problem with cases of any brand or material is that they’re bulky--which can translate into high shipping costs and storage headaches for dealers. To address this problem, XL Specialty has designed their cases so that each size will nest inside the next larger size. If a dealer buys a standard five-piece setup, the 12" will go inside the 13", which will go inside the 16", which will go inside the 22". "Shipping companies charge on the basis of both weight and cubic volume," says Neal. "By putting the cases inside each other we’re able to increase the weight within that cubic space. A five-piece kit’s worth of cases is going to ship in one box and get charged for that one oversized item only. Most dealers account for added shipping charges by adding a corresponding amount into their profit margin on the product."

Neal suggests that dealers should take advantage of the cases’ "nesting" capability to reduce storage space. However, for displaying the cases, he suggests that dealers stack them from largest to smallest in a given set. This uses only as much floor space as is required by the largest case, yet creates an eye-catching tower of merchandise.

In response to the realities of the case market, XL doesn’t try to warehouse a large inventory of finished cases. In fact, doing so would be counterproductive. "Many of the drum companies have been altering their drum sizes on a fairly regular basis," Neal explains. "So we’ve been creating a lot of special heights, special cuts, and arrangements to accommodate unique hardware--like RIMS mounts. We’re not even trying to anticipate all those weird sizes, because we’d end up with a boneyard full of cases that would be a long time finding homes. Instead, we’ve found that it’s best--for us, for the dealer, and for the consumer--to build cases to the sales order as needed. As a result, almost everything we’re producing now matches up with a custom order. Our cases start first as uncut blanks of a given diameter, which we can then adjust to different specific heights. We’re trying to push our inventory to have most of the standard-diameter blank cases ready to cut, in order to shorten the turnaround time. We’ve got it down now to between three and four weeks."
 

OTHER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

XL Specialty Percussion offers a variety of products besides Protechtor cases. These include XL Lite marching carriers, concert bass drum stands, some private-label products, and a variety of accessories.

"Our main-line products sustain us on a day-to-day basis," Neal says, "so we can ‘play’ with more specialized projects. That’s something that I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of. My interest dates back to my experience in the retail area, where we saw what people wanted and what it took to fulfill their needs. Today we have design programs in our computers, but I still think that ultimately the best way to create something is to just try to make it.

"Of course," Neal concludes, "a company can be extremely innovative, creating new designs and securing dozens of new patents every year. But all the design patents in the world can’t replace taking care of customers. So we try to remain as customer-oriented as we possibly can. The way we see it, success is just a matter of recognizing a need and filling it."
 

As featured in the February 1997 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine, used with permission of Modern Drummer Publications, Inc., http://www.moderndrummer.com