Built by hand. Repaired the same way.
Agyei Keita-Edwards builds and repairs every drum that comes through this shop, working from instruments his father Mahiri has spent decades learning to source. Custom builds, repairs, and instruments most people would have given up on.
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Showcase / Featured Builds gallery
A gallery of Agyei's custom work — the pieces that get attention on social media, presented the way a shop presents its best work. Needs actual photos of completed custom builds, his social handles/links, and whether this should read as a portfolio (browse and admire) or a shoppable gallery (browse and buy).
Custom work starts with a conversation about what you play, how you play, and what you want the drum to do. Size, shell, skin, rope, and finish all get decided together rather than picked off a list. This is not the fastest way to get a drum, and it is not the cheapest. It is how you get one you will still be playing in twenty years.
A split or worn skin replaced and the drum brought back into tune. The most common repair, and the one that makes the biggest difference to how an instrument sounds.
Rope that has stretched, frayed, or lost its tension replaced and the drum retensioned properly.
Cracks and damage to the body of the drum. Not every shell can be saved, but more can than people assume.
A drum that plays but does not sound right. Often a tensioning problem rather than a damage problem, and often fixable in a single visit.
Rings, handles, and straps replaced or repaired.
1. Tell us about it — Send photographs and a description. For repairs, photograph the whole drum plus a close view of the damage. For builds, tell us what you play and what you are looking for.
2. We quote it — A written estimate covering the work, the cost, and the timeline. No obligation.
3. Bring it in or ship it — Drop off at the studio in Mount Rainier, or ship it to us. We will tell you how to pack it so it survives the trip.
4. We do the work — You will hear from us if anything changes once the drum is open — we do not do work you did not agree to.
5. Collect it — Pick up at the studio or we ship it back, tuned and ready to play.
Tell us the service you're after (reheading, re-roping, shell repair, tuning & setup, hardware, or a custom build), your city, the instrument type and size if known, and what's wrong with it or what you're picturing. Photos help a lot — feel free to email them separately, and we'll follow up.
Skins crack because drums sit in dry heat all winter. Shells split because a drum was left in a car in July. Rope fails because nobody looked at it for five years. None of that is carelessness — it is just that no one told you. Keep the drum out of direct sun and away from radiators. Do not leave it in a vehicle in extreme heat or cold. Loosen tension if you are storing it for a long stretch. And look at the rope now and then.
Also find Agyei at Top Notch Training — his strength & conditioning gym, next door to the studio at 3804 34th Street, Mount Rainier, MD 20712.
A drum that is cared for outlives the person who bought it. That is the point.
