Favorite Music Brands?

This thread is designed to fit basically every instrument to fill equality around everyone in whatever instrument they play. This does not just apply to one instrument or category, but can range from Strings, Percussion, Wind Instruments, etc.

Me: I'm with the percussion section of the music industry, and I mainly play on a drum kit. Wherefore, I have more selections to go with. Unlike most instruments besides the electric guitar and base, drums require multiple things that are all manufactured by different brands. For instance, let's just say I bought the drums from one company. Unfortunately, if I wanted to by the cymbals for it (Which is required in a set, obviously) I would have to buy them from a different manufacturer who specialized in cymbal making. Really, there are only four main options you could choose from and those are Avedis Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, and Meinl. There are other manufacturers as well, but those are the four big ones that are most commonly found, not to mention all the others suck in my opinion. lol

Mainly, for drums, I did, would, and always will prefer DW Drums. The reason why is because I prefer the sound of them overall. I don't necessarily like Ludwig, not that I hate the brand, but they eco far too much in my opinion. Pearl is ok, but not my favorite. Gretsch, meh, at least their associated with DW. A lot of Tama drums products sound cheap in my opinion, especially some of their more expensive ones. Sonor, I am not so sure about, but I hear they are a good brand.

For Cymbals, I actually am standing in between Zildjian and Sabian. I play on both, and I like both of them. In my opinion, I think Zildjian makes better dark cymbals, and Sabian makes better bright cymbals. The only thing I don't like about Zildjian is that they crack super easily, so if you're a hard hitter, I would not be surprised if you chip off a few pieces from a cymbal. That is why I always recommend Sabian AA or AAX Cymbals for rockers and Zildjian K or K Custom Cymbals for Jazz players like me, though I originally played rock and so I'm actually pretty good at both.

For hardware, I'm with DW again, just because they have good hardware IMO.

Finally, for drum sticks, I prefer Vic Firth overall, just because they're durable, resistant (I wen't a full year with Vic Firth 5A sticks and haven't broken them), and they perform well with the drums.

I also play Piano, which is technically a percussion instrument but also argued for being a strings instrument, for reasons such as how you play it, and what is inside of the piano, or in this case, strings.

I like Steinway and Sons Pianos overall.

Now let me hear about you, since I know most people here play some sort of musical instrument.