Keplinger Snare Drums

Keplinger Snare Drums at Drum Center of Portsmouth

Gregg Keplinger is a rare hybrid of drumming talent and percussive artisan. Early in his career, Gregg toured Mexico straight out of high school, worked with the house band for a circus, haunted the halls of his jazz-drumming hero Elvin Jones in New York, and worked closely in-studio and on stage with a young Matt Cameron during Soundgarden's "Superunknown" glory days and continued on with Matt to work with Pearl Jam.

After finding a 1930s Ludwig 6.5x14 steel snare with an otherworldly tone and a price to match, Gregg followed in the footsteps of the elite class of drum craftsmen to which he now belongs - he improvised and innovated. Sourcing stainless steel from an industrial pipe manufacturer in Seattle, Gregg set to building the first of many custom snare drums, and thus the "Keplinger" vision - for hefty metal-shell snares, and percussion with an industrial personality - was born. Fittingly, Elvin Jones was the proud recipient of one of "Kep's" first snare drums.

Gregg's instruments are truly for players, by a player, and each shows Kep's utilitarian sensibility and bears its maker's individuality.

Solid, dynamic, handcrafted and unique - that's what "Keplinger" means.