Tucked off Jonestown Road in Colonial Park sits a mecca for drummers and percussionists all across the East Coast. Since 1982, the converted two-story house at 4440 Fritchey St. has been home to Dale’s Drum Shop, packed to capacity with everything a working drummer or casual hobbyist could need: kits, cymbals, foot pedals, sticks and mallets, drumheads, noise making instruments and a variety of accessories. As an authorized dealer of drums made by Tama, Drum Workshop and Ludwig, among others, as well as Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste and Meinl cymbals, Dale’s has established itself as one of the top drum retailers in the U.S.
Dale Wise, the namesake behind the venture, fell into the drum business almost as a fluke. A chance opportunity at age 18 to work a seven-year stint as drum technician for legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich served as the catalyst. It doesn’t hurt when the man regarded by many as the best drummer who ever picked up sticks has your back.
Wise says the recipe for his shop’s success is fundamental: Offer quality gear at reasonable prices while delivering top-notch customer service. Helping the store run smoothly are his wife, Gale, and righthand man Rej Troup, who is the drummer for The Martini Bros.
Wise recently sat down with Eric Ebeling, editorial director of Harrisburg Magazine, to talk about his journey as a businessman, with side discussions along the way about his mentor Rich, the blues and customer loyalty. (Full disclosure: I got my first drum kit, a used Slingerland model, from Dale’s way back in 1985. I still have it.)
Eric Ebeling: Let’s start at the beginning of your drum odyssey.
Dale Wise: Actually, I fell into it by accident when I worked for Buddy Rich (in the early 1970s). Buddy gave me a bunch of stuff, drumsticks, cymbals and the like. Buddy was in town playing a local club for about a week location gig. The place was called The Frigate out on (Route) 22 where the old movie theater used to be. It’s a U-Haul place now. While he was there, a friend of mine named Rick Kline was working in the kitchen, and he happened to be there the day the guy who was doing it said, “I quit. I’m not doing it anymore.” One thing led to another and was approached about the job. All I really knew about Buddy Rich was seeing him on TV. When he was on the Johnny Carson Show, my parents would say, “Here’s that drummer.” And of course, we’d watch it.
EE: Why did you want that job?
DW: Well, the truth is, it was all about a Marshall amplifier. I was in a band with a band mate, and we always dreamed of having a Marshall amp. I was unsure about going out with Buddy, until my friend said, “You know, he’s going to England in the fall.” I thought, “Well, England. I can get over there and get a Marshall amp.” So, that was the original impetus to do it. Otherwise, I was playing in my own little band, and I was a rock ‘n’ roll musician. So, although I liked Buddy, that wasn’t appealing to me at the time. I figured I’d get in there, go to England, get the amp and be done with it and move on. A couple years later, I found myself still standing there with my mouth hanging open and watching this guy do what he did. You know, when we went to England, it was great. I got to meet (amp maker) Jim Marshall, and he was a drummer, so as soon as he heard that I was with the Buddy Rich Band, he treated me probably better than he would treat Eric Clapton. It was just a drummer-on-drummer situation.
EE: How did you go about starting a drum shop?
DW: I had the equipment that they gave me on the job, and I couldn’t use all of it. So BCR Music had a store right here on (Route) 22, right beside the beer distributor. I went in there one day and asked them if I could bring some stuff in and sell it. And they said OK. I brought in all this priceless gear that these guys had given me on the road and started selling it. From that point on, just the natural progression of business took over, and I saw there was not only a need for it, but basically a wide open situation. The stores in the area were old-fashioned, and if the price of the item was 10 bucks, if you got $1 off and you were getting a deal. But all the musicians in the know were going to Philadelphia and New York City to get their stuff. Once I started out, I immediately discounted the stuff as much as New York City or Philadelphia would discount it. Honestly, because I wasn’t a businessman, I was always very generous, always getting more inventory probably than I should, charging less than I should. And, you know, at the end of the day, when it comes to loyalty, that kind of stuff really works. It’s amazing to be in a situation where your customers actually love you. Yeah, it’s true. We love them, too.
Eventually, I outgrew the other store. This building we’re in now became available. A friend of mine heard that it was for sale, and we were blessed. We were lucky enough to have the wherewithal to buy it and move over here. At that point, we moved in up the street to live about two doors from here.
EE: When you say “we,” who’s the other part of that equation?
DW: Gale. Gale is my wife, and she’s been with me since the beginning. She handles all the books, all the bill paying, a lot of buying decisions, and she’s just a really wise, motivated, driven individual. The same goes for my business partner, Reggie (Troup). None of this would be here if it wasn’t for those two. I hate to say it, but I would have probably lost interest a year or two into it and thought I don’t want to necessarily be tied down doing this. I would have gotten out of it without those two. I’ve never been around someone like Reggie who handles his business and how he does this. Never, ever. He’s on the level of Buddy Rich, when it comes to somebody that does a job and does it to the absolute best that he can.
EE: You said you weren’t a businessman when you started.
DW: No. In no sense of the word. It was all by the seat of my pants. I actually quit playing in bands for six years just to focus on this. The situation with Buddy got to the point where one day he said, “Kid, you know, you’re wasting yourself. You got to do something. I don’t know if I’d recommend drumming, but you’ve got to do something with the same zest that you do this gig taking care of my drums.” I tried to do that. I tried to not just be a guy with the store, but to just be ruthless. I mean, competition wise. We beat them all. We were beating New York. In fact, we still do, because our customers are so loyal and so used to this place. I’m blessed that way.
EE: When did you start playing drums?
DW: I started with a practice pad and pair of sticks. You know, I was just getting to the age where, you know, young men become interested in meeting females, and not so much in hanging around and making mud forts with their buddies. A friend of mine said, “You know, be like The Beatles. Girls love them, and they’re musicians.” I said to him, “Well, what instrument should I play?” And I hate to say this, but he said, “Take the drums. They’re the easiest or take the bass. There’s only four strings. So, I fell into the drums, and from that point on, the drums have been an integral part of my life. I never ceased from that point on to be surrounded either by drummers or drums or some situation that involved them.
I thought I knew how to play blues music, and I realized I had no idea. I had to start going south to Mississippi to learn it, and I’ve been blessed with being able to learn over the past 20-25 years. It was a natural thing. I’m not a real regimented, super clean technique drummer. Not only is that not necessary in the blues, a lot of times, the less of that you bring into the scenario the more of a real blues drummer you are. You’re not going to be a great blues drummer by laying it down like it is in a book, or playing it the same way every night, or any of those things. It goes the way it goes at that moment. For that individual that you’re backing up, he doesn’t need you to be there if you can do the job. He’s happy, but he doesn’t need your help. Blues never did. It was always about one guy, one guitar, and the rest of us just window dressing, and it taught me that. It taught me how to lay back. Now that I’m older, it’s easier because I’m slower, and it took years to learn what not to do, and to hear the guy who is out front. It’s all about the story, and the guy telling it who knows the words without those elements. If not, it’s not blues.
EE: What brand of drums do you prefer to play?
DW: Lately it’s been Ludwig. That’s my favorite company. There’s semi-American company, and unbelievable history there with Ringo and all that. And they’ve got a factory down in the Carolinas. You can go in there and meet the person who wrapped Ringo Starr’s kit. She’s still there making drums, and that is something special. I don’t mind the foreign companies, but there’s no other company quite like that. Ludwig and its history are unparalleled.
EE: Who would you put on your Mount Rushmore of drummers?
DW: Well, of course, my old boss would be No. 1. This is based not only on skill and technique, but on their impact and their inspiration to other drummers, and then, at the end of the day, how much gear could they move? So, the all-time, hands down mover of gear was Neil Peart (of Rush). We sold more Tama sets based on his playing of those drums than any other individuals put together, really, more than most of the endorsees that these companies had. He was the one that really stuck in people’s minds. And you know, of course, his incredible technique and devotion to what he did.
Then the next one for me would be John Bonham (from Led Zeppelin). When I heard those drums on that record, my jaw hit the ground, and I, still to this day, can listen to that, how they placed him in the mix and the road that they gave him. He was a meat-and-potatoes drummer that had a full part of the melody and the composition of that band. Most people just think of Jimmy Page or Robert Plant, that those guys more just part of it. They’re part of the window dressing between him and that bass player.
And last, but not least, Richard Starkey. Ringo had more of an impact on more people than any drummer in history when they played the Sullivan show, just as we had talked about earlier. That was a phenomenon. That was an absolute tsunami. It created more drummers in those moments than any other event in history. It was a guy that looked fairly normal and played in a style where a lot of guys go, “Well, I could do that.” A lot of them don’t realize how hard it was to do that. And now, as I watch tapes of The Beatles, I’m blown away by how good he is and his ability to make that band work.
EE: That’s a Mount Rushmore right there.
DW: One neat thing we see here is a generational thing, like somebody that would have come in in the ’80s. Now, not only did their son come in with them, but their grandkids are there, and that third generation is really inspiring and really fulfilling – to see that they’re getting an older person to impart that knowledge to somebody that wants it.
EE: What is it about Central Pennsylvania that has bred the quality and the quantity of musicians we’ve produced?
DW: That’s a good question. It happens in the big cities all the time just because of the sheer volume. But here, I’m not sure what it is. I’m not sure how a drum shop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, became one of the top five drum shops in the entire country. It’s not like we are surrounded by a megalopolis. You have to travel to get here. It’s amazing. I’m proud to be from here. I sit there at that desk sometimes, and I hear guys back there trying out stuff, and some of them are just phenomenal players. A lot of them are.
EE: Any big plans for the shop going into 2025 or beyond?
DW: To be honest, we’re going to try to hang in there in light of today’s economic climate between rising prices and the amount of used gear that’s out there.
EE: What’s the most rewarding aspect of running this shop over the years?
DW: Being good at it. You know, I’m not Buddy Rich when it comes to drum shops, but for a little place in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I think between Gail and myself and Reggie, we’ve done a world-class job of it. I have traveled the world playing music, and I know what’s out there. There are only a few places on Earth where this kind of experience and knowledge and depth of caring goes on, let alone the inventory and the presentation of it.
Contact Dale’s Drum Shop at dalesdrumshop.com or (717) 652-2466.
