Where to Buy Steelpans

Whether a church community is seeking to start a new steelband from scratch, add new steelpans to a current steelband, or anything in between, once the decision to acquire steelpans has been made congregations have many options for instrument purchasing. As the birthplace of the steelpan, Trinidad and Tobago is the primary place of steelpan manufacturing; however, steelpan makers can be found throughout the Caribbean, Europe, and North America, and the United States boasts many fine steelpan builders and tuners. For the prospective church congregation looking to integrate steelpans into their worship services, instrument purchasing can be a daunting task. A few points of considering:

1.        Steelpans, like many serious musical instruments, are handmade and cannot be mass produced. As such, their costs and time to delivery upon ordering reflect this labor-intensive process.

2.        Steelpans made in the United States by US-based builder/tuners will typically cost more than those purchased from Trinidad and Tobago; however, shipping instruments from the Caribbean has its risks (damage, time delays, customs, etc.)

3.        Because of issues of shipping, backlogs of orders, cultural differences of business expectation, time from purchase to delivery of a set of steelpans can easily range from three to eighteen months depending on the builder/tuner used for the purchase.

4.        Steelpans are like pianos in that they (steelpans) need periodic tuning from an experienced steelpan tuner.  

5.        Steelpan building and tuning are coveted skills taught via a traditional mentorship (sometimes apprenticeship) process that typically requires many years of study. Therefore, steelpan builders and tuners are in short supply and are typically booked far in advance.

Costs of steelpans range widely depending on the quality and type of steelpans purchased and consultation with the any of the below list of steelpan builders/tuners can provide prospective church steelbands with an estimate of overall costs. The following list of steelpan builders/tuners is a collection of American-based and Caribbean-based proprietors. While the Church steelpan Project does not specifically endorse any of these merchants, we can confirm that these builders/tuners have positive reputations in the steelband community. As always, one should conduct their full due diligence in selecting a builder to purchase steelpans. This includes asking any prospective steelpan builder for a list of clients and programs with their steelpans for you to consult.

Steelpan Builders/Tuners

Barracuda Steel Drums https://www.barracudasteeldrums.com/  

Coyle Drums https://www.coyledrums.com/index3.html

Dunleavy Steel Drums https://www.dunleavypans.com/

Mittco https://mittcott.com/

Pantuner.com https://pantuner.com/

Panyard https://www.panyard.com/

Tropical Hammer https://tropicalhammer.com/

Vistapan https://vistapan.com/

For a more extensive list of steelpan builders and tuners, see https://weteachpan.org/resource/tuners/