My "Island kit". I might be the fifth owner. It was being used as a rental kit, so the appearance is a bit...meh.
They're CB MX drums. 20" kick, 12" rack tom, 14" "floor" tom, 14" snare, all poplar. I have a 10" tom, too, but that's in the process of being refurbished. Once that vile burgundy wrap comes off, there's some really pretty wood under there. Sandpaper and teak oil make it look pretty nice. I might refinish all the lugs and hoops gloss black. That'll look sharp against the blonde wood. Maybe I'll post an "after" pic once I get off my ass and actually do it. ;-) I'm definitely adding Gibraltar tom suspension mounts and moving the toms off the bass and onto stands. All in good time.
They sound pretty good, which surprises most people. I had to redo a couple of the bearing edges because they were beat to piss. (Plus the previous owner had put those blasted Remo Muff'l rings under the Pinstripes on the toms. Those hit the trash as soon as I got them home, I promise you.) I flatter myself I know how to tune. A good tune and a few pieces of Moongel have them sounding acceptable, if not exactly awesome. Even with the beat-to-piss old ebony Pinstripes, the toms now have good sustain and tone. The bass has a nice thump, even with only a single-ply batter head and a throw pillow. New skins are on the way (Evans EC2 coated for the toms and an EMAD2 for the bass). I'm of the opinion that good heads, good bearing edges, and good tuning make good-sounding drums, not price or brand. I've heard multi-kilobuck kits that sound like bollocks, and I've been given kits for free which sounded awesome, even in the studio. I'm not replacing the front bass head, because I imagine the stories that came with each sticker are pretty epic. I don't know, because it came that way, but it amuses me, so it stays.
Cymbals are a mix that came with the kit. They also need a good cleaning. From left to right:
20" Zildjian Z Power Smash
15" Sabian AAX Studio Crash
20" Sabian AA Medium Heavy Ride
12" Wuhan splash over 14" Zildjian ZBT Plus hats
18" Sabian AA Medium Crash
I'm thinking of selling the Power Smash because I don't even know what it's for. I suspect it's something for metal drummers to annihilate, but I've never heard of it. After shopping around (well, the best I can, since the nearest decent drum shop is a 3-hour flight away), I'm definitely replacing the hats with a pair of 14" Istanbul Agop Xist. I cannot abide the ZBTs. Ordering the Agops next week. I may just stack one of the ZBT hats on the Power Smash and see what kind of dreadful noise it makes.