A Question To Those That Collect A Number Of Drum Kits

Where are my kits?
My Tama kit stays at my guitar player friends house because I practice there often.
There are currently two kits set up in my studio apartment. There are two kits stacked in my bedroom and one in the walk in bedroom closet.
 
Forgive the naive question here: But where do you guys keep 8 drum kits?
Especially in places like NYC...

Do you have them all set up in a massive room / basement like some sort of drum kit heaven?

Or do some live mothballed in storage? In various studies scattered around?

When I had a larger place I could set a few up but now most of them are stored away in a unit, some for years.

I try to get as many makes, materials, colors, and eras in the collection.
 
I "collect" Rogers. My collection spans 1961-1984. There are 8 sets and close to 30 snare drums.
So I guess I would answer yes to at least one or two of your questions. .
 
I have four kits. A 1961 Ludwig Morello kit (13" 16" 22" 5x14) a 2010 Taye Studio Birch (10" 12" 14" 22" 6x14) Stone Custom Maple Poplar (10" 12" 14" 16" 20") and Stone Custom Koa/Cherry (same sizes as the Maple Poplar)

I lived with one kit for a long time and it was a PITA on those days where I had multiple gigs. It's nice to leave one set up and ready at rehearsal and have at least two for gigs ready at any given time. Note: I usually don't take the Ludwigs out, as they are my kid's drums now.
 
I know we all only really need one kit, I have my go to kit for shows etc, but as I have collected a few kits, I would like to ask those that also have kit collections, the following questions:

Do you collect different brand makes and models of drum kits?
or
Do you collect all the same brand make, but different model kits that are released by the same drum company?
or
Do you collect all the same brand make and indeed same model from one company, just different versions of it, i.e different drum sizes, colours of the same kit or different kit releases within that brand model range?

Just curious?

I have a 1997 Yamaha Stage Custom which I played as a main kit for years in 8/10/12/14/16/20. Recently I was gifted a set of Ludwig Standards (3-ply vintage shells) in 13/16/22.

The Ludwigs lend themselves to certain types of music and gigs, and the Yamahas work well in other situations. I'm also more likely to leave the Stage Customs someplace without worrying too much about whether or not they'll be damaged.

If I were to get another kit, I would very likely get another vintage Ludwig, and possibly a modern Ludwig such as a Classic Maple or Keystone in the same sizes as the Yamahas.

I like having two kits for very different sounds and purposes. But I sound like me on each of them!
 
I have three complete kits. One is a frankenstein kit made up of various Pearl drums in black, and this one is my renter/leave anywhere kit. My two mains are a Ludwig Classic Maple 4-piece (2013) and a Pearl Reference Pure five-piece (2014). And as said below, it's nice to have the two difference 'vibes' depending on what I do. The Ludwig kit is great when I need that vintage vibe, and the Pearl Reference kit is great when I have to make like I'm on a Steve Gadd fusion session. But both work in any context. I just love having choices.
 
I know we all only really need one kit...

If we all only had one kit, there would be a heck of a lot of us lined up to play it. :)

I have 2 kits, one late '60's Slingerland that stays at home and is my main practice and recording kit and an '80's Pearl-made CB700/Maxwin that I use for playing in public.

They are similar shell sizes. The CB kit is meant to duplicate the feel of the Slingies but be something I don't have to be too concerned about if someone wants to sit in on them or some drunk person falls on them.

I have a bunch of odds and ends in storage, about another kit's worth of cheap toms and several bass drums of similar provenance.

Snares, I do have a real collection of those, chosen for historical significance and usefulness: Barrett Deems/Jazz Festival, Supraphonic, Acrolite, Super Krupa COB, Ludwig Accent "Bonham" 6.5" woody, no-name Pearl-made 6-lug woody, Slingerland steel Festival.

The idea is to be able to get the widest variety of snare tones: wood, aluminum, steel, brass, shallow, deep, top-of-the-line, bottom of the barrel, deluxe, utilitarian, American, Asian, 6-lug, 8-lug, 10-lug.
 
I have a Pearl 7 piece GLX in flight cases back in Denmark.
In Malaysia I have 3 Gretsch kits. A 6 piece Purewood Oak, a 6 piece Purewood Hickory and a 4 piece Catalina Jazz.

I could picture getting Brooklyn and USA Custom kits as well.
Tama Starclassic or Star is nice.

Guru might be nice, but I would need to hear it in person first, before I drop that kind of money.

A Whitney or Treehouse nesting kit is also on the list.
So I am basically a Gretsch guy,but open to proposals. Sort of like being married -)
 
Do you collect different brand makes and models of drum kits?
Yes, I fall into this category. I have 3 Ludwig kits, a Premier kit, a Gretsch Round Badge kit, and an RMV kit.​
I also have some electronics. 2 Korg Wave drums, 2 Mandala V1's, a Roland SPD-S, and a Tama Techstar 305.​
 
1 of my kits is on permanent loan to my buddy and his kids, I keep 2 kits set up in my studio, one set lives in my van for gigs, I just got 2 sets with 20" bass drums, one is in my garage because I use it once in a while, and the other....where is the other? lol. Right now it's set up as a 3rd kit in my studio for my 8 YO stepson because it's the smallest kit I own. That leaves 2 kits stacked up in my studio. I'm blessed with a little 12 x 20 space that's all mine, Muuhaha. I earned this space.

Phil makes a good point about needing multiple kits...at least 2. A gigging drummer has to be efficient.

That sounds awesome, Larry. Makes perfect sense.

My 4 kits:

1. At my teaching space.
2. Packed up and ready to go for a gig this weekend.
3. Packed and ready to go, soon to be headed for the next pit in 2 weeks.
4. Set up to practice on.

I'm very aware of the space they take up. When I am not using them, they are packed and ready to go, stacked so they only take up a footprint the size of the bass drum case. I only really have a "need" for 3 kits in rotation, but I couldn't pass up the 4th, so I splurged and now have one more kit to maintain and worry about.

If you can get by with just 1 kit, more power to you!

Makes perfect sense.

To be honest the reason why I can get away with a single kit is that I practice in our home studio - this is also where our band rehearses. Being an amateur band with full time other jobs, we only do a few gigs a year, so don't mind packing up everything for that.

When you're gigging, rehearsing and teaching all over, all the time, makes perfect sense to have several kits.

Plus, who can resist several kits!?

Mr. WFID has 2 bass guitars and 4 guitars... And combined they take up less pace than my kit...
 
Why have one kit when you can have .......lots.I've trimmed down quite a bit,but still have I guess 5 complete kits or orphan drums or whole kits of vintage Ludwig(mostly),vintage Tama superstars,Pearl and vintage Slingerland.With 30 or so snare drums,mostly vintage of a few manufacturers also.Whay so many,because they all sound different enough to justify having them,and some have true collector/bucket list value to me,like my 47 Slingerland Super Gene Krupa Radio King.....7x14 in WMP wrap.All original.

The same for cymbals..Five different brands, around 30 in all of various vintages.You can never have too many kits, snare drums or cymbals..........just ask Bermuda...:):)

Steve B
 
Phil makes a good point about needing multiple kits...at least 2. A gigging drummer has to be efficient.

Precisely.

I have 3 kits. A Tama Swingstar that I got when I first started playing, Ludwig Classic Maples, and a Sonor Safari kit.

The Ludwigs I ordered specifically with the 20" bass drum. For me, the perfect size for both sound and ergonomics as I'm a pretty short guy. I do pretty much every gig with these drums.

I'll occasionally break out the Safari for the jazz gigs, especially one restaurant we play that involves a long flight of stairs. A 16" bass drum is much easier on gigs like that.

The Tama is a standard 22" bass drum, with 12", 13", and 16" toms. They mostly live stacked in cases in the corner waiting for me to need them. I would bring them out if I knew I was going to be in a kit sharing situation or where I simply needed a bigger sound.
 
My collection/arsenal falls under all of the questions you ask.

My collection falls under this same scenario. I have 24 kits. 6 are Ludwig's (2 Legacies, a Birch, Stainless steel, Acrylic, Keystone) but I have a couple on Sonor's (HiLite, S Classix) , a couple of Gretsch's (USA Custom, Brooklyn), three DW's (Collector's, Workshop, Performance), a Mapex (Saturn IV), a Tama (Artstar II), a Premier (Genista), an Ayotte (Drumsmith), a Crush (Red Acrylic), a Yamaha (Recording Custom), Pearl (Reference), a 72 Slingerland, A 66 Rogers Holiday, A Natal (Ash), a PDP (Platinum), etc, etc, etc....Not really a collector, just wants!
 
Say it ain't so ! This ends the party.
I mean if that were the case, why gig your Zickos? Reason is it looks so damn cool, and thus cannot just be any 'drum set'.

then leave your Zickos in the pit

It's a question of want, not need. Actually they are a PITA. They are extremely heavy and hard to move around but I love them. I guess that knocks my assertion on it's head.
 
I have 4 kits and 8 snares, I don't consider myself a Collector. All my kits have a purpose for the various gigs and rehearsals I do.

The Ludwig Legacy Classic kit is at my rehearsal space the Classic Rock BandI play with uses.

The Yamaha Club Customs are my main Rock/Pop gigging kit - these are packed up ready to go when required.

My Gretsch USA Custom - is for my Jazz trio and Big Band gigs- it is packed up and ready to go when required as well.

I am waiting on the arrival of a Whitney Nesting Penguin 16 kit. I plan to use these for small room gigs, last minute jam sessions and rehearsals and some Jazz gigs. Very portable and sound killer.
 
Some interesting replies and cool to see what others use multiples kits for.

I look forward to seeing images of the Whitney Nesting Penguin 16 kit Rick.
 
I have a DW and a couple of PDP kits, all in different configs, and they all have their own vibe. I've also got a couple of concert tom kits on the distant horizon, mostly because I think it's a good idea to have one around.
 
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