New monster setup

dkerwood

Silver Member
So I went to the closest decent drum store today (an hour drive), and was disappointed to see that they didn't have any cymbals that I desired within the budget I had set for myself. After visiting two other music (non-drum) stores, I still came home with only a pair of sticks for my trouble.

Thus, to feed my drum compulsion, I decided to set up my kit with all my cymbals, aux snare, and my newly converted gong drum.

Here's the family photo:
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L to R:
Drums: Pearl Rhythm Traveler 20" Bass drum (converted to gong drum), Ludwig 13x3 piccolo snare, Tama Starclassic 14x6.5 brass snare, GMS USA-made CL series maple drums (10, 12, 16, 22)
Hardware: LP gong drum stand, Pearl snare stands, DW 5000 hi hat stand, DW 5000 kick pedal, PDP/Tama cymbal stands, DW tom stand, Gibraltar clamps
Cymbals: 16" Sabian HH Orchestral, 10" Zildjian A Custom Splash, 14" Zildjian Avedis New Beat Hi Hats, 17" Zildjian A Custom Fast Crash, 17" Zildjian Avedis Crash, 18" Zildjian Avedis Medium Thin Crash, 20" Zildjian Avedis Medium Ride, 16" Zildjian A Custom Crash, 18" Saluda Diamond Medium Thin Dark Crash, 18" Zildjian K Custom Flat Ride, 18" Sabian AAX China

More photos for your viewing pleasure (the ceiling is too low to get a full overhead shot:
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nice kit and nice cymbals! how do you like that remo controlled sound snare head?
 
nice kit and nice cymbals! how do you like that remo controlled sound snare head?

Works really well on the deep brass snare. I use Coated Ambassadors on everything else I own, but it had wayyy too much ring on the Tama. The CS cut it down to a great sound. One of these days I'll try it on a "normal" sized snare.
 
Works really well on the deep brass snare. I use Coated Ambassadors on everything else I own, but it had wayyy too much ring on the Tama. The CS cut it down to a great sound. One of these days I'll try it on a "normal" sized snare.

You should have laughed at my joke. I was proud of that.
 
:-D Good one... but you'd have a heck of a time jamming this under your bed!

Not if you have a loft.

In fact, I've always wanted a loft. It would be cool to hang curtains over the bed's rails, to make it a private drum practice spot.

Another thing that'd be awesome would be to use brick to make a sort of "room" under the loft, and soundproof it with foam to make it studio-esque. Hang a bunch of posters, get a mixer or something, and you've got a recording studio under your bed.
 
Yea, i would have to agree with Deathmetalconga, but still i guess to someone who doesnt play with all their equipment at the 1 time, it would seem like a monster kit, to have ALL ur equipment out, all nice and shiny :).
Lol awesome kit man, i wish i had your cymbals :)
 
Nice looking set and unusual setup, but I wouldn't classify it as a monster set. To me, a monster set needs double bass and at least six toms and a gong drum and extra snare are optional. I would classify this as a very cool mid-sized set.

True, true, but to ME, it's a monster. It just kept getting bigger and bigger and eating up my room! I have about my full range of lateral motion covered. I'd like to put some woodblocks and my mounted tambourine in there somewhere, but I'll have to think very carefully about where I'd like to mount it, since I have no more room to the left or right.

Another challenge I faced was cymbal placement. I've taken to VERY loose felts and wingnuts recently, so I've had to be creative to make sure cymbals weren't hitting each other, drums, or other hardware. My two frustrations right now? The floor tom is a little more covered by the flat ride than I'd prefer, and the china is still a little inconvenient. The last time I set up two rides, I just clamped down on the flat and put it under the 20". Now I can't do that. And the last time I used the china, I was also running 2 or 3 less cymbals, so it wasn't as far off to the right.

Ah, well, I'll keep tweaking, and it'll probably be perfect by the time I next have to take it out for a performance so I can tear it all down and mess it all up. :)
 
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Yea, i would have to agree with Deathmetalconga, but still i guess to someone who doesnt play with all their equipment at the 1 time, it would seem like a monster kit, to have ALL ur equipment out, all nice and shiny :).
Lol awesome kit man, i wish i had your cymbals :)

Thanks, I love my cymbals. The only thing I'd like to pick up is another 18" that would work well for jazz. I bought the Saluda to replace a cracked K Custom Dark Crash that I used in my jazz setup, but I'm not sure if the Sal will really fit into my jazz set (I use the K flat ride and the HH crash). I played on a Dream 20" crash/ride yesterday that sounded really great for that purpose, but I didn't feel like spending $170 on a demo Dream when I could get it for $120 brand new online...

I also played on a ton of TERRIBLE Zildjians yesterday. Does anybody actually LIKE the sound of a K Dry Complex ride? To me, it just sounds like junk. I played a used K Constantinople 22" ride, but they priced it at over $400. Used. The Sabian HH Legacy series sounds fantastic, but from the price, you'd think they were made of gold rather than bronze.

I also played some stellar Bosphorus cymbals. If I ever got into playing jazz more full time, I think I'd have to invest in some Bos pies... they're just that good.

Anyway, I came back home and played on my gear and I am very satisfied. Bright to dark, I think I have the whole sound spectrum covered.
 
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