Gig vs. Studio kit

taiko

Senior Member
I'm curious to get the opinions of others on this forum about gigging vs. studio kits. I have read many comments in various forums that X drummer keeps his/her best kit at home and gigs with a relatively inexpensive kit, like a Sonor bop kit or a Gretsch Catalina Club or whatever. I've owned and gigged with both of these--they are just fine. But this approach has never made much sense to me.

I want to gig with the best sounding kit I own that is appropraite for the gig. Thus, right now I take my Canopus Neo Vintage bop kit to small jazz combo gigs and my Yamaha Club Custom (12, 16, 22) to big band gigs. I also have a Gretsch New Classic kit that I keep at the restaurant where my trio plays weekly. My "low end" kit is my Catalina Club Street, which I keep at home for practice purposes and sometimes gig with when I have to play in a very tight space.

So the short of it is, I take my most expensive (and to my ears best sounding) kits on gigs and keep the cheaper one at home. I've known many other musicians and can't really imagine a tuba player, for example, saying, "That's my best horn, I never take it out to gigs. I use my cheap horn for gigs."

Maybe I'm missing something and would like to hear the opinions of others on this.
 
I would assume it has to do with unwanted damage happening.
 
It really depends. If you are playing places where your drums can get damaged then you take your cheaper set. When I play a gig with a real stage where the audience cannot get to me I take my nice kit. If they can get close to my drums I take my cheap set. I don't want drunk people knocking stuff on my drums. However if you are playing jazz gigs it shouldn't be a problem. All jazz gigs I have played have been pretty calm (but this might not always be the case)
 
I would assume it has to do with unwanted damage happening.

Yeah, I think that's it, too. But it still doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine a violinist taking a cheap violin on gigs to avoid damage. They just are really careful. So I find this a weird thing that drummers do, but that other musicians don't. But I'm more than willing to be proven wrong.
 
Damage and also space and moving considerations. My best kit is at home for recording purposes. It is a larger kit. Many stages in bars, which is where I spend my time, can't fit 5 or 6 piece sets without being unfair to the other band members...same for cymbal stands etc.

I prefer just to take a good sounding 4 piece with minimal stuff.....enough stuff to get the job done and for me to enjoy what I'm doing.
 
It really depends. If you are playing places where your drums can get damaged then you take your cheaper set. When I play a gig with a real stage where the audience cannot get to me I take my nice kit. If they can get close to my drums I take my cheap set. I don't want drunk people knocking stuff on my drums. However if you are playing jazz gigs it shouldn't be a problem. All jazz gigs I have played have been pretty calm (but this might not always be the case)

That makes sense. Perhaps it has to do with the type of music. I hate rock, so I would not even think of playing in an environment like that. So it wouldn't occur to me to use a cheap drum kit for fear of patrons damaging it.
 
It depends on the gig. I don't bring my vintage kits out unless I am comfortable that conditions will be in favor for not having anything happen to them. Things like the weather as well as the venue and patrons are all factors in to my decision.
I can replace any component of my Ludwig 2012 Club Date SE kit instantly for a few bucks. I can't however replace my 60's Ludwig or Slingerland drums that easily.
 
Yeah, I think that's it, too. But it still doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine a violinist taking a cheap violin on gigs to avoid damage. They just are really careful. So I find this a weird thing that drummers do, but that other musicians don't. But I'm more than willing to be proven wrong.

Drummers can't pack their set away between sets.
 
Damage and also space and moving considerations. My best kit is at home for recording purposes. It is a larger kit. Many stages in bars, which is where I spend my time, can't fit 5 or 6 piece sets without being unfair to the other band members...same for cymbal stands etc.

I prefer just to take a good sounding 4 piece with minimal stuff.....enough stuff to get the job done and for me to enjoy what I'm doing.

Most of my playing is in jazz trios, so I use a very compact bop kit. I fully get the space issue. But why not use a top notch bop kit or something like the Canopus RFM Club kit for gigs?

Do guitar players who play in more problematic places have a second, cheaper guitar to use when playing there? I have no idea.
 
It depends on the gig. I don't bring my vintage kits out unless I am comfortable that conditions will be in favor for not having anything happen to them. Things like the weather as well as the venue patrons are all factors in to my decision.
I can replace my Ludwig 2012 Club Date SE instantly for a few bucks. I can't however replace my 60's Ludwig or Slingerland drums that easily.

Makes sense. Weather would be an issue. If you have a tuba, a bit of rain isn't going to do much to it. However, if you play a violin, it would be a big issue. I was at a concert in Central Park last summer of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and it started to rain. They bolted off of the stage.
 
Most of my playing is in jazz trios, so I use a very compact bop kit. I fully get the space issue. But why not use a top notch bop kit or something like the Canopus RFM Club kit for gigs?

Do guitar players who play in more problematic places have a second, cheaper guitar to use when playing there? I have no idea.

Good question...yes! I never bring my best guitars or amps to a gig...neva neva neva. I have some great sounding mid priced strats and other things.

If I played Jazz on drums, which I don't, I would use a small and great sounding bop kit, yes, but i play classic rock mostly which I prefer to play on larger sizes....and the clubs can bring out certain behaviors in people that do not mix well with valued, loved and costly instruments. After you've had the drunk girl fall into your mic stand during set 3, have the mic ping you in the head and disrupt your pedals for the 50th time, you adjust accordingly.

Same thing for drums....to a degree. We've had patrons come up and show their dance moves and literally fall onto the kit like it was a chair....many many times. Kinda funny too.
 
I bring my best bronze, and my best snare to all gigs. What's left? I can make any kick drum I own sound great. What's left? Toms. I use toms maybe 10% of the time. And the sound I get from them is just fine, because I tune them high enough to register in the crowd.. So bringing a high dollar kit really has no upside other than one's own vanity. Which I totally get. I used to gig the best kit I had at the time. (DW) Now I have a kit that is in a different universe... Guru...and I can't see taking that particular kit out, too much sentimental value. Plus the fact that the toms fly off cymbal stands.....it takes too long to set up, for me. I need a bass drum tree because I'm always just making it time-wise.

As long as I have my bronze and my snare, which is the lions share of my tone, the rest isn't nearly as important.
 
Yeah, I think that's it, too. But it still doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine a violinist taking a cheap violin on gigs to avoid damage. They just are really careful. So I find this a weird thing that drummers do, but that other musicians don't. But I'm more than willing to be proven wrong.

I can't imagine a violinist playing in some of the rowdy bars I've played in, either! I can just picture them using their high-dollar violin to fend off an aggressive drunk "requesting" Freebird for the hundredth time of the night.

Add to this the fact that I get a perfectly good, usable sound from my cheaper Tama kit, and I'll stick with it for questionable venues, thank you.
 
It is a nice personal feeling to take your cherished gear out of the house sometimes.
I also make it a point of never mentioning to anyone at the gig that I have something of value with me. You never know who is at a gig.
 
I can't speak for everyone but my recording kits are fine tuned for that purposes. Shell material, sizes, head selection, cymbals are all chosen specifically for working well under studio scrutiny. A gig kit will have 2 ply heads, usually bigger cymbals and a ride with more ping than the studio kit. Usually fewer drums as well to conserve stage space.

Usually the gig kit is the less expensive but not always. The difference between the top shelf stuff and the intermediate kits for example are not nearly as great as they were 20-30 years ago. The subtle differences in quality are never heard through the din of a live band but can be in a studio setting.
 
I can't speak for everyone but my recording kits are fine tuned for that purposes. Shell material, sizes, head selection, cymbals are all chosen specifically for working well under studio scrutiny. A gig kit will have 2 ply heads, usually bigger cymbals and a ride with more ping than the studio kit. Usually fewer drums as well to conserve stage space.

Usually the gig kit is the less expensive but not always. The difference between the top shelf stuff and the intermediate kits for example are not nearly as great as they were 20-30 years ago. The subtle differences in quality are never heard through the din of a live band but can be in a studio setting.

Precisely...not to mention the distorted transfer function of the pickled-in-alcohol sensory perceptions of the patrons.
 
I can't imagine a violinist playing in some of the rowdy bars I've played in, either! I can just picture them using their high-dollar violin to fend off an aggressive drunk "requesting" Freebird for the hundredth time of the night.

I have a violinist in my band and he has to guard is equipment big time. However he can easily put his instrument in a hard case when we leave the stage where mine needs to be set up for the next set.

OP if you would see the damage on my catalinas that they get from me playing rowdy gigs you would would cry. Even though I only payed $300 for them I cry sometimes. The original wrap got really messed up so I stripped it and stained it now the finish is messed up again with huge gouges. I may need to paint it this time, or leave it, or rewrap it.
 
I have a violinist in my band and he has to guard is equipment big time. However he can easily put his instrument in a hard case when we leave the stage where mine needs to be set up for the next set.

Haha, yes, as a matter of fact I played in a country band in which the fiddle player used a valuable vintage instrument. They do have different challenges from drummers, though, as you mentioned.

I just thought the image was quite funny, because to me "violinist" conjures a different image than "fiddle player" and I had a mental picture of a person donning a tux or evening dress using a violin as a sword, fending off belligerent bar patrons. Ah, how the mind wanders.

Back to the OP, I also host a jam night or two during the week, and my kit incurs even more wear than a normal gigging kit when people of various degrees of skill and care try to rearrange things on the fly. It's tough on hardware and finishes. That's yet anothe reason I prefer to have a less expensive kit handy...
 
I'll gig any of my equipment. My first "pro" grade kit, was Ludwig Vistalites. I gigged that kit for 20 years. Nothing bad ever happened to 'em. When I sold 'em, I got more than what I paid for 'em.​
 
I had a DW kit that was in such immaculate condition, I protected it too much at gigs. I started using it only at gigs/studios where I knew it would be relatively safe. I was protecting the "perfectness" of it, and that was no fun for me anymore, so I sold it.

I get it...the desire to not have patrons stumble into your drums, or to have a soundguy not tighten the overhead mic stand enough, or for an over-zealous bandmate trip into you, or for a shifty person to swipe a drum while you're setting up or tearing down. It's different when I take my nice bass and bass amp out to a gig--it's a one trip effort to keep track of everything. Even with a rolling cart, a drum set and all of its components are a LOT to keep tabs on, are highly visible, and a lot of surface area to scratch up. It's a weird mentality, but legit.
 
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