Best purchases you've made for drums.

Lunar Satellite Brian

Senior Member
Well, this is pretty much the opposite of my last, somehow controversial, topic.

Basically, what purchases have you made that you feel you got the most out of your money from? And to this day you are still glad about making that purchase?

For me, the one thing that I feel that I can always rely on to do my dirty work is my Gibraltar Tom stand. I can pile so much crap on it that it's ridiculous, 10" and 12" toms+ 3 splash cymbals+ a crash+ a cowbell and it stays sturdy. I honestly don't know how I would set up my drums without it.

So what are some great investments you have made and would recommend to others?

Edit: I guess since this thread is going to be long term, and reappears randomly I'll add some more of my purchases that I'm very happy with

Saluda Glory 20" Ride, 200$ but I think it is incredibly important to get a very nice ride, and I got it from this ride, and for a good price too. Really I feel this way about all of my Saluda's, but this one in particular stands out for me being the first purchase I made from them and also it being a essential part to my playing. It also crashes nicely.

Sabian AA hats used, 60$ I've had these for as long as I can remember, they were a bit dirty when I got them, but they still sound great, sometimes I would like to get a different sound out of them but for the price of hi-hats these do just fine and these fit into just about any genre I need them to.

Roc-n-soc with pearl base for 60$, great throne, stand is fine, saved me from the price tag of a true Roc and Soc as well.

My 10" snare custom built super sketchy 3-ply maple snare. 60$ even though the wrap is chipped severely, the wrap is too thick to fit my favorite heads(Aquarian) on them, the reinforcement hoops are cracking off, and several of the screws that attach the tuners to the drums randomly fall out, it sounds amazing and I still use it over my PDP 805 10" often.

And once again, ANY Gibraltar product, the price of these are amazing and they hold up great, weight is fine, never had any of their hardware break on me.

And also, a more recent purchase, a friend sold me his old Pdp Lx kit for a great price, really appreciated offer, little rust on the hardware but I see myself keeping this kit for a long time.
 
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Yamaha 600 hardware. Single-braced, lightweight, yet sturdy as double-braced stands. Been using them for years, mounting toms/percussive toys, cymbals, etc., and never had a problem with slipping or tipping.

Vintage Ludwig drums--the old 3-ply shells sound GREAT! So glad I got some of these...
 
The first thing that jumped to mind:
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Made loading in and out of gigs so much easier.

2nd: My DW 6x14 10+6 maple snare drum. It tunes up, it tunes down, it does everything.I had intended to be one of those guys who owns a bunch of different snare drums for different situations, but with this one, I just don't feel the need to have a different snare. It works in every situation.
 
Protection Racket hardware case. I went with a shorter one so it's easier to lift (short arms). I have to break most of my bigger stands in half to fit them in, but it's not a major hassle when compared to not having a case.

Beat Bug, this thing is fantastic for playing with more experienced guys whose tempo awareness is insanely good.

Backrest for my Tama throne, I love it.

A proper music stand!
 
2nd: My DW 6x14 10+6 maple snare drum. It tunes up, it tunes down, it does everything.I had intended to be one of those guys who owns a bunch of different snare drums for different situations, but with this one, I just don't feel the need to have a different snare. It works in every situation.

I have to say, 10" snare drums are way too underrated, I think most people assume that they are only good as a high, side snare but they actually have an extremely wide range of tunings.
Only snare size I use as well.
 
Wow, fortunately I have more good than not so good.

But the best - in no particular order:

1. Yamaha Recording Customs back around 1986 - they were my exclusive workhorse for almost 25 years.

2. Rock & Soc throne with Back - years of comfort

3. Boss DB88 - have many clicks before but none this good

4. All things Bosphorus

5. Gretsch New Classics

6. John Riley's library of material. I guess most of the other method books as well.

7. Private Lessons
 
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I bought a 10" Zildjian ZX-something splash for 20 bucks at Sam Ash, it really was an impulse buy that sat in my cymbal bag for a while.

Now my main band has a very pronounced Vaudeville vibe to it that splash gets more than its share of use. So if you're playing anything remotely old-timey I'd recommend a nice cheap splash.

Also my 14x10 Crazy 8's custom snare. I couldn't find a deep snare drum that really wowed me so I had this one made for me. Now, just like the splash, it is an essential part of my setup.


Anyone else have any good hardware stories? Now that I'm again gainfully employed I believe the next investment will be a set of good, solid cymbal stands. I'm going back and forth between the Gibraltar flat base, Gibraltar elliptical and the Yamaha 750's.
 
Purchased a custom bubinga stave snare drum with die-casts and offset lugs for $495 (Australian Dollars) = $526 US from a local Australian drum builder. Made me very happy.
 
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