Man, we could probably sit in on each other’s rigs and not have to move anything at all. This is what I play 75% of the time…
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How’s that Daru PDP set? Before I ordered my little DWs, I had contemplated the Daru set. Great sizes and look. Would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Haha yes I'm pretty confident we could share each other's rigs with very little, if any, repositioning haha. Sometimes I lift and angle my ride like your's but other times I keep it low. If I'm playing a thinner more washy ride I keep it high and angled because it helps to stop me from just crashing it all the time, if I'm playing a heavier ride I like to keep it lower and flatter. In my above pic I just pulled out my new Paiste PST 7 ride for the first time and I absolutely love it, I was smacking that wicked bell all night.
As for the Daru Jones kit, it has it's shortcomings but as a whole I really like it. I've been playing smaller drums for a long time so I didn't 'over expect' anything out of it but it's surprisingly versatile while still being very punchy. The single lugs with the really long tension rods on the bass drum can be a bit of a pain, no matter how careful you are you will always get one or two that are really crooked. It's not a huge deal but drives my OCD nuts. The duckfoot style riser is the most solid and reliable riser I've ever used and having the notch in the hoop is a nice touch however I personally don't really like risers and would prefer my 18" just sitting on the floor. The bass drum itself is a little thump machine, I'm using an emad batter and a small port in the reso along with a big fluffy beater on my dw7000 pedal and it's absolutely lovely. The snare was a little tricky to get to where I like it but now that it's there it's sounding really nice and capable of impressive nuance, I'm running a uv1 over 300 snare side. The floor tom sounds ok, it has potential but it's the drum I've spent the least amount of time with, the bass drum and snare drum work with you going back and forth between softer and harder playing whereas the floor tom sounds best with softer hits and starts to get a little 'bonky' when you lay into it. Could also be my current tuning. Typically I'm not a very hard hitter but I've got a bass player who likes to crank and a guitar player who is clinically deaf in one ear. As I previously mentioned to you, I use the floor tom more as an alternative time keeping element so I just stay mindful of how I'm playing it. The floor tom legs are almost stupidly long however I decided to embrace this and have been slowly setting everything up a little bit higher which has been improving my posture dramatically, for almost twenty years I hunched like a damn bridge troll while playing. I was on the fence about the dw6000 ultralight hardware, they all felt almost like a toy and I was overly cautious in setting up and then packing up after. Last night I tossed them around, gave them hell, and threw them in the bag and they were fine. After last night's gig I've restored faith in that hardware. Hell, I had that 5lb PST7 heavy ride on a 6000 ultralight stand and I was smacking it like it owed me money without issue. It actually seems like these really light stands handle a heavier cymbal better as it reduces wobble. The maple/poplar shells are solid and while I initially thought the blended poplar was purely a budgetary decision I can for sure say they lend a bit of that old school drum sound, back in the day when drums were made with mixed layers of crap wood and still sounded good.
So yea. As a whole I like the Daru Jones kit. I prefer 12" and/or metal snares but I understand how a 13" is more mass appealing and I'm far from dissatisfied with the sound, feel, and playability of this drum. The bass drum is my favorite piece of the kit by and large. It's amazing how thumpy and chest punching it is but not dead or dull by any means, it wobbles a small amount but that's the riser not the drum. I'll get the floor tom where I need it to be with a bit more tweaking. The gold sparkle to black fade lacquer is super sexy, I love it. Probably my favorite drum finish I've ever owned. The bags that it comes with are very nice, durable, and high quality. They are the same basic design and concept as the Tama power pad style of bag. They are not hard flight cases but they are padded and I will not vomit on myself if a drum takes a few bumps in transit.
Oh yeah, the little 10" tom. It sounds great, it really does. It looks cool too. I just don't use more then a 3pc so that will probably never get used. PDP provides a tom mount cover plate which is absolutely genius, you can see it in my above pics. In my twenty years on the throne I barely ever use toms in the 'up' position so it's nice to have a drum company finally acknowledge that and give set up flexibility options.
Feel free to ask any other questions or if you want to see any specific components I'm happy to snap pics.
I got a deal on the kit simply by talking to my Sweetwater sales guy over the phone, I don't remember the exact price but I ended paying somewhere around $1,100 for the 4pc Daru Jones kit, full matching bag set, and the DW 6000 ultralight hardware set with matching bag. Add another $100 for the dw7000 pedal and another $150 or so in heads.
I had a habit of changing my drums very frequently but I think this one is going to stick around for awhile.
Wanted to add:
So the entire kit above from my pictures breaks down into just this:
The bass drum is in the bag to the left, hardware and cymbals bags in the middle, then the bag to the right has the floor tom, the snare drum, and the seat part of my throne all separated with dividers (included).
In the hardware bag I fit the DW 6000 ultralight hihat stand, snare stand, one cymbal stand, the floor tom legs, the tripod base for my throne, my dw7000 pedal, my stick bag, and a notebook. Always carry a notebook.
). Gives the spurs a little something extra to hold onto.
