Drummer's opinions on gear

CJMST3K

Hey - I've played for about 22 years, but havent played in the last 2 because of no space. Now I'm back into playing as I have a space....

Curious to know about a few things from experienced drummers.

Heads - which do you prefer and why?

Cymbals - which do you prefer and why?

Kit - which... blah, blah...


I have a Premier Resonator 6 piece, though the snare is a maple from the step-up from Resonator. Cymbals are Paiste 2002 HiHat heavy, 16" Paiste Sig Full, 18" Paiste Sig Full, I think 18" Paiste Sig China Full, Zildjian 20" K Crash (cracked), Old Zildjian ride (super wash sound!), and an under hihat tamborine. DW 5002 pedal.

I'm looking for thoughts from drummers on what they have and why.

I've noticed that most of the drummers I love hearing prefer Yamaha drums and Zildjian cymbals.

duggro

i use a sonor kit which i love to bits, but i would love to get a DW kit

I use ZIldjian A custom cymbals (hats, 2 crashes and a ride) cos i think they are cutting enough but not too heavy

mapex hardware all the way. mapex janus double pedal is one of the best investments i've made

as you can tell, i like to mix and match a bit:)

Inhuman

You can find pictures and specs of my setup here.

Overall I love what I play, however the sizes of the kit sometimes get on my nerves [20, 10, 14]. I've found I prefer a 22" kick over the 20", although the 20" is very versitile... it just doesn't give me the sound I want, no matter how I tune it. And yeah, I've tried everything from the Evans EMAD, to the Aquarian Superkick II, to a plain Evans EQ4 which is sitting on there now, as well as swapping resos (went from the stock Pearl head, to a PS3, now there's an Emp on there.) No luck. Also, the hanging floor tom really pisses me off. Might buy a cradle for it if I can ever find one at a half decent price. I have to change the heads soon, they're startin' to sound quite dead... thinkin' of goin with some plain 'ol clear Ambs. I've tried alot of heads on the toms too (coated/clear G1s, G2s, EC2s, coated/clear Emps, uhhh...), but I don't think I've ever actually had some Ambs on there, which is strange. So that'll probably be my next step. Once again, having a hard time finding the sound I want out of that kit.

I usually gig with a Yamaha Stage Custom instead of the SRX. It's a cheaper kit, but it sounds GREAT and I don't have to worry too much if she gets a little scratch here and there. Plus its a little bigger [22, 12, 16] and the floor tom doesn't hang, so I don't have to bring any extra stands with me to put the floor tom up. Plus the shells are SUPER light. The kick from the Yamaha weighs maybe as much as the 12" off the Pearl. I'm very pleased with it, nothing to complain about over the year or so I've had it. Again, just changed the heads -- I've got an Amb on the 12", and an Emp on the 16", and wow. Like I said, they sound GREAT. Certainly worth every penny I paid.

The cymbals I play are Zildjian As all around. Some people may say I'm a brand whore or whatever the fuck, but the truth is, I've found everything I need so far through As. Sure, they're kinda generic sounding when compared to something like a K, but they work for me. For the most part, I love them, although I may switch from the Ping to another ride in the future. The Ping cannot be crashed very well, and the wash is kinda overbearing after awhile. I've also switched to bigger crashes recently, but I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with them. I love the feel of bigger crashes, but I think I prefer the smaller ones as a whole. Kinda undecided there I think.

Anyways, there's my two cents. Maybe I'll add another post in later, who knows.

~ Tony.

MichaelMcKevin

I bought a rack off of a friend who stopped playing for $100. Definitely a good investment if space is limited