Questions for the drummers....

[Jeff Alton]

Okay drummers, interested in what you have and how you like it.

I am currently limited to a "silent sessions" type kit for noise reasons. But, I like playing along to music on my computor and my CD player.

I have a Yamaha DTX Extreme III and think it is a good kit, but I want something with a wee bit better feel in the skins. Anyone out there playing a Roland?

Post what you got and what you think of it, acoustic of electronic.

Cheers

[rennch]

Yamaha Beech Custom in Blueberry. 10, 12, 14, 22. Used mostly for touring and live shows.

Tribes custom snare 13 X 7.
Sonor 14 X 5 Brass snare.

Sonor sonic plus (birch), 10, 12, 14, 20. Used for lower volume gigs, jazz, and practice.

All Sabian cymbals: 22" Garabaldi Ride, 17" AA Crash, 18" AAX China, 13" AAX Fusion hats, 8, 10, 12, 14" Splashes.

I play shows 6-8X month (though I have to update my calendar on my Myspace page) and have been lucky enough to play some of the cooler places, from CBGB's to Red Rocks.

http://www.myspace.com/mikeplaysdrums

Word.

[Jeff Alton]

Nice kit!! How about a pic?

Cheers

[rennch]

Sure, here's a few:








A bunch more here, including a topless cougar at the show...

http://www.steve-z.com/galleries/06_12_08A/

[charleskieffner]

mapex kit -snare-dual ride tom toms-floor tom-bass-hi-hat. (7)-"z" cymbals.

and the most important part.......................(1) COWBELL FROM HELL!

"more cowbell!" ......."MORE COWBELL!"


been very happy w/mapex quality. love the "z" cymbals. had a couple sabian cymbals traded them in and kind of regret it now.

kit was a $1000 bucks and then whatever stands cost and add cost of (7) zldjian(sp) cymbals.

cowbell was well over a grand also.........its damn FINE!

greatest pyschologist i ever bought. cheaper also. and doesnt talk back to me.


right now my buddy whose done (5) cds so far with his bands, is borrowing them. hes got a studio at home. each and every time they come back tuned to a nats A$$, and/or new heads. cant argue w/that.

and best of all..........my COWBELL IS TUNED!


all in all been very happy w/mapex. propably some year, off these and get a yamaha studio kit to upgrade. like their sound.

[Jeff Alton]

Good Stuff!! Cool pics.

Cheers

[azasadny]

Jeff,
I play a Rolnd VDrum set at home and a 1965 Rogers acoustic set at church. Here are pics of the sets I currently play:

Rogers set at church:


Roland set at home:



Slingerland set at home:

[rennch]

Art, is it just the photos, or are all of those sets set up a little differently? It looks like your drums and cymbals are in slightly different places in every set up?

[azasadny]

It's just the pictures... I have the same basic setup on all three sets, but the set at church is a little more "generic" because two other drummers also use the same set. I'm always experimenting with different ways to set up the kit, you'd think after 35 years of playing I'd have it figured out by now...

[rennch]

It's kinda hard to see, but here's my Sonor kit. It's got a nice, warm sound to it.

[azasadny]

I love the hardware on those sonor kits! I used to drool over the Sonors at the NAMM shows, they were the "Mercedes Benz of drums"!

[rennch]

Oddly, I like my Yamaha hardware much better. The Sonor stuff is cool, but they tried so hard to be different that I think they lost some usability. Alas....

[azasadny]

Michael,
I've never tried the Yamaha hardware, but the Sonor hardware just seemed to be so sturdy and precision-made that I couldn't believe it. i love the Slingerland and Rogers kits but the hardware is absolutely pathetic. The Gibraltar hardware on my Roland set is very usable and durable, but then again, it's a rack-kit.

[Jeff Alton]

Art, just got back from tryout the V-drum, nice but the one I wanted was 6800......

So, I picked up a new Yamaha DTXpress IV, much better hi-hat and cymbals than my old verison III. It has a tuneable snare as well which i like. I plan to use both controllers hooked together so I can expand it.

I will post pictures tonight when I have it put together....

Cheers

[Jeff Alton]

Michael, have you ever played up here, or does your band stick closer to home?

Cheers

[rennch]

Hey Jeff,

We've never played in Canada. We've gone to LA twice, and NY once, and done local regional touring. You can listen to a tune or two at http://www.myspace.com/tentiers

I suppose we would go to CA if we could get a few shows and make it worth our while. It would be like "Europe Light".

So, you just went out and bought a new electronic kit today??? Holy impulse buy! Did you even check Craig's List first to see if there were any used V-Drum kits in your area?

[Jeff Alton]

Nah, that would have been the smart thing to do! No fun in that!

I may still try to find a used V drum kit around as well. I have few friends who like to play as well, so having one they can borrow for a while is not a bad thing. Also, now we can pretend to do the duelling drummer thing without getting the neighbors all cranky!!!

Gotta go try to set it up now and tune it (if you call it that) and see if I can get the two controllers to interface...

Cheers

[azasadny]

Jeff,
I bought the Roland VDrums on eBay very "lightly used" about 5 years ago for $2500 and they wwere like new! After playing on them at church all of this time, we built a new building and moved in Jan 07 and our music minister really wanted to go back to acoustic drums. Another drummer donated the Rogers set, I put new Aquarian heads on it, got new Zildjian ZXT cymbals and stands and it sounds great!

I have the Roland set at home to practice on and I really like them but they feel completely different than an acoustic set. They are versatile, fun and practical, just very expensive and the cymbals and hihat are the weak points, they just don't sound/feel like the real thing.

[rennch]

Art,

Maybe you could do a combo of both on the roland set? Do an actual ride cymbal and hi-hats...they don't cut through much anyway. It's usually kick drum and crash cymbals that cut through all the walls. So, set your crashes up with electronics, get a real hi hat (I agree, the hi hat on the v drum setups stink) and real ride, and you're good to go.

[Jeff Alton]

Okay, got it all hooked up. Must say I am impressed with the new system! I think I will end up spending more money enhancing it shortly but here is the long and the short of it.

The new controller is much improved over the old one.

The hi-hat is better. Pretty darn close to the real thing.

The ride has 3 zones instead of two.

The crashes are "chokeable" and have two zones.

The base will take a double pedal.

The snare is more alive and can be tuned right on the pad.

The ability to tune each trigger and its voice is greatly improved.


Soooo, I hooked the two systems together and this is what I ended up with. I built new kits into each that are number the same. For instance kit 51 on both controllers are programmed to work together etc....

I still have two drum triggers unused and one cymbal trigger unused (have the triggers as well) but I am sure this will keep me entertained for a while........




Cheers