Ideas/solutions for bad house kits?

Hi everyone, just done a few gigs over the last few weeks with the same problem.. House kit was shocking! Bass drum drifting, Floor Tom drifting, rack Tom resting on the snare, so snare was falling back, had to clamp it with my knees, couldn’t even hit the snare clean.. Really fed up with this.
How do you all manage in this situation?
Considering making all my drum beats as basic as possible which would massively effect my enjoyment but the song would be relatively safe..
Any ideas/solutions??

Sorry cant help but laugh have been in similar situations where everything was all so wrong
From duct taped floor tom legs to wobbly stool to raw metal stems on the cymbal stands , mic’s dropping in the ground, toms falling off the mount it’s just beyond nuts. Thankfully I resigned from any and all gigs of that nature these days.
My only advise duct tape and channel locks are your friends!

I don't have much to offer in the way of "good advice" except... Whenever I had to play a mystery house kit, I packed my entire gigging kit with me. Sometimes the house kit was just fine. Other times some critical piece was missing or broken (bass drum pedal, throne, hi hat clutch, etc...). If you have an entire kit packed up in your car, you can grab whatever you need, or simply set up your entire kit.

Other times where I know the kit is in good shape I bring: sticks, throne, bass drum pedal, snare, and repair kit.

I’ve been thinking about this.. I take my cymbals, snare, stool and bass pedal anyway. Just spoke to our guitarist about it, his response..
‘Everyone else in the band told me it all sounded cool and they didn’t notice any mistakes..
I was going through hell! I absolutely ripped myself to pieces afterwards, maybe it’s not such a big deal.. As long as I keep the beat maybe, drop the bigger fills. I still feel pretty down about it.. Wish I was a singer!

It can be a challenge using a house kit

Some practical things would be:
Put something heavy in front of the bass drum / hi-hat stand (monitor / breeze block)
Use the drumstick sandwich on stuck wingnuts to get more leverage

Psychologically it can be good to recognise the kit is inferior to what you have but that you can adapt and enjoy the process. If you can prove to the band and venue that you can happily get on and do what's needed in the face of adversity, they will be impressed

Often house kits are bad as they are not mothered a proud owner. It's in a venues interest to provide what's needed for a good gig. I have emailed venues thanking them for the gig and saying something good about the night before pointing out some things they might want to look at on their house kit

As long as the bass drum and hi hat function ok, you can pretty much replace the other stuff with your own. In addition to my own cymbals, snare and pedal, I'll bring a stool, snare stand and a couple of cymbal stands just in case. I don't always have to use them but it's better to be prepared. Obviously anything of mine I use comes straight back off stage with me and any drummer that asks for a lend of something is politely refused on the basis that the band policy is that all gear goes straight back to the van after the gig, without exceptions.

I did a ton of showcase gigs in NYC in the 90s, and exactly every house kit I played(mandatory considering no room/multi band bills) sucked. Amount and level of suck varied. Pearl Exports(and lower), Tama Rockstars(and lower), concert toms(or just no bottom heads). All heads pitted plus duct tape. Even Don Henley would have run screaming from the sound.

It was much like what one encounters in a rehearsal studio--every part stripped due to some clueless moron that feels they must tighten something to the point that Superman couldn't loosen it--with the additional, even more worthless addition of DUCT TAPE AS BASS DRUM HEAD PATCH. This is a joke, because inevitably the beater will stick to the head with awful results.

I never, ever trust "we have a kit here". Ever. When possible, I'll bring an entire setup and leave it in my car. Snare, bass pedal, throne, cymbals and hardware at the very minimum. Even a reputable place in Atlantic City touted "DW Snare". Nope. Junky PDP with the strainer stuck on with duct tape.

Eventually, I was able to talk one of the NYC places into my using my 70s Ludwig kit. The guy at Kenny's Castaways said it was the best sound he got in years(duh. properly maintained and tuned kit, not thrown from a speeding bus).

Last few months, the opposite happened(twice)--huffing and puffing my kit up ramps while a shiny new Tama kit stared me right in the face....of course no one should ever, under any circumstances, TELL us a new house kit is available in advance. Pft.

Every place has a great kit until you arrive. I have rarely found that to be different. Even the DW kit I last used as a house kit...stripped tom holder that made the 12" tom s l o w l y fall away from where it could be reached.


Dan

I have many nightmare stories about house kits. I try to bring a lot of small spare parts with me when I know I'm going to have to use house drums. Extra cymbal felts, wing nuts, and cymbal selves. Tension Rods for snares & toms. A KickBlock to keep the bass drum from walking away. Extra snare cord. Basically anything that just fit in a backpack. It's not always going to solve every problem, but it will put a bandaid on the most common ones.

Some good ideas so thanks everyone.
I think taking my own kit will have to be the way to go from now on..
Some horror stories when you read through these mind! Respect!

Tosheus said:

Some good ideas so thanks everyone.
I think taking my own kit will have to be the way to go from now on..
Some horror stories when you read through these mind! Respect!

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You've hit that stage we all hit where you realise you're pretty much bringing your full kit any way minus the bass drum and toms and they're the least fiddly bits to bring! Just don't let every Tom, Dick and Harry use your kit.

Living Dead Drummer said:

I have many nightmare stories about house kits. I try to bring a lot of small spare parts with me when I know I'm going to have to use house drums. Extra cymbal felts, wing nuts, and cymbal selves. Tension Rods for snares & toms. A KickBlock to keep the bass drum from walking away. Extra snare cord. Basically anything that just fit in a backpack. It's not always going to solve every problem, but it will put a bandaid on the most common ones.

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Gibraltar used to sell an emergency spares pack which was pretty much everything described above. I bought one about 20 years ago and it lives in my cymbal back. The snare cord it still there but there's a reel of ribbon as well and a spare hi hat clutch.

The other useful thing I stumbled upon was a swiss army tool kit I got with a push bike of all things. It's got screwdrivers and Allan keys in all the sizes for the kit

mikyok said:

You've hit that stage we all hit where you realise you're pretty much bringing your full kit any way minus the bass drum and toms and they're the least fiddly bits to bring! Just don't let every Tom, Dick and Harry use your kit.

Gibraltar used to sell an emergency spares pack which was pretty much everything described above. I bought one about 20 years ago and it lives in my cymbal back. The snare cord it still there but there's a reel of ribbon as well and a spare hi hat clutch.

The other useful thing I stumbled upon was a swiss army tool kit I got with a push bike of all things. It's got screwdrivers and Allan keys in all the sizes for the kit

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Some good ideas going forward, thanks mate.. The Swiss army tool is a great idea!

Related: crappy hardware in the rehearsal place.

The (paid) studio where our band rehearses has an older Pearl Export kit - which is fine for practice.
But the snare, pedal, hihat-, snare- and cymbal stands are less than half functional / sliding around.
I bring my own snare, pedal and cymbals but have considered bringing hardware as well.
Although I think a decent rehearsal place should provide that.

I've had relatively good experiences with house kits. Most venues that I'm familiar with I believe do try their best to cater for the drummer. Most house kits have been old pearl exports that have the old Remo Pinstripes that just need a few tweaks here and there to sound half decent. I guess they can't cater 100% for everyone as we are of all different heights, weights etc. A few personal touches like my own throne, pedals and with a few adjustments to stands I'm good to go. I don't mind having to adapt for one night every now and then.

I guess if you are on a seriously high level then yeah, a poor house kit is a different matter.

Earlier in this century I did some weekend touring with a jazz singer/pianist.

There was no tour bus or van/trailer situation and the band kinda had a budget to get ourselves to the gig, the artist traveled separately.
The artist also would not pay my rate to bring my own kit so I brought sticks/cymbals and used backline or house kit and the whole band carpooled. Generally it was OK, usually would get some sort of Yamaha/Pearl/Tama situation, often in less than desirable sizes but a little creative tuning and muffling and it would be fine. I always had a snare head in my cymbal bag, a fluffy bass drum beater, a variety of wing nuts , hose clamps, and gaff tape, some basic hand tools, snare cord, cymbal felts, etc. and that was always enough to get a kit functional. Only a few times did I have to make a dash to a local music store to get a rental snare stand or kick pedal (at the promoters expense).

I remember one particular place in Mississippi we played a few times had about the worst house kit possible…the drums were “Thor” brand…beginner line from the 80s. Stripped out lugs, missing bottom heads, top heads were duct taped Pinstripes, concrete block to hold the kick drum, etc. that was the one time I said NOPE. I’ll play brushes on a cardboard box instead. Somehow at the very last minute someone found a PDP kit that was passable.

Lucky they had a spare drum kit knocking around! Apparently the kit I used on Saturday was a vintage 60’s kit. No logo anywhere!
Honestly it felt like a kids kit.

I guess I’m fortunate, 99.9% of my gigs I use my own kit. I’ve never liked using other kits.

One day they’ll do a scientific study on me, I’m quite tall (6ft 3”) and my legs are incredibly long compared to the rest of my body, so I need to sit fairly high, I struggle to reach things because I’m sat far back and I need to have some room behind me. For me, few things drumming wise are worse than having to sit on a kit designed for someone 5ft high, with my legs squashed up, getting cramps left right and centre.

The last house kit I used, the bass drum legs didn’t have spikes so you had to drag it back each song. The snare stand was from a junior kit and was about 30cm off the floor. The throne was a set of short metal ladders (don’t sit too far forward or you’ll tip). There was tape all over, a full duvet inside the bass drum so you could barely hear it. No no no!

My kit can be carried from car to stage in 2 trips, takes 8 minutes to set up, in my opinion it sounds good, and I maintain it.

I suggest not taking jobs where you are forced to use sub-standard equipment.

I’m 6’4.. I feel your pain. It can be hard living amongst the little people..

Otto said:

I suggest not taking jobs where you are forced to use sub-standard equipment.

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That sounds like a good idea but what when you see the crappy gear when you arrive at gig time?
You could ask about the gear or come check it out before the gig but that still is no guarantee what will be there at gig time.

eric_B said:

That sounds like a good idea but what when you see the crappy gear when you arrive at gig time?
You could ask about the gear or come check it out before the gig but that still is no guarantee what will be there at gig time.

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Exactly this..