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Buying stuff

Auspicious

Auspicious

Silver Member
Hello DW it's been a while since my last message here but as a matter, I still practice the drums every day and it's the greatest thing. Lately I inherited basses and learning to become a bassist as well, I exhaust the people of Talkbass instead of DW now. 😂

Pondering, I spend a lot of time listening to music and trying new things on the drums, other things then jazz. And wow, I often ear accessories I don't have like more crashes, a chinese, a splash, more toms, even a rock cymbal kit, day dreaming.

Right now I believe that a versatile kit to play many things would be close to: 5 pieces drums (at least), 2 crashes (3), 1 splash (2), 1 reversed chinese, 1 regular ride, 1 flat ride, hi-hats, Even new rides for jazz made by Sabian, like the legacy HHX, Artisan and others similar fancy rides.

At what point are you able to stop and tell yourself: Ok I won't be able to copy everything I listen too because the amount of gear is too much.. Do you have a hard time accepting that you don't have the perfect or exact gear to match all the music you practice and being obligated to adapt downwards? Where is the line exactly, that is what I wonder.

Or you just buy stuff. lol
 
I think it first starts with this, what musical settings am I realistically going to be involved in? The big thing to me is to think about sizes. Do you need a bop kit, a rock kit, or both? Then you start to consider the venues or places you may find yourself in (if any), or whether or not you’re simply playing at home (and that is totally fine). Nice and fun to have some options gear wise, but maybe not always necessary.
 
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Auspicious said:
At what point are you able to stop and tell yourself: Ok I won't be able to copy everything I listen too because the amount of gear is too much.. Do you have a hard time accepting that you don't have the perfect or exact gear to match all the music you practice and being obligated to adapt downwards? Where is the line exactly, that is what I wonder.
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In the start of my gear journey, I thought I had to have the right gear to fit the gig perfectly. Now, I think in terms of what sounds do I want to bring to the gig, that will complement my playing and interpretation of the music.

Where, exactly, is the line? That’s a personal decision, based on your finances and living situation. Having plenty of space in my house to store/setup gear, as well as a wife that doesn’t see it as a problem, both really help in the accumulation of gear. Well, they ENABLED me to acquire and experiment with gear, anyways.

If I could be happy with just one kit and one set of cymbals, that would be GREAT. But, pursuing/playing many different gigs, having a teaching space, leaving drum sets set up in churches, rehearsal spaces, recording studios, and theatres doesn’t really make that practical for me. Not to mention being passionate about having MANY different sonic options available, and using just the right ones when I want to. Sure, I could paint a picture with just two colors, but I like having a fuller palette.
 
I think having a solid plan for what kind of music/what kind of playing situation you're going to be in should help guide you toward what you should get now.

If you go middle of the road first, you might not need to get more than a single set up, but if you cover the basics with quality gear even if you decide down the road that you need more you're only adding on to what you have, not rebuying/replacing anything.

Personally, without knowing anything, I'd say if you got a straightforward 5-piece drumset, with two thin or medium thin crashes, a medium ride, hi hats, a splash, and (maybe) a Chinese you'll be able to play 98% of anything you might want or need to.

I am lucky enough to have enough drums to put together any size of drumset I could possibly want, but that doesn't mean I NEED to set up a huge kit to play huge kit music.
 
Yes that setup is fine, take away the flat ride and that’s what I leave setup at home.

I just play the gear I like and luckily I like the generic cymbal sounds from 99% of recordings. I could live with a set of A or A customs if I had to. You need your ride to be at least heavy enough to have some stick definition in a rock setting, and it can’t be a manhole cover if you want to play a bit of jazz - otherwise I can’t think of many other scenarios where my gear doesn’t work.

If you get all the trendy trashy/dry avant-garde model cymbals then yes you will pigeon hole your sound but even then I have never needed my drums or cymbals to sound close to the recordings, definitely not to the extent of buying gear, that’s an fictional scenario to me.
 
Yey thanks for the replies and from what I read here:

- I don't have a solid plan at all.
- I have zero ideas about what I realistically am to be involved in.

Really, I was totally somewhere else when I wrote this question.. I am just practicing some music and it's me that would like to have the exact gear as heard in some specific songs.

I'll be ready to play with people soon i think, maybe things will sort themselves out when this happens.
 
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I picked my cymbals to play jazz, now I want to play Nirvana, The hi hat is ok but the rest makes no sense. It would be useful to have another all rounder kit of cymbals for rock, something I would not mind bashing on with energy.

Like a pack of cymbals, all matched together. I'd have cymbals for jazz and cymbals for the rest basically. To do that I obviously need to buy more cymbals.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
If I can't get the job done on 4 piece with two crashes, a ride, and hats, I don't need to be playing that particular gig.
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I can get the job done with less than that (and I have) but I hated every minute of it because of how repetitive it sounded (hitting the same crash over and over) only one tom, etc. It forces you to be creative (come with ways to overcome the limitations) but that is the thing they are SELF imposed limitations so why do that to yourself?
I love having the option to switch between 10 or 11 cymbals and 5 toms to basically be able to play any style that I want with no limitations.
I use the same setup in my electronic kit with the big difference being that I can change sounds on the fly to suit anything I want to play and save that as a preset to use when needed. So, no small kits for me.
Yes I am aware that a lot of venues will not want you to have a large kit (or you won't be able to because of the small stage available) and also nobody wants to lug a large kit in a regular basis so there's that, but to me, if I can get away with it I don't mind and it will make it so much more fun for me to play with my usual setup.
 
Auspicious said:
Yey thanks for the replies and from what I read here:

- I don't have a solid plan at all.
- I have zero ideas about what I realistically am to be involved in.

Really, I was totally somewhere else when I wrote this question.. I am just practicing some music and it's me that would like to have the exact gear as heard in some specific songs.

I'll be ready to play with people soon i think, maybe things will sort themselves out when this happens.
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Chasing the sound you like from a recording by buying the exact gear used is not going to EVER get you there.
This is specially true with guitar.
You can literally have THE gear that the original guy used, play the exact same notes, use everything setup the same way he had it when he recorded and still not sound exactly like him.
You will of course get close enough, but in guitar the feel is on the fingers they say, to me that just translates to how long or how short a player holds a note before moving on, if you replicate those nuances perfectly you WILL sound exactly like that player with the exception of the sound because of whatever technique the engineer used or whatever strings or some other variable that you will not be able to match which of course will affect the outcome.
 
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Auspicious said:
Or you just buy stuff. lol
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Correctomundo Sir !!!!

I've been a 1 rack tom, 2 floor tom guy forever. I've got bigger kits ..... and smaller ones. Do whatever you want.

Most gigs can be done with a 4 or 5 piece kit, hats, a ride and 2 crash. I could pair that down to 2 crash/rides (Sabian HH Vanguards are fantastic).
 
Auspicious said:
At what point are you able to stop and tell yourself: Ok I won't be able to copy everything I listen too because the amount of gear is too much.. Do you have a hard time accepting that you don't have the perfect or exact gear to match all the music you practice and being obligated to adapt downwards? Where is the line exactly, that is what I wonder.

Or you just buy stuff. lol
Click to expand...

I apologize for not answering your initial question.

I try to exhaust every idea of everything I already own before I look into buying a new "thing." I also have to look at how frequently I think I'll use whatever new gear in whatever new venture I'm pursuing before making a purchase. I think it all depends on what your personal goals are. For example, do you plan to lean way into playing metal? If so, you're probably going to need to buy a china and a double pedal. Are you recording a project that requires a splash cymbal, but you don't ever plan on using a splash again? See if you can rent one, borrow one, or load a sample on a pad for that one project.
 
Sometimes you just have to buy something to figure out what it's all about. That's how we sometimes end up with a 100 pairs of sticks and maybe only use 50 out. As price goes up- sticks were cheap- to drums and cymbals- you may have tried 10 or 11 brands of snare and drum sets. Old K's you may try 10 or 11 and quit but don't sell, due to price increase.

You won't be able due to price increase to replace some things.
So lucky when you bought what when you did.
Things come back in vogue and fashion too..
Some sounds never go away . be aware,

One thing is to notice and be aware of what NOT to get rid of. 20 or 30 or more years time you may be glad you didn't sell off a piece or item of equipment. There's a refining over your career of being a drummer and equipment gets bought, sold, kept and culled
 
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PorkPieGuy said:
If I can't get the job done on 4 piece with two crashes, a ride, and hats, I don't need to be playing that particular gig.
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That's where I am now. It's just taken a few kits and cymbals to get where I'm happy and have been for the last 6 and a bit years. Then I saw a champagne sparkle Ludwig 26/13/16/18 that's woken the giant yesterday but anyway I digress.....

jda said:
sometimes the accumulation of "stuff" is not because you're going to use 19 rides it was in looking for "one" or "two" sounds stuff just got built up.
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Yep and because selling them is more hassle than keeping them in a cymbal bag. On the plus side now I'm doing recordings, all these rides come out to play again :).

As for snares get a Supraphonic, a good wood snare and a brass snare and you're covering all bases but snare collecting can get messy.

In other words don't get a lockup and you'll be fine!
 
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mikyok said:
Then I saw a champagne sparkle Ludwig 26/13/16/18 that's woken the giant yesterday but anyway I digress.....
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If it's the one that's currently on Reverb, I've been drooling over it a week or two.
 
I play other instruments and I've gone through phases where I focus on one genre over others. I might do a few years playing salsa, then a few years playing in a community orchestra, and then a few years doing originals. I've found that gear accumulates the most when I'm between projects, but it never really goes away completely.
I currently only play bass at church and I've been using the same bass, preamp, wireless, etc. But overdrive pedals have been coming and going a lot more quickly. Like, really quickly. At least they are small enough to ship easily.
There are pedal boards that are kind of "standard" for worship music. The Aguilar Tone Hammer, the EHX MicroSynth, a Rat style distortion. They are on a lot of church boards. But, I don't use or own any of them. I like the tones on some of the recordings, but I don't like those pedals for my playing style---even though I'm playing the same songs.
I'm getting the appropriate tone--just out of my own personal pedals. But, it does take a lot of trial and error.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
If it's the one that's currently on Reverb, I've been drooling over it a week or two.
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rattleanddrum.com

Pre-Owned Ludwig Classic Maple 26" 4 Piece Shell Pack in Champagne Spa

A stunning Pre-Owned Ludwig Classic Maple shell pack with a 26" bass drum in Champagne Sparkle. One of my favourite kits to come into the shop recently, this kit is an absolute monster. Dating from the early 2000's which in my opinion was the era when Ludwig started to make great drums again...
rattleanddrum.com rattleanddrum.com

It's in the UK. She's beautiful.
 
mikyok said:
rattleanddrum.com

Pre-Owned Ludwig Classic Maple 26" 4 Piece Shell Pack in Champagne Spa

A stunning Pre-Owned Ludwig Classic Maple shell pack with a 26" bass drum in Champagne Sparkle. One of my favourite kits to come into the shop recently, this kit is an absolute monster. Dating from the early 2000's which in my opinion was the era when Ludwig started to make great drums again...
rattleanddrum.com rattleanddrum.com

It's in the UK. She's beautiful.
Click to expand...

This is the one I've been looking at. 14" rack tom. :)

 
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