Anyone here play drums?

[Groovetube]

They are very nice kits, the babinga is a little dry for my tastes, compared to the prolites which have insanely ample tone, less attack. I A-Bed them in a room, and I played one in Italy recently. Very nice and if you like the attack, it excels there.

 

[Groovetube]

bit of excitement here, an old friend is parting with his long time kit, (he bought them new in early 70s) used them for some notable acts here in Canada.

He wants them to go to a 'good home', and I'm the good home. early 70s Slingerlands, maple shells, these are howitzers of drums. Can wait to go nuts on these in a couple nights for they're debut. 28/14/16/18 sizes.

You can't have, enough kits...

 

[Kevriano]

Oooooo Shiny!
Very nice indeed. Not a big fan of Chrome kits, but nice shells. Slingerlands are great.
My Mrs would argue that 1 kit is too many

 

[Groovetube]

well this makes kit #4. I really didn't plan on this one, but this kit has serious history, and the seller I've known for years, I had to.

The shells are chrome wrapped, but the wood is 3 ply maple with re-rings, the sweetest tone.

I picked them up last night, was out late because the guy has the most unbelievable collection of vintage ludwig/wfl/slingerland etc from 20s, 30s, 40s 50s I was in shell shock playing all these incredible snare drums. And catching up.

The bass drim is a 28, and I was a little blown away how big it was when I sat behind it. It's only 2" higher than my 26, but seems like another 6" at least.

These are going to the rehearsal space, no way my neighbors will put up with these they are unbelievably powerful.

 

[Kevriano]

28" Kick, awesome! 3ply, that's a thin shell by today's standards I guess, but I bet they are punchy as they come.
I envy you

 

[Groovetube]

these things really sing!

But these are definitely not your small club kit. You need some air around these for sure.

Maybe I'll scare one of my bands with these heh heh.

 

[Groovetube]

well I played this kit for the first time last night with a full band. My god. The bass drum is out of control. The distinct and incredible 'pow' that this thing produces was a little daunting at first, as every pattern I played was front and center. I had to dampen the front head a bit to try and feel a little less 'naked' , but boy that one is going to take time getting used to. It's quite different than my '48 WFL 26" made with mahogany plies, which has a much rounder, low fundamental tone than this beast in all maple.

I now really see the distinct difference between the vintage maple and mahogany plies. What a difference.

 

[Kevriano]

That's awesome. What did the band make of it?

 

[Groovetube]

well I noticed they all had ear plugs in in short order

It is one, loud kit. And I beat the living bejesus out of them for 4 hours.

 

[Kevriano]

As you should too.
I love band members reactions to this kind of thing.

 

[Groovetube]

never worn earplugs in my life.

I can't hear the levels of my cymbals with them in, no matter how great the plugs.

A couple years ago, I scored above average in a hearing test, no joke. The tester was flabbergasted at the time when I said I was a professional drummer.

 

[nickyr]

Just spent the money I'd saved on a new iMac - so have to start saving again for my kit.

I have been looking at Alesis kits. Seem to get plenty for your money - anyone got any experience of them? To be honest, for what I want to get out of a kit this one looks fine:

Alesis DM10 Studio Kit (2011) Professional Six-Piece Electronic Drum Set

 

[mdurkin]

Just spent the money I'd saved on a new iMac - so have to start saving again for my kit.

I have been looking at Alesis kits. Seem to get plenty for your money - anyone got any experience of them? To be honest, for what I want to get out of a kit this one looks fine:

Alesis DM10 Studio Kit (2011) Professional Six-Piece Electronic Drum Set

I have limited experience with Alesis, and from what I can tell, they work but not well. They have a very artificial sound, very disappointing if you are expecting the same sound you get from a real acoustic set. Really nothing sounds like an acoustic, but the Roland high end ones are pretty darn good.

 

[Kevriano]

The biggest issue with the Alesis is not the sounds. It is possible, with some careful tweaking, to get some great kit sounds out of them. Yes, they aren't as good as the top end Rolands, or the 2 Box especially, but they are still very good.
The biggest issue I have with them is build quality and the feel of the pads is horrible. I have played them extensively at shows and in stores.
What sort of budget do you now have? You can pick up some stellar used kits for £500 or so, I can point you in the right direction with a budget figure

 

[mdurkin]

The biggest issue with the Alesis is not the sounds. It is possible, with some careful tweaking, to get some great kit sounds out of them. Yes, they aren't as good as the top end Rolands, or the 2 Box especially, but they are still very good.
The biggest issue I have with them is build quality and the feel of the pads is horrible. I have played them extensively at shows and in stores.
What sort of budget do you now have? You can pick up some stellar used kits for £500 or so, I can point you in the right direction with a budget figure

Another issue, though I think it's less serious than the sound quality is the feel of the kit, at least the one I am familiar with. It doesn't feel or look anything like a real drum kit. It looks like pads stuck on a square box frame and has a very artificial feel to it when you hit the pads.

All in all, I would say it depends on what you are doing, it may be OK. There may also be higher end Alesis kits that are not at all like I describe but I haven't seen them so I am not aware.

 

[Kevriano]

Yep, I said they feel horrid.
I suspect the kit you mean is the DM6, which is budget in the extreme. The 10 is really not that bad, but those pads suck. Far better to buy used Roland/Yamaha.

 

[Groovetube]

I've tried playing several Alesis kits, I know a few people with them. I agree, the pads, horrible. Sounds, passable. No where near roland at all.

But playing acoustic kits all the time, I really see it bigtime.

Just playing a round of shows of late, short jaunts on the road, next stop is Vansmith's town, Ottawa!

 

[nickyr]

Me again.

After looking around and trying some stuff out I quickly realised that the only kit for me is an acoustic one.

I could live with the sound and feel of an electronic kit, but nothing can match the aesthetics of a simple acoustic set up. A bit shallow maybe but that's how I feel.

So, I think I'm going to get myself a new kit and invest in some soundproofing!

 

[Groovetube]

it's a tough transition if you're used to acoustic.

I just had our basement waterproofed, and floor redone (lowered a few inches!) the floor was just poured yesterday. I plan to finish and use some sound proofing too, I'm in a detached, but I'm right downtown Toronto, and nearest houses are at most 3 feet away.

I play a bunch of in town gigs where, I have to really quieten things down, the biggest offenders is always, snare/cymbals. I gaff them down heavily, and use O-rings on the snare, and have a few tricks where I place a small square of gaff strategically on the side of the snare bed. It works wonders, and I've gotten really used to the deadened sound. (I thought I'd never, but I did!)

It can work, with some experimenting in dampening, but still having a decent acoustic kit to have fun on. Funny enough, that band -loves- the sound of my gaffed kit.

But I still get a chance to bring the huge slingerland kit out to bigger places and wind it out.

 

[Kevriano]

Haha, I haven't been on in a while, and I have now sold all of my E Kit and gone acoustic Even bought some more cymbals yesterday at a drum fair.
I had played the E's live in June and it was a nightmare, no where near loud enough, and so much hassle to set up.
I will stick some pictures up soon.