MFB's Return. How Original, New Pictures.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

I would like to take this opportunity to re-announce my arrival over here at DWF. Some of the old-timers may remember me, some might not. Either way, this is my baby:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mediocrefunkybeat/P1010092.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mediocrefunkybeat/P1010085.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mediocrefunkybeat/P1010087.jpg

Tamburo Ash 422AM in 'Fusion' Sizes

Diameter x Depth

10x9
12x10
14x12
22x16

14x5.5 (42 Strands of gooey-goodness)

Cymbals:
Istanbul Agop 20" Traditional Jazz Ride
Sabian AAX 16" Studio Crash
Sabian HH 14" Regular Hats
Sabian B8 18" China
Sabian B8 10" Splash
Stagg DH 8" Splash (brilliant)

Hardware is a bastardisation of whatever I have lying around, mainly Tamburo, Stagg and Premier.

DW5000 Turbo Pedal

Rhythm Tech Hat Trick (Not Pictured)
Small and Medium Cowbells (Not Pictured)

Heads are Evans G1s over Remo Ambassador (Stock) on toms. Remo Ambassador over Evans Hazy 300 Snare and Remo PSIII (Stock) with Stock resonant on bass.

[driver]

nice to see you back. i was a wee lad when u left but i remember you well. nice to have another great drummer back to give advice and ideas. as for that kit of yours. stunning!

[Bernhard]

Welcome back MFB.

Bernhard

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Thanks Berny. Hope it all goes well this time around. Take care.

[aahznightsky]

Dude! Where did you go again?

kits still looking good as always

I also see you got a Stagg splash. I don't have that model, I've opted for the more exotic sounding ones (which you should really check out), but how does it sound?

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Don't worry about where I went. That's a can of worms I don't want to open. As for that Stagg splash I actually bought it on your recommendation. I remembered you used them along with those stunning Paistes of yours and realised that they were great value. £15? I'm not going to complain even if I don't 100% like it.

It's bright, fast and fairly trashy. It's a very thin cymbal so I don't get a huge amount of volume out of it but that's not hugely important to me. I really like this splash. I tried out a few of the VB ones and they weren't quite for me so I went with the DH. It's everything you could ever want and it's just about normal sounding enough to use on a conventional setup. Great stuff. IMO expensive effects cymbals aren't always the best. Point and case being Wuhan chinas. (Although that 22" Paiste Swish of yours is AMAZING).

[Vegard]

Great drums... the finish is really beautiful, and i love istanbul cymbals

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

That ride is my other sweetheart, I just feel it's really wasted on me a lot of the time.

[deadbirdsoup]

welcome back i do remember you, mostly from others talking about you leaving which was just around the time i joined. love your kit btw, great finish, plus excellent little splash stack! stick around!

[aahznightsky]

Hey someone actually took my advice on the forum! That's pretty cool hehe. Is that the B8 splash still underneath the stagg? No offense, but I woulda chucked that sucka.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Heh! Yes, yes it is, the 2" protrusion makes it playable. I have no intention of chucking it, for several reasons. Firstly I actually quite like the sound but secondly it has some serious sentimental value. It was a present when I advanced a Kyu in Ki-Aikido several years ago and I don't get rid of gifts; ever.

I do find myself playing the Stagg more though.

Eyeofthebeholder, thanks for your kind words.

[aahznightsky]

well, maybe I woulda kept it for more sonic variability. But its all good. Are those hats new? i don't seem to remember you having hand hammereds ... all nice cymbals.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

They are new as of Feburary, as is the 16" Crash. I really dig their sound, very 'traditional' and a really great 'chick' sound when played with the foot. When opened a little they can be really sloshy and great for some hard hitting backbeats.

They are pretty dark though and not for everyone, it took me a while getting used to those after my B8s.

[davodi74]

Welcome back, mate! Remember me? Ah, probably not, but I remember you and your kit. I love the ride!

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Oh I never forget an avatar, worry ye not. Thanks for the compliment, thanks for the comments guys.

[Drummer Karl]

Ohh yes, I remember your old thread with these drums! They are beautiful, really! What wood is it? the finish works great with the wood grain...nice cymbals, will listen to some on Sabian`s website. Welcome back!!

Karl

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

They are Ash. I was incorrect when I thought they were Ash and Poplar, so this post is being corrected many months later. 6-Ply 6-mm Ash shells.

[franklinj]

Ooo, I remember this set. I like the grain on it and the set up, but I liked the electronic part that you had on there too. It gave the kit something else.

I was thinking about putting my set like that, but ive gotten used to the 2 offset mounted toms. I needs another floor tom lol.

That Istanbuls nicee. I wanted to get one. Have you ran across any of the Istanbuls that can cut through heavy rock music?

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Alchemys would cut through heavy rock (check out Matt from Mudvayne) those are more along the lines of 'A Customs' than anything else Istanbul produces. In terms of the 'general' Istanbul sound it's there with the old vintage K sound, so a lot of the time you won't get particularly 'cutting' cymbals. That said a lot of the heavy ride models might give you the kind of sound you are looking for.

I got rid of the electronics for practical reasons, it was carting around too much gear. I can get these consistently set up in about 15-20 minutes now.

[Colin]

Hey dude, nice to have you back. I haven't been posting as much as I should have, but it's cool to see that yer stickin' around. I'm glad you updated some of yer cymbals, they look great! That china fooled me though, it looked like something from a higher-end line. Looks like the heads are new as well— are they G1 or G2 coated?

[franklinj]

Ooo, I was thinking about making a hybrid kit with my beech customs, but I dont have the money for it right now. How long did it take for you to set everything up when you had the electonics on there? It seems like it wouldnt take that long.

Thanks for the info on Alchemys. I know Jess Margera uses some line of the Istanbul cymbals, so there must be at least one line that is cutting enough for rock. Ill keep looking...

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Those heads are G1s, I like having the potential to tune them up for bop and down again for rock. Currently they're somewhere between because I'm playing both, rock with my band though. The china fooled you eh? We'll keep this our little secret. BTW those heads (bar the 10" tom head) are all more than six months old. I just take good care of them.

Franklin, with the electronics it took me about another ten minutes to set up, that wasn't the main problem though. When I practice, I route my computer sound through a stereo (which has a powerful preamp) into headphones so I can hear the music (I always wear ear protection, Doc's Proplugs) and incorporating the pads means I have to route my stereo through the module's aux input which adds a lot of extra noise to the signal and also means it's a pain with extra cables trailing along my floor. Just an annoyance and I don't really see the need for the pads unless I'm playing some odd music.

[franklinj]

Oh, I see. That makes sense. i still like it better with the electronics though.

[TitanSound]

Welcome back sir!

Kit looks sweeeet as ever!

[burnthehero]

First of all, welcome back MFB.

Second, your kit looks absolutely beautiful! There's nothing I can say about it that hasn't already been said.

By the way, does this mean Thinshells is coming back, too?

[TAMAdrummer12]

absolutely stunning finish..i like how the sun is hitting them through your drapes..nice
nice cymbals as well...how do you like your ride:?

[Disco Stu]

N I C E K I T ! ! !

I dig it all...sizes, finish, setup...well done. Looks like it is loads of fun to play.

[~tamadrummer~]

yo MFB nice to have you back. sweet kit too.

[Loge]

Welcome back, MFB. Was hoping you'd return at some point. The overall quality of the forum just went up a notch. Your kit looks quite beautiful - best pictures yet. Love the lighting in the first one - could be used for an ad. Look forward to your posts.

[Stevesmithfan]

Nice kit MFB. I'm glad your back.

[finnhiggins]

Hey, MFB. Nice to see you back!

A question: Is that a Yamaha C-70 nylon string acoustic I see sitting there in those pictures? It looks an awful lot like my one..

[theduke86]

welcome back mate!
Nice kit, I'm digging the cymbals.

[RudimentalDrummer]

An Official Warm " Welcome Home " To Our Dear Bro mediocrefunkybeat...kekekeke !. ... and would love to see more of your posting lol ! Hmmm....1250 posting ... not bad heh !

PS: - Nice Kit you've got there too....

[finnhiggins]

Heh! Yes, yes it is, the 2" protrusion makes it playable. I have no intention of chucking it, for several reasons. Firstly I actually quite like the sound but secondly it has some serious sentimental value. It was a present when I advanced a Kyu in Ki-Aikido several years ago and I don't get rid of gifts; ever.


MFB, I have a gift for you: A garage full of assorted junk, including an old partially-functioning 70s electric organ, a bag of clothes that once belonged to some random Japanese girl and a rusty lawnmower - along with other gems!

Unfortunately I may be moving house in a month or two so you will have to arrange collection before then...

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

I'll just fly over to New Zealand and pick them up. I would LOVE the old organ, partially functioning or not, I'm addicted to the thought of buying an old Hammond (my school had a 1930's Hammond) or the new Mellotron Mark VI (£6,000ish) but the fact that I can't play them is another matter altogether. The guitar incidentally is my dad's, I play a little very badly indeed (we're talking absolute basics here, but you've got to start somewhere) and looking inside it has 'Suzuki' written. It's over 20 years old, a gift from my mum to my dad when they were first married I think; sorry I can't be more specific.

Hero- I have had no contact with thinshells for quite a while now and I doubt he'll be back.

Disco, Rudi, Duke, Titan, Loge, both Tama drummers (you guys like to hang around in crowds don't you?) and SSF thanks for your kind words. They are very much appreciated. And yes I love my ride too. It's just a pity the player can't justify the equipment.

My lighting is completely natural, I just always wait until it's a good day outside now before I take my shots.

[Bernhard]

Hero- I have had no contact with thinshells for quite a while now and I doubt he'll be back.


Yes, please have no doubt here - there is no comeback for TS and MSH and some others.

Bernhard

[gaspesien]

I`m a new guy around so i don`t know who welcomes who! but anyway, just happy to meet such exquisite people. Awesome looking kit you got there, i think no wrap could ever achieve the beauty of wood. I too can`t throw my good ol` b8 splash away, is there any post where i could here this killer kit? Cheers

[the nameless]

this is the guy who convinced
me that joey jordison is not the best
well done buddy

i knew you could´t not live without DW

I love tamburo by the way
not too expensive
but still a quite good sound

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Heh, Joey's good, don't get me wrong. Just not the best. There used to be some posts with sound clips but they've probably disappeared (hopefully) by now. My playing in the last 4 months has skyrocketed. Hopefully I can get a decent recording of these beauties.

I would actually really like a laquered green sparkle kit. A Yamaha Maple Custom of some kind; we can all dream.

[DrumProgressive]

Nice to have you back mfb.
I saw all ur post's on drums-heal of your kit. I really love it.

[TopCat]

Didn't know you before, but hi there, regardless. Wonderful kit you have, get a recording on the go, i'd love to hear it mic'd.

[< Taylor Made >]

I didnt know you personally but I do remember seeing you around on the forums, so welcome back dude.

Your kit looks great, i love the finish and also nice cymbals. Im sure everything sounds as good as it looks!

edit: Oh forgot to say...i like the way your kit is set up, I also have the 'one up two down' setup for my toms.

[somedrummer]

Welcome back my friend. Your kit is epic.

[cdawg_2010]

nice kit..i love the finish. Hows that sabian crash?

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

I've changed the setup quite a lot since then, but yes, I do have to turn to hit it and yes, I can hit with with my left hand, especially if I cross under. I've only changed to a four piece recently for transportation purposes.

[averypoordrummer]

awsome looking kit MFB. loving the finish, the grain looks stunning

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

So your actual kit was bigger right and then you got rid of a few things. But why dont you use all that you have at least at your home?

I have several theories on this. Firstly I'm a great believer in getting as many sounds as you can out of small kit before I start adding pieces. Secondly, there is a space limit in my room (I have quite a lot of stuff in there!) so I'm keeping it small so it'll fit in the corner. Thirdly, everything I do at home I want to be able to do when I gig so I keep the kit small for that reason.

That said, sometimes I like to get it all out and play. Sometimes I even add my old electronic setup to it. Gets very big then, for my purposes too big.

awsome looking kit MFB. loving the finish, the grain looks stunning

Thanks man! Very much appreciated.

[Drummerboy3940]

Wow a beautiful kit. Such a clean set up. Love the cymbals. It looks like it was professionally photographed

[Fat Elvis]

wow -- i have never seen your kit. Beautiful. I would love to hear it -- and your cymbal selection is flawless. I echo everyone else's thoughts -- great to have you on this forum. You truly make it fun.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Hey guys. I didn't know you'd replied Elvis, must've missed it.

Either way, I recorded a quick clip of my playing today, we're talking thirty seconds here. This is probably the worst audio quality you'll experience here over at DW, I have an awful small-diagphram dynamic microphone and that's all the gear I have. Oh, and my toms don't really sound this dead in real life, it's the microphone but whatever.

[TopCat]

Some sounds really nice and some..not so nice, hehe. Only as a result of the mic though!

Anyway, on a different note, how is the Stagg DH splash for you? i'm really tempted by them.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Ahhh the playing is naff as well to be honest. Haven't played much since Tuesday since I got my new baby.

The DH is a great little splash, I've taken it off my kit (for now) and I'm just playing the basic four piece with hi hats, crash, and ride job, but that's plenty for me. I would really give one a go, plus they're only £15. You can't really go wrong with those, seeing as they cost less than some pairs of sticks.

[TopCat]

Just ordered an 8" and 10". oops.

[beatsMcGee]

nice kit, like the cymbals and you set up is similar to mine, cool stuff !

[tentpole]

Where were you? at the coast? haha.


Nice kit,I've always wondered what your kit looked like,now I don't.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Where were you? at the coast? haha.


See, it needs a context. Actually I live fairly close to the coast, near the River Thames actually. Takes a while but eventually you get to the estuary. Heh!

TopCat, you'll be fine with the Staggs. They make good effects cymbals but the rest can sometimes leave something to be desired. An 8" and a 10" might stack pretty well actually, so I can't see you really losing to be honest. I quite like some of the chinas too.

[tmc]

Hey MFB.

I'm a long time Internet user (from way before most people knew it existed and way before the Web, even). I find most online forums to be pretty much useless (especially these days), but this one is different. It's different because of guys like you, Stu, and others. Welcome back...

Love the kit, by the way... nice finish. Great (Sabian) cymbal choices, as well.

-Michael

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Thanks for the kind words buddy. You're right about the forums. I sometimes take a glance at some other forums and the general level of posting is much lower. Sure there are things here that annoy me, but it's nothing major and would naturally happen on any forum. There are some really great guys here that make the forum what it is. Off the top of my head, Aahznightsky, TheDuke86, FinnHiggins, Stu_Strib, Mattsmith, NoveauCliche and many others. You all know who you are.

I think I'm addicted to Sabian for life now. Sabian and Istanbul. And Stagg. And every other cymbal company that has something to offer to me.

[NouveauCliche]

There are some really great guys here that make the forum what it is. Off the top of my head, Aahznightsky, TheDuke86, FinnHiggins, Stu_Strib, Mattsmith, NoveauCliche and many others. You all know who you are.

<3

Even though I have been fairly absent from all things internet.

[KLittle123]

woow, very nice lookin kit

[d.c.drummer]

Nice finish on those toms.

[Class A Drummer]

wow that finish is amazing. never heard of DH for sabian.

[Stu_Strib]

Well I've never seen your kit before and must say it is very nice looking.

One HUGE gripe though...you own what I consider to be one of the worst sounding cymbals available on the market (the B8 china). Those things are horrible!

But I love the other cymbal choices!

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Hehehe. I actually quite like it Stu. That said, I am planning to put a Wuhan in there in replacement, but I'm not actually using it right now at all. Down to crash, hats and ride. Thanks Stu.

Class_A, the DH series is a Stagg splash. Best little splash I've played on.

[Stu_Strib]

Hehehe. I actually quite like it Stu. That said, I am planning to put a Wuhan in there in replacement


I'm not a huge fan of china's in general, but you should take a listen to the Zidjian Oriental Effects line (the regular china, not the trash). That is a great sounding china that I should have never sold. You can get them on ebay for cheap too; around $100 Stay away from the Trash though unless you need a bright harsh nasty cymbal.

[Nabutan]

I think you should try stagg chinas

I like them, because they are sooooo trashy

I love them

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

I'm not a huge fan of china's in general, but you should take a listen to the Zidjian Oriental Effects line (the regular china, not the trash). That is a great sounding china that I should have never sold. You can get them on ebay for cheap too; around $100 Stay away from the Trash though unless you need a bright harsh nasty cymbal.

I've been thinking about it actually. Got quite a lot of money for my 18th birthday but so far I've whittled a lot of it away on CD's. I saw a 22" (!) Zildjian China Boy High the other day. Needless to say it looked pretty outrageous but I wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole, just too big.

I'll take a look at the Zil china if I get a whiff of a chance, unfortunately anything with the Zildjian name stamped on it almost automatically puts it out of my price range. Right now, I'm in the market for a slightly larger crash and a china. Maybe a couple of extra splashes, a hi-hat stand and a new stool.

I re-arranged today to put the 12" tom to the right of my 14" on the floor. Works pretty well, I think I'm going to be sticking with this one for a while.

EDIT: In reference to the post above, I played on an 18" Stagg DH (or SH, I forget) china the other week. I quite liked it, actually reminded me of the 19" Sabian Paragon. Unfortunately at the time I couldn't make the purchase, but if the shop is open tomorrow, who knows? What I really need is a decent stand for it as well though.

[Class A Drummer]

Class_A, the DH series is a Stagg splash. Best little splash I've played on.
how much did that cost you? im gonna look into that cuz i dont think i can buy it on any store. probably must order off internet.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

£15. Great little steal that one. That's a London music shop price. Don't expect a smooth sound, it's very trashy little cymbal, in the best possible way. It's rough and trashy, but then again most mainstream splashes to me sound too smooth. It's very, very thin, so watch hitting it too hard or on the edge if you decide to get one. I would give it a go, you haven't got much to lose financially if you don't like it.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Sorry for the triple posting.

Here are the new shots; any questions or comments would be very much appreciated.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mediocrefunkybeat/P1010061.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mediocrefunkybeat/P1010063.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mediocrefunkybeat/P1010062.jpg

By the way, those sticks are Vic Firth 5As. I came across a shop with some old sticks that haven't been sold for 3-4 years. So these are old Vic Firth 5A's, the way I remember they used to be. They are one hundred times better than the firewood they're trying to flog now.

[Davidb59]

That is a nice looking kit. This may be a stupid newbie question but why do you split the toms like that?

[finnhiggins]

That is a nice looking kit. This may be a stupid newbie question but why do you split the toms like that?

It's just a different approach. I've done it in the past - very nice for playing decending snare/hi-tom/mid-tom/low-tom patterns as LRLR or the other way as RLRL.

Quite fun. I switched back because I needed another snare on the left and the tom was getting in the way.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

It's basically just an experiment. We'll see how long it lasts, but I was getting sick of having to reach around to get to the mid tom (which was outside my low tom on the right, so an inverted two floor tom approach). I saw Aahz's kit and Bill Bruford's kit and thought that splitting them might give me more ideas. It doesn't feel all that odd either, natural for me at least.

[Latin Groover]

Thats a nice idea with the china position. Is it so low that you bend your wrist back, or does it just look that low. Or are you occasinaly riding in it now.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

It's perfectly reachable, I'm not riding on it, I just thought I'd try it there, see how it works. The only issue I have right now is the angle of it, I can't quite catch the edge properly how I would like, so I'm going to play with it some more this afternoon to see how I can get it working. I'm still expermenting with this setup.

[TitanSound]

Cool setup! I tried something like this a few years ago but it did not really work out for me too well. Plus I love having a second snare.

[Latin Groover]

Yea 6month bump! Random question, im wondering is that Istanbul ride this?

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/emann006/IstanbulAgopJazz20R.png

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Yea 6month bump! Random question, im wondering is that Istanbul ride this?

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/emann006/IstanbulAgopJazz20R.png

I missed somebody actually replying to my thread! What's the matter with me these days, eh?

I'm about 90% certain that's the same cymbal. They've just changed the stamp on the 'jazz ride' part of it. If it's the 20 inch model, then yes indeed, it's the same cymbal. And a sweet lone it is too!

[Latin Groover]

Awesome. This graphic pic from kit builder looks awesome...and its not even a real photo! You bought yours 2nd hand didnt you? I would love to see it brand new.

[Josh is a cult]

I have my toms the same way right now and I love it... excpt the tom by the hi hat is a 10'' one.

Great kit man!

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Awesome. This graphic pic from kit builder looks awesome...and its not even a real photo! You bought yours 2nd hand didnt you? I would love to see it brand new.

Everything you see there is actually new, there's nothing second hand on that kit. Maybe I should've gone second hand, but the price was still more than reasonable for that ride. Half that of a Zildjian equivalent, for instance. And better to my ears.

I'm currently playing a two piece (snare and bass with hi hat, crash and ride) but I managed to er... break my snare the other week so I'm just waiting for a nice 13x6.5 Yamaha Musashi Oak to come through the mail and I'll be back in business. I haven't played for three weeks!

My guitar is getting a thorough work out.

[murphinelli]

By the way, those sticks are Vic Firth 5As. I came across a shop with some old sticks that haven't been sold for 3-4 years. So these are old Vic Firth 5A's, the way I remember they used to be. They are one hundred times better than the firewood they're trying to flog now.

I agree, my Vic Firth 5AN's are 25yrs old. I bought a case of 20 pair back then. I recently bought a couple of pairs of 7A's....they're floggin' their log with the wood today alright.

BTW, dig your kit and the Brufordish setup. Like the finish.

-murph

[Benjaminbois]

Wow i just love your kit. the lighter wood on the bass drum hoops really does it for me.
I'd really love to hear how that istanbul ride sounds though, it looks delicious!