My kit: 4 piece custom DDrum

[UnderratedF00l]

Hi All,


Been browsing the boards for a while, and finally thought I'd post something.

Here's a few pics of my kit - a custom 4 piece DDrum - 7 ply maple on the toms and bass, 9 ply on the snare (it really, really cracks).

Sizes are 10x12, 14x16 and 22x20. The snare is 13x7.

My cymbal set up changes almost weekly, but I usually use 2 crashes (15" and a 16"), a 20" ride, a splash of some kind and a china of some kind.

BTW, the second pic was in the middle of a stick drop...no, that's not some funky technique, lol.




Thanks for looking! We're in studio now, so hopefully I can show of my non-chops soon, lol.



Adam

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http://a439.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/71/l_a468c3caadf593db7739a134a6bef746.jpg

http://a553.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/113/l_ff9eee9b1276e267826d161c389025a8.jpg

http://a327.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/66/l_7ae8c8df190739ac459304da4637736e.jpg

[TopCat]

Bass drum is a little bit deep for my liking, but it's certainly an attractive kit. I'd love to give it a whirl.

Any chance of some cymbal specs?

[UnderratedF00l]

Bass drum is a little bit deep for my liking, but it's certainly an attractive kit. I'd love to give it a whirl.

Any chance of some cymbal specs?


Sure...in these pics, I'm using a Paiste 802 16" crash, an old, unnamed Paiste 15" crash above my ride, a 20" Zildjian ping ride, a 18" Zildjian China, and a 8" Zildjian splash. My hats are Paiste Sound Edge tops with a Zildjian bottom.

I have a full line of Paiste Signatures that I use for recording, but for gigs, I just use the cheap stuff. With the amount of bars and clubs we play, I'm really tired of getting beer on the nice cymbals, lol.


As far as the bass drum is concerned - that's why I love it. It's only 20 inches in diameter, but is 22 inches long. It's very punchy, with a little boom - I love it. I think it's the best part of my kit.



Thanks for the comments!



Adam

[Drummer Karl]

Looks very very beautiful...but how is DDrum quality-wise? What maple? How is the shell quality, bearing edges? How are the lugs and that stuff?

ha, I don`t know very much about DDrum drums...

Karl

[BrokenGlass]

I have that same snare drum. I got it because I needed something to hold me over until my custom snare comes in. I must say I was suprised. It does sound pretty nice. It has wide tuning. I usually crank it up just a bit. It's nice and loud and cracky just like I like my snare to sound. I think i'm going to hold onto it once the new one comes.

[TheAnalogKid]

I love the deep kicks! If Pearl made 20x20 kicks, I would never use anything else!

[kung_f00]

What are your thoughts on ddrum? I've been looking at the Dominion Ash Pocket kits, and so far I'm game ... but I'd like to hear some user thoughts on ddrum as an acoustic drum company.

[punkdrummer1]

I love the sizes!!!! beautiful kit :D

[UnderratedF00l]

Looks very very beautiful...but how is DDrum quality-wise? What maple? How is the shell quality, bearing edges? How are the lugs and that stuff?

Karl

You know, I really couldn't be happier with Ddrum. I had given up drums for a few years before I bought this kit, but after some pressure from friends and family, decided to get back in to it. I didn't have very much money to spend, so I had researched the kit I wanted (I had decided on a Gretsch Club Mod), and went to Guitar Center to get one...when this DDrum kit stood out. Basically, someone had special ordered this kit from Ddrum, and hadn't picked it up.

I sat down and played, and was...well, not impressed. The stock heads were junk. I talked the drum dude in to letting me put some pinstripes on it, and there she was...just simply beautiful. I spent some time before putting the heads on inspecting the bearing edges, and was impressed with the quality of the workmanship. The hard ware is all die-cast, the finish is great - it's a type of paint that I haven't seen before. It's not a wrap - which is awesome.

There's only a couple things that I wish were better....the quality of the maple - its some Asian maple that I've never heard of. Second, the lugs on my snare drum keep going out of tune. Truthfully, I'm a bit of a heavy hitter, and I figured that was the problem. I picked up some new lugs, and we'll see if they work better. But for the price, I couldn't be happier.

I spent a few hours going over this kit from top to bottom before I bought it, and I'm still in love. I've played about everything....from DW's to 80's Yamaha recording customs, and this thing has just been amazing to me. There is depth to the tone of the drums, like all maple drums have, but even with pinstipes, they have a good amount of attack - which is really what I love. The bass drum is just a cannon....and the snare is beautiful. I usually prefer thinner snares so I can get enough attack out of the bottom head, but I love this thing.

I've never been a huge fan of any of the bigger drum companies (i.e., TAMA, DW, Pearl, etc....), and if I had my choice, I would rather buy a custom kit from a company such as Truth, SJC, or Battlefield Drums. I really believe that DDrum is as close to that as possible, while still keeping the drums affordable. I also spent some time looking at their cheaper kits....and I really wonder why someone would spend $400 bucks on a low-level TAMA, when you can get a good quality DDrum (or Gretsch, for that matter) kit for nearly the same price.

Anyway, sorry to ramble. I really love this thing...I'll try and get some studio recordings posted here soon.




Adam

[fijjibo]

Do you have some more pics you can post?
I love this kit.....
and a drivers seat if possible.
lol

Cheers

[UnderratedF00l]

Do you have some more pics you can post?
I love this kit.....
and a drivers seat if possible.
lol

Cheers

I'll have to wait for the next show we do, lol...my digital camera broke at the show that these pictures were taken.

We're playing this coming Wednesday at a killer venue, so I'll try and get some then. Maybe even some video...

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone!




Adam

[UnderratedF00l]

Here's my avatar - gives you a little better idea of what I'm playing with...

Adam


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8841/adamdrumvc0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[NIMBY]

i love the 22x20 bass, bet it sounds so good.

[Ytsejammer]

sweet kit man! do you really like those heads with that kit though? I'm sure they sound great though, hard to make hem sound bad though I'm sure! Do you ever tune that bass drum up a little to get some mad reso? That could sound cool, like all techno-ey.

[radeq]

woooow, i love the finish of this kit ;) look veery good and clean

[UnderratedF00l]

sweet kit man! do you really like those heads with that kit though? I'm sure they sound great though, hard to make hem sound bad though I'm sure! Do you ever tune that bass drum up a little to get some mad reso? That could sound cool, like all techno-ey.

Yeah, I love the pinstripes. They're the cure-all for drums...they'll make any kit sound decent. Maple drums don't have much attack, but a huge amount of resonance with anything less then a double-ply head. All drummers love resonance, but sound guys HATE it - and lets be honest, we need to play to what they want.

Since the toms are short, they have pretty good attack, but the bass drum is always a hard one to predict. I don't use a pinstripe on it...I use an aquarian super-kick with no pillow or muffleing of any kind. This kick has just as much low-end as any 22" I've ever played.

When we're recording, we have to turn up the highs and the mid-high frequences to get the attack I want. We also put the bass mic (a beta 52) as deep in the drum as we can get, pointed at the head, and gate the crap outta it.

It's always a struggle to work with a sound guy that doesn't know what he's doing tho, because there's a TON of reso-head sound on the kick. Drums are the toughest thing in the world to mic well...


Thanks for all the nice comments!




Adam