New Kit, Ddrum Diatribe w/ Dream Bliss Cymbals

[gr82bagn]

Hi guys, tis the season and I just wanted to share, the Sonor kit is gone and the new kit is up and running. She is a Ddrum Diatribe series with an 18x24 kick, 9x13 mounted tom, 14x14 and 14x16 floor toms followed by a very nice 6.5 x 14 snare. The cymbals are all Dream Bliss III series as follows: 14 HH, 22 ride, 2x18 crash and 1x 20 crash. They are satin amber finish (orange to me) birch/basswood shells capped with Remo coated Emperors for batter side and Remo coated Ambassadors on resonant side (except the bass which still has a coated Emperor on batter but the stock resonant head. Hardware is a combination of 2 stock ddrum cymbal stands with two very sturdy Tama Road Pro boom stands and a funky looking Gibralter HH stand. The HH stand allows for better comfort in positioning. The pedal is a new speed king (going back to my roots for this journey). The purchase was made based on a Diatribe set I played on about 2 months ago, I loved the sound I was getting from that kit and the guy bought it new last year for $900. I guess my luck came as a result of lack of popularity or perhaps poor marketing either way when I saw the same kit on sale for $549 including shipping, for me it was a no brainer.

[razorx]

that looks really cool. what hi hat stand is that?

[max77]

It looks nice!
What kind of music do you play?

[gr82bagn]

Thanks guys,
razorx,
It's called the Gibraltar Ultra Adjust, using up to 8 inches of displacement I could position my feet comfortably wide while keeping the hi hats close and to the front.

max77,
I play R&B, rock and blues. I love to watch anyone with talent but I'm especially fond of Francis Clay, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Wade Olson and Tommy Lee.

[Trommur]

Dude, the kit looks amazing! It's so beautiful! Those Dreams look beautiful! Have fun!

Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo

[svkelleher10]

How much does one of those displacement hi hat stands cost? I've been looking into one since i have a double pedal, so the hats are uncomfortably far away from the snare.

[punkdrummer1]

love the kit. Did the kit come with die cast hoops (I was wondering if the ddrum diatribe kits came stock with them), and how are the blisses? Are they real thin, and how do they sound?! I've played some that are real thin, aswell good sounding though.

[gr82bagn]

svkelleher10,
I paid $179 for the HH stand and they have a model without legs for double bass kits.

punkdrummer1,
They come standard with black nickel plated die cast hoops. The Dream crash is thin but not flimsy and they sound great. The ride is a little thin but it does well as ride/crash if you like crashing your ride. The Dream Bliss III does a great job of minimizing the trashy over tones normally associated with the Bliss I and II.

[DingerJunkie]

beautiful looking kit...love it.

I have a question or two about your time with the kit, since you posted a couple of weeks ago, as I'm considering a dorian layout as well. My concern is around the tom interval of 13/14/16. Is there enough "spread" in pitch between the 13 and 14 for your tastes? Are you tuning high or "fat"?

Finally, as a player coming from a 20" bass drum, is the 24 controllable enough for when you're doing "pocket" tunes? While I dig playing rock and blues, I occasionally need to cover something from the Steely Dan/Toto range, and I was afraid a 24 would "get away from me" or be "too big" in tone for that work.

Thanks for any perspective you can provide, and once again...gorgeous kit...I'm totally jealous.

[gr82bagn]

DingerJunkie,
Thank you for the kind words and I would be happy to answer your questions.
1.Enough “pitch spread” between the 13 and 14? For my taste, absolutely.
2.Tuning “high” or “fat”? I tune on the fat side, my batter heads are tuned much lower than my resonant heads which gives me a deep lively sound with nice overtones “pitch bend”.
3.Is the 24 controllable? One of the key reasons I went with this kit was the 24 inch kick. I have no pillow and use the felt method of muffling as described by Jeff Ocheltree. I have been working very hard to control my bass pedal and not bury it in the head on every stroke. It’s been working and my sound is really thunderous and big. However if you want you can simply place a pillow inside(I played with that type of tune for a few days, it was nice, like a loud heart beat but not what I prefer overall so I switched back to the felt) and enjoy a more controlled thump that would be perfect for Steely Dan/Toto. I hope this helps.