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My first kit was a Boston Kit, with 'Dolfin' cymbals. I was so proud of that thing: "Yeah man, I play Boston and Dolfin." (almost as if I was endorsed).

I cringe to think how bad it must have sounded. I kept the same heads for about 4 years, which the previous owner had already worn to shreds. They were covered in gaffer and tissues.

The plasticy wrap all bubbled up in the sunshine too. I'll see if I can find pics.
 
My Peavey Intl 2 kit I got 5 years ago (well, my dad did).
It came equipped with remo heads and some cheapo cymbals. The hi-hats sounded pretty trashy and I threw the ride away as it went inside out but yeah, pretty good at a trashy and loud sound anyways, still use it. What a difference Mapex and Zildjians made though.
 
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cheers :)

Gavin Harrison fan? :)
 
My first drum kit, well, the first kit I played was a compilation of drums from my high school band room. In 1961 (?) my high school band director wanted to start a stage band and we didn't have a drum set. We got an old marching BD, a concert snare and a field drum that we made into a tom tom. We used the band's crash cymbal for a ride and he had a high hat pedal and cymbals and a BD pedal. It wasn't much but it was a start.

My personal first drum set was a 5 pc (I think) set of Lyra drums(Japanese), white marine pearl, that my mother bought in about 1962. I kept this set for many years even after I bought my Zickos. I once played in a band that had two drummers and the other guy had a set identical to mine. My drums were double cased (soft and hard) and the other guy had no cases. He used to back his van up to the stage door where we played and THROW the drums in. When we broke up my set was in pristine condition and his were match sticks. I finally sold this set to my old high school (who needs two kits, anyway) where they lasted about a year before they were garbage. My sister said she actually came up with a picture of my first band and is sending it to me. I'll post it when I get it.
 
I don't have a picture of my first kit but it was a bizarre Frankenstein ... these are the specs:

  • 14 x 5 Drouyn vintage wood snare (I still use this)
  • 20" Aria brown sparkle kick
  • 12" Aria brown sparkle mounted tom
  • 14" homemade (not by me) weird deep floor tom that was more warped than any drum I've ever seen before or since. It had blue oyster wrap and sounded terrible lol
  • Hats and ride (forgot specs)
  • Strange bent cymbal (about 17") that had turned pale green and had sizzles (ten years later I resurrected it, took out the sizzles, turned it upsidedown and clamped it tight - it sounded like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYIR9RwAF_Q#t=60s ... you'll know it when you hear it :)
$100 in 1975. If I'd had one of the kits pictured here I would have been in heaven!
 
My first drum-kit and still...and - many thanks - to several members here, who helped and encouraged me to keep it while I was in a bind...long time ago!

Peavey - five hundred series drums.

1 Bass Drum: 22" x 14"
1 Snare Drum: 14" x 6.5"
1 Rack Tom: 13" x 11"
1 Floor Tom: 16" x 16"

Heads: Evans G1 clear and G1 coated.

1 Hi-Hat: 14"
1 Crash/Ride: 18" Zildjian Planet Z.
1 Ride: 24" Paiste Giant Beat Ride.
 
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There's mine, got it a year ago. Sounds great.
I've also got a Ludwig 76' 6.5x14 Supra on the set. Plus, a Ludwig Black Magic and a 10x7.5 Tom on the floor! :)
Let's hear it for Yamaha Stage Custom Advantages!
 
Here's the best pic I have of the old beater kit;



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PDP EZ shell pack I bought at GC for $199 on clearance
Had an old set of New Beat Hats (top hat was cracked), a B8 16" Medium Crash,
18" Zildjian Avedis Medium Crash, and a 20" ZBT Ride.

The only thing I miss is that 18" Zildjian crash.
 
My first kit was an early-model Pearl rhythm traveler, before they started coming with black hardware. Small, decent-sounding, and quiet with the mesh heads that came with it. At first I cranked every single drum as tight as it would go, thinking that that was correct tuning. I converted it into a one up, two down kit and later an offset rack tom kit, and added an iron cobra and zbts (bad but much better than the stock cymbals.) I still use the bass for jazz since my stage custom bass is too big (24 inches)
 

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My first kit was a Groove Percussion 5-piece from Sam Ash, about $300 7-8 years ago.. I cant really find any pictures of it sadly..

I actually still have the kit more as a practice/experimentation kit at my home.. I have chopped up the toms to make them shallower, thrown out one of the toms, propped it, left it in the rain (both accidental I assure you).. These babies have been through a lot, and they hold a special place in my heart. <3

But at the end of the day I still use the bass drum and Floor tom for home and practice settings and with quality drum heads, they sound just fine..

Here is the latest incarnation i could find of it with ZXT cymbals PDP platinum tom and PDP SX Snare.
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CB-700...8-piece kit. 13/14/16/18 toms, 14/16 concert toms, 24 bass drum, and a steel shell snare.

Cymbals were whatever, but included 14" New Beats and a 22" A Zildjian ride...crashes were something that was more like a hubcap than cymbal.

Note the cymbal stand that's made from wood dowel, it was AWESOME!!! Hi-hat stand was 'repaired' with wood legs...you know what though, it worked!
 

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I'll have to dig out a picture, but one day I was shopping at the Sears bargain basement [where I used to find all kinds of interesting musical instruments!] and found a set of Gretch Blackhawks. Not like the cr@pola ones they make now, but a decent set of shells with decent hardware and some trash cymbals. Sears sold them for like one year, and I grabbed the kit, which was a catalog return. $200.

A friend got out of playing drums and gave me a set of 60s Zildjian cymbals, 16 and 18" crash and 20" ride plus 22" china and new beat hats. Free.

I played that kit for years until last year when I acquired my current kit, a clear five piece Ludwig VistaLite kit. I don't play the snare though, I have a brass Mapex.
 
I just got these today! i need cymbals though...
 

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My first and only! Shells / the Pearl cymbals were about $340 combined and are the only pieces that really count as "first" because everything else was added later on. Most of the kit is a disorganized mix of high-end and low-end equipment not unlike that kind of hodgepodge kit Chris Adler used in his first days as a drummer.

14 x 6
12 x 11
13 x 12
16 x 16
22 x 16

Heads: Evans Genera Dry (snare), Remo coated Emperors (toms), Aquarian Super Kick II (bass)

Rides: Sabian B8, Pearl CX (both 20", but the CX has a darker, washier sound than the B8, so I use both at different times)
Hats: Sabian B8, Pearl CX (both 14", both pairs of hats serve the same respective purpose as the rides)
Crashes: Sabian B8 18", 16"
Splash: Meinl HCS 10"
 
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