My new GMS kit!

dkerwood · #1 09-29-2008, 05:07 AM

Let the pictures ensue.

Cymbals L to R: Sabian HH 16" Orchestral Suspended, A Custom 10" splash, Avedis 14" New Beat hats, A Custom 17" Fast Crash, Avedis 18" Medium Crash (with crotale mounted on top), K Custom 18" Dark Crash, A Custom 16" Crash, Avedis 20" Medium Ride, Sabian AAX 18" China, K Custom 18" Flat Ride
Drums: Ludwig 13" piccolo snare, Tama Starclassic 14x7 brass snare, GMS CL series shells (born 11/98)

I included a picture of the beautiful K Custom I got in the deal.

As you can see, I'm still trying to figure out the right heads for this kit. The coated Ambassador sounds SO much better than the Evans clear 2-ply, even if I had to harvest it off of my old kit. I don't own almost any 10" heads, though, so that one will have to wait (I've got a spare 12" Ambassador I could throw on, but that would look really odd to me).

I got a Paiste Sound Formula ride in the deal, but it doesn't compare to my Avedis Medium Ride. As you can see, I'm already running 2 rides, so I don't need another. I also got a Zil-Bel, a crotale (you can see it mounted above my 18" Avedis crash), a cracked HHX Manhattan crash (shame, because it sounds gorgeous), and a cracked Zildjian China Low. The cracked cymbals will go out to a 6th grader who's trying to outfit his first kit. I'll probably sell the Zil-Bel.

The kit came with an Iron Cobra double pedal, which I hate, and a Pearl kick pedal, which I find decent. I'll probably be shopping for a DW 5000 or 9000 single pedal, depending on how much I can get out of the IC.

FWIW, I do have one more crash that I can't yet mount because I ran out of stands. Not exactly sure where I'd put it, anyway... Until this weekend, I rarely ran more than 2 crashes, so this is totally new for me. I can comfortably get to everything, and actually USE all of those crashes (which surprised me).

Oh, and I also got a Pearl Icon rack in the deal- something which I'm totally abandoning and will sell first chance I get. After all, with all these stands (most of which came with the kit), why mess with the rack?

Anyway, I'm still tweaking, but it's sounding VERY good already. I'm extremely pleased.

aydee · #2 09-29-2008, 05:42 AM

Gorgeous kit! Love the finish. You need more cymbals though....

tbmills · #3 09-29-2008, 08:01 AM

i really like the natural hoops!
congratulations!

i guess letfies are more responsive.

dkerwood · #4 09-29-2008, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aydee

Gorgeous kit! Love the finish. You need more cymbals though....

I guess I could get some more clamps... I do have 3 stands right now that are only holding one cymbal, and that seems excessive to me. :-)

Quite honestly, though, where on earth would I PUT more cymbals? If I play out live, the audience already won't be able to see me! I'd love to get my old 17" Avedis crash in there somewhere, but I'll have to ponder the placement... a lot.

Trust me, though, I'm a cymbal guy, so I'll have as many pies up as I can.

rmandelbaum · #5 09-29-2008, 10:56 PM

Beautiful! And I am sure they sound great as well!

metal overlord · #6 09-29-2008, 10:58 PM

Nice!

But what exactly is a GMS? I've never read much on them, are they any good? I heard alot of people would compare them to a Gretsch Renown.

805Drummer · #7 09-29-2008, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aydee

Gorgeous kit! Love the finish. You need more cymbals though....

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkerwood

I guess I could get some more clamps... I do have 3 stands right now that are only holding one cymbal, and that seems excessive to me. :-)

Quite honestly, though, where on earth would I PUT more cymbals? If I play out live, the audience already won't be able to see me! I'd love to get my old 17" Avedis crash in there somewhere, but I'll have to ponder the placement... a lot.

Trust me, though, I'm a cymbal guy, so I'll have as many pies up as I can.

Haha, I think it was sarcasm. But anyways, nice kit! Are you willing to tell how much you got it for?

rmandelbaum · #8 09-29-2008, 11:02 PM

GMS is American made great stuff!

http://www.gmsdrums.com/

Oh and they look like they were well worth the wait!

indiadrummer · #9 09-29-2008, 11:30 PM

if its american made you can't go wrong ;)

dkerwood · #10 09-30-2008, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 805Drummer

Haha, I think it was sarcasm. But anyways, nice kit! Are you willing to tell how much you got it for?

Oh, I know. I doubt I'll ever take it out with that many cymbals.

I got the kit, the Iron Cobra, the Pearl pedal, Pearl Icon rack, a snare stand, 2 cracked cymbals, the K crash, Paiste ride, Zil-Bel, crotale, B8 hats, 3 or 4 cymbal stands, Gibraltar throne, a stick bag, a nice cymbal bag, a pair of Hot Rods, 2 drum keys, and some miscellaneous booms and arms for $750. Deal of the century. :-)

dkerwood · #11 09-30-2008, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal overlord

Nice!

But what exactly is a GMS? I've never read much on them, are they any good? I heard alot of people would compare them to a Gretsch Renown.

GMS is one of the oldest custom drum builders in the nation. They use 8-ply maple shells in all of their drums. This kit is a CL series, which is their "lower" series (although they've now created a SL birch series that's cheaper than this). Even their lower series, though, is comparable to DW and the like.

The upper series has slightly better hardware and more intricate finishes.

It's worth mentioning that GMS has outsourced its CL line to some Asian country (I forget which). This kit, however, was made in USA in 1998. I know that because it is hand stamped inside each shell.

Final word? Drummer for Stone Temple Pilots uses one. Nuff said. :-)

razorx · #12 09-30-2008, 03:50 AM

Im loving the finish.

805Drummer · #13 09-30-2008, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkerwood

Oh, I know. I doubt I'll ever take it out with that many cymbals.

I got the kit, the Iron Cobra, the Pearl pedal, Pearl Icon rack, a snare stand, 2 cracked cymbals, the K crash, Paiste ride, Zil-Bel, crotale, B8 hats, 3 or 4 cymbal stands, Gibraltar throne, a stick bag, a nice cymbal bag, a pair of Hot Rods, 2 drum keys, and some miscellaneous booms and arms for $750. Deal of the century. :-)

WOW. That is INCREDIBLE.

caddywumpus · #14 09-30-2008, 05:00 PM

Beautiful kit, man. I love the natural bass hoops against the green--very classy! How many plies did you order?

dkerwood · #15 09-30-2008, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caddywumpus

Beautiful kit, man. I love the natural bass hoops against the green--very classy! How many plies did you order?

It's 8 ply maple on every drum, but I didn't order it from GMS. It's a ten year old CL series that I got used- but back then, this line was still handmade in the USA.

It's in pretty amazing condition for a ten year old kit. My favorite part is that all the shells are virgin. Of course, I've never owned a kit that punched big holes through the shell, even on the bass drum.

drumr0 · #16 09-30-2008, 10:04 PM

Your kit looks great!! When I was drum shopping (in the early '90s) GMS was getting alot of attention. I looked at several GMS kits and all of them were top quality. I went with DW's mainly because I got a really good deal on a like new consignment kit. Before that kit though I was torn between the two.

Does your kit have RIMS mounts? I was thinking that GMS used a different type of suspension system or maybe had their own that was really neat.

Very nice cymbal selection too!!

#17 09-30-2008, 11:16 PM

very nice, i like the wood hoops.

dkerwood · #18 10-01-2008, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumr0

Does your kit have RIMS mounts? I was thinking that GMS used a different type of suspension system or maybe had their own that was really neat.

Very nice cymbal selection too!!

It's got the old style DW mounts- exactly like the RIMS, best I can tell. I'm not sure if it originally shipped with no mounts, or if the mounts were replaced at some point.

Today's GMS kits do have their own proprietary mounts that look pretty cool. I'm having issues with the DW mounts (if you look, the metal mounts are touching because the clamps aren't holding laterally), so I might switch them over to the GMS mounts sometime soon (depending on the cost involved).

Oh, and thanks for the cymbal compliment. I like them, very much. It would take some VERY high quality pies to make me switch.

drumhead61 · #19 10-01-2008, 03:28 AM

[quote=dkerwood;485084]Oh, I know. I doubt I'll ever take it out with that many cymbals.

I got the kit, the Iron Cobra, the Pearl pedal, Pearl Icon rack, a snare stand, 2 cracked cymbals, the K crash, Paiste ride, Zil-Bel, crotale, B8 hats, 3 or 4 cymbal stands, Gibraltar throne, a stick bag, a nice cymbal bag, a pair of Hot Rods, 2 drum keys, and some miscellaneous booms and arms for $750. Deal of the century. :-)[/QUOTE]

OK NICE KIT, and YAH deal of the century is an understatement...phewwww! NICE