Mixing Brands Drums/Cymbals/Hardware

natureboy

Junior Member
I cannot stand mixing the brands of any of my drum equipment. If I have 1 Zildjian cymbal, I want all Zildjian cymbals - not Zildjians mixed with Sabians or Paistes. Same for drums and hardware. A Tama drumkit with Pearl hardware would piss me off. But a Tama kit with Tama hardware or a Pearl kit with Pearl hardware would be fine. Pedals might be the only exception. I could see going for DW pedals regardless of everything else. But Iron Cobra pedals would iritate me to hell on a Yamaha (or any non-Tama) set.

Don't some of you all feel the same? From a lot of the pictures here, I've noticed that many of you mix brands without batting an eye.

It might just be me. LOL. I just feel like its best when you keep everything the same; they're designed to work well together.
 
I feel the same dude. I might be a vein thing but when I upgrade I want everything to be matching. I think it looks better, and as you said, they're designed to work together.
 
You're absolutely 100% right. My zildjian cymbals sound waaay better when they're on the pearl cymbal boom stand next to my pearl drum kit but when they're on the gibraltar stand with the same kit they sound like crap.
 
Well I own Gretsch drums and they don't make hardware so I would be in big trouble.
Kaman, the parent company, also owns Gibraltar, so a lot of their ads will show Gretsch drums with Gibraltar hardware. Currently I have a Taye pedal, a great pedal, Tama Roadpro Snare and Hi Hat stands. A Pearl rack and a few Sound Percussion cymbal stands. I guess you would really hate my set. And it all sits on a piece of carpet I bought from Bed Bath and Beyond. To me it's a little trivial. Do you keep the factory heads or is switching them OK too. Just where do you draw the line ???
 
If the OP reads this post, he might actually implode with rage.... woah.


So, I'm using a DW pedal attached to a Sonor bass drum, above which I have a Gibraltar stand, which Is holding a Sabian ride cymbal, which complements my Meinl hi-hats rather nicely. Those are currently situated on my Tama hi-hat stand, which is just the perfect distance from my Pearl snare, which is held in place by a very sturdy Ludwig snare stand. Oh yeah, and my throne is Premier.



PS:A while back I was doing a recital at my school, and unfortunately one of my nice Vic Firth sticks slipped out of my left hand!! I had to dart into my stick bag to grab another stick, but I wasn't looking so unfortunately I ended up playing with one Vic Firth stick and one Vater stick!! OH THE HORROR!!!!1!
 
When I was young - I had a cheap Japanese (Pearl-made) set on which I upgraded the tom mount and floor tom legs to Ludwig, a Ludwig Supraphonic snare, Ghost BD pedal, Slingerland Hi-hat pedal, one Ludwig cymbal stand, one Pearl cymbal stand, and a Rogers throne.

The bass drum had Ludwig heads, the snare had Remo, and the toms had Evans.

I guess you would have hated that set.

(At least all of my cymbals were Zildjian)
 
I just feel like its best when you keep everything the same; they're designed to work well together.

Are you kidding?!?!? One of the only times that things DON'T work well together is when you use mounting hardware from one kit to mount toms from another. There are tons of other examples of annoying things that have been done, like DW's tension rods and toms that have an odd number of tuning lugs (finding rims or RIMS that work for them is pretty difficult).

For the most part, manufacturers want to create hardware that will work with as many other drum-related companies as possible. There are "standard" sizes and lengths and diameters so that people CAN mix and match. It only makes business sense, right?
 
I'm the same way....I don't want different brands mixing. It guess its an visual thing and a mind thing too. The only problem? When I update my tama superstar to a ludwig classic maple, I'll have to keep my tama roadpro stands due to money constraints.

Will it bug the crap out of me? YES.
Will I go insane due to looking at them melding together in an orgy of disorganization? YES
Will it kill me? NO

PS. Kick pedals don't count. TRICK RULES!
 
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Don't some of you all feel the same?

No !

I go for what my money & sound preferences tell me.


I'm no endorser of one brand, no brand companies pays my gears so I have no committement towards them. I go for the best bang for the buck making me a diversified brand wh*re !


IMO, If any go only for what looks good then he miss something.
 
i feel the same at times, it's nice having things match, cymbals especially, don't get me wrong - i don't switch my lights on and off 13 times before i leave for work for fear my house will explode - but it's nice having things matched up, a sharp look is important...

one thing i see as a curiosity is this - with the exception of a special snare, guys will avoid mixing drum brands like the plague, but won't think twice about running several cymbal brands - me, i can't do it...
 
Don't some of you all feel the same?

honestly, no. i have so many different cymbal companies represented on my kit it's like a manufacturers orgy. and hardware? i don't care if it's a straight boom or weighted boom much less who makes it as long as it keeps my friggin cymbal exactly where i want it i'm good. the only thing i will not mix are toms and bass. not from a musical standpoint, more from a finish standpoint. seeing a 5 piece kit with 5 different wraps makes me go =o! wtf! unless of course they are custom painted and make like a running scene, which i've seen done and i think is really cool. i don't include snares because noone really sees my snare so the finish doesn't matter. and i'm very picky about my snare sound.
 
Everyone has their own preferences. I don't think mixing hardware is that big of a deal. As far as drums and cymbals go, get the sound you want. I have a Tama kit and the only Tama snare I own goes with a Stagestar kit that I have as a practice kit. A 5.5x14 Maple snare with the exact same number of plies and lug type etc. from Tama is NOT going to sound like one from Pearl. But if the Pearl is the sound I want, then that's the drum I'm going to get. I'm just now getting around to feeling that way about cymbals. I just got my first Sabians last month. I bought them because Zildjian doesn't make any cymbals that sound like what I wanted. It's that cut and dry. I mean come on, we know the A Custom EFX is SUPPOSED to be the equivalent to the Sabian O-Zone, but we all know that those two cymbals don't sound the same. If you want the O-Zone Sound, go get an O-Zone. Sure, it looks nice to have everything be the same. But isn't the sound what's most important? Isn't our personal sound paramount to what looks neat and orderly?
 
Everyone has their own preferences. I don't think mixing hardware is that big of a deal. As far as drums and cymbals go, get the sound you want. I have a Tama kit and the only Tama snare I own goes with a Stagestar kit that I have as a practice kit. A 5.5x14 Maple snare with the exact same number of plies and lug type etc. from Tama is NOT going to sound like one from Pearl. But if the Pearl is the sound I want, then that's the drum I'm going to get. I'm just now getting around to feeling that way about cymbals. I just got my first Sabians last month. I bought them because Zildjian doesn't make any cymbals that sound like what I wanted. It's that cut and dry. I mean come on, we know the A Custom EFX is SUPPOSED to be the equivalent to the Sabian O-Zone, but we all know that those two cymbals don't sound the same. If you want the O-Zone Sound, go get an O-Zone. Sure, it looks nice to have everything be the same. But isn't the sound what's most important? Isn't our personal sound paramount to what looks neat and orderly?

very well put and agreed for the most part, except for that snare thing. if tama and pearl both make a maple snare with the same plies, lugs, snare, heads, tuning, etc. they should sound the same, there's no reason they wouldn't. i understand what your saying, but i think the analogy is a little flawed. i could be wrong though, wouldn't be the first time.
 
I cannot stand mixing the brands of any of my drum equipment. If I have 1 Zildjian cymbal, I want all Zildjian cymbals - not Zildjians mixed with Sabians or Paistes. Same for drums and hardware. A Tama drumkit with Pearl hardware would piss me off. But a Tama kit with Tama hardware or a Pearl kit with Pearl hardware would be fine. Pedals might be the only exception. I could see going for DW pedals regardless of everything else. But Iron Cobra pedals would iritate me to hell on a Yamaha (or any non-Tama) set.

Don't some of you all feel the same? From a lot of the pictures here, I've noticed that many of you mix brands without batting an eye.

It might just be me. LOL. I just feel like its best when you keep everything the same; they're designed to work well together.


Seeing as how I don't live in a magical land of unlimited free instruments, and also work for my living, no I don't match the brands of my drums. Instead, I go for value and sound. Considering my income, the type of concern and emotional reaction (being pissed off) that you're displaying for not having your brands match seems really frivolous to me, and I would imagine most people with a middle class income would feel the same. This makes me (perhaps wrongly) believe that money for you is not an issue regarding the buying of drums. Are you independently wealthy, or living with your parents? Of course I could be wrong, in which case sorry.
 
very well put and agreed for the most part, except for that snare thing. if tama and pearl both make a maple snare with the same plies, lugs, snare, heads, tuning, etc. they should sound the same, there's no reason they wouldn't. i understand what your saying, but i think the analogy is a little flawed. i could be wrong though, wouldn't be the first time.

I don't think they would sound the same because I don't believe every drum manufacturer makes their drums through the exact same process. Nor do they all get their wood from the same place. At least I don't think they do. And then there are geographical differences that effect the sound of the wood. There's no way that wood stored in a humid place like Florida is going to sound like wood stored in an arrid and dry place like Arizona. All of these things factor into the sound of a drum. Now, I could be wrong about all that, but when it comes to climate and wood sources, and individual company drum making processes, that probably makes a difference.

But, in general, we know that most of these companies don't make their drums exactly the same anyway, so, that being the case, again, purchasing equipment to get a personal sound supercedes matching brands.
 
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