Does your gear HAVE to be the same brand or do you mix/match?

Formless Method

Senior Member
I was reading another post and saw someone talking about that they are obsessive/compulsive when it comes to buying the same brand of gear so I wondered if others felt the same way.

I am in the middle. Except for the snare, my drums (toms, floor tom and bass) have to be the same make, model and series. My cymbals I could care less about as long as they sound good. My hardware spans from the 60s up to now with 4 different makes.

I don't think I could stand owning a drum kit with mix/matched drums like a Slingerland tom, Ludwig floor tom and Gretsch bass drum. I'm not knocking anyone that does and I kinda admire your open mindedness,but I don't know if I could do it :)

So what about you all?

One more thing, Iam a working drummer so I am constantly trying to cut down the weight of my gear which is why my hardware is so mixed up. I will do just about anything to cut down the weight of my gear and setup and break down time.
 
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I tend to match as much as possible. I cannot and will not mix cymbal brands, and my kit is all the same, although I'm open to mixing the snare drum. As for hardware, it just so happens that I bought all the same line when I upgraded, as it made sense. I'm not, in principle, against mixing hardware though.

I suppose I strive for consistency, but some areas are more important than others to me.
 
I'll admit I'm pretty particular about it. I know it's fairly irrational, but I prefer sticking to a single brand at any given time.

That said, I'm not very particular about the exact brands. I may replace a set of Evans heads with a set of Remo or Aquarian heads, or go from Vic Firth to Pro-Mark when it's time for a new brick of sticks. The exception here is probably my cymbals, which is one area I've been very hesitant to stray away from for a very long time now. I've been a pretty loyal Meinl customer for a number of years (disregarding two minor episodes with other brands), and I definitely don't mind if they get some free exposure from me being seen with a full set of Meinl cymbals. Most certainly my favourite brand.

I've always taken a fair amount of pride in the appearance of my kit, so I guess that plays a part here. I think a kit setup that looks like it's had some thought put behind it, and that looks clean just appears more professional. After all, I'm presenting myself and my instrument on stage, photographs and videos so why wouldn't I want it to look its best?

Some of it is practical too, though. For example, I use Gibraltar hardware exclusively, and all my cymbal stands are the exact same model. This is because it makes it a lot easier to switch my mounting options around (all tube diameters are the same), and when it comes to cymbal stands I can use any stand for any cymbal (I don't have to remember that the 19" crash goes on the Ludwig stand, while the ride goes on the old Tama stand, etc).
 
I was reading another post and saw someone talking about that they are obsessive/compulsive when it comes to buying the same brand of gear so I wondered if others felt the same way.

I am in the middle. Except for the snare, my drums (toms, floor tom and bass) have to be the same make, model and series. My cymbals I could care less about as long as they sound good. My hardware spans from the 60s up to now with 4 different makes.

I don't think I could stand owning a drum kit with mix/matched drums like a Slingerland tom, Ludwig floor tom and Gretsch bass drum. I'm not knocking anyone that does and I kinda admire your open mindedness,but I don't know if I could do it :)

So what about you all?

I think I'm right in line with you. Currrently, I do have mixed orphan drums though, but they are all wrapped in the same white wrap. I think as long as they all look the same it's cool. Ideally I would like the core kit to be all the same. My gear doesn't match and never has. Axis pedal, Pearl crash stands, SP ride stand, Yamaha snare stand, Iron Cobra HH stand, SP splash arm, and LP cowbell. My cymbals are all Sabians. I think I could do a hand-picked mixed set, but I like seeing a "set" of same brand cymbals on a kit. I guess I have been conditioned to like this.
 
Whatever sounds good or will work for the situation, that's how I roll.
 
The sound comes first for me. If things don't match, I generally recover them so they do.
The snare doesn't have to match the rest to suit me.
 
I have Yamaha drums with my main snare being a Gretsch. Also have a Pearl snare.

As for cymbals, I have all Paistes. I'm not a fan of Zildjian or Sabian, mainly because when I hear them alongside Paistes, they don't sound nearly as nice to my ears (although I have a really nice UFiP Tiger china that sounds awesome).
 
My stuff matches with a few exceptions but more out of convenience and brand appreciation (not loyalty). I could totally rock a mix-n-match vintage kit as long as the finishes didn't totally clash, but only 1 up 1 down. I wouldn't mix toms with other brands or floor toms with other brands. I feel toms and floor toms are different enough voices that make doesn't need to match necessarily.

Maybe I should start looking for some old orphan drums.
 
Preferably I'd like all my toms the same, bass drums is nice to match, snare can be whatever it wants.

Cymbals go on a more tonal basis, I like the cymbals to compliment each other, but I still want some variety in the accents I can get.

Right now I have a 6-piece Pdp LX kit with a Ddrum Dios 16x14" tom, it doesn't bother mismatching it because they are pretty similar, it's a 6-ply maple as opposed to 8-ply maple, but it's sized to compliment the 14x11 Pdp nicely, and it's similar in color, so it doesn't stand out. As far as cymbals go, my main crash and ride match series, Saluda glory, and my other two crashes match each other Saluda SS, so that gives me a decent variety, and of course I have an excessive amount of accent cymbals and those don't matter to me if they match in brands or series.
 
I think you're going to have to chalk me up as one of the 'doesn't care' crowd.

Right now, I'm playing a 1950s vintage 'John Grey' 20" bass drum with (ply) Tamburo toms and a Guru snare. I have two Istanbul rides (20" and 21"), a Dream ride (20") and 14" Murat Diril hi hats.

Hardware I'm mostly Pearl because I got hold of a set from a friend of my mother whose husband had sadly passed away. I have a Mapex hi hat stand and a snare stand (I use two) that I can't even remember the make of.

Hardware standardisation is the only part of the equation that makes sense to me. The ability to put any boom arm into any other base or swap tom mounts around is something that I eventually strive for so in the future I will upgrade to an all-Yamaha setup - including hi hat stand just because it has practical implications. At the moment though there aren't any major issues because although my cymbal stands don't totally match, I happen to have another set of hardware that used the same gauge as what I'm using now (a slightly smaller gauge than usual, actually) and it works.

Heads I like to be consistent on the toms but the rest doesn't matter. I'll just take the best-sounding options for my bass drum and snare drum.
 
I have a one make drum kit and I use only Zildjians out of preference (my first quality cymbal purchase was Zildjian and I've never seen any need to change that) but my hardware, snares etc are a bit of a mish mash to suit my pocket and needs. I did build a second kit from orphan drums for my daughter (all black; multicoloured would be a step too far unless it could be totally jeallybean), so I'm not totally over the top with this, and if needs meant that I had to do it different, I would. Thankfully I can pretty much put together the kit that i want within limits.
 
My cymbal stands match each other brand and series wise, hi-hat too. my cymbals all match, i have been thinking about getting a splash and it will have to match my series. my heads always match on all of my toms. bass is always a super kick 2 though and snare a coated vintage emperor, always. my bass pedals are pearl but my dums are going to be my Ludwigs from now on, not my Pearl kit. snare is a supra but did not come with my drums. I dont know, i never realised I do that but i guess im a little anal like that.
 
Gretsch Renown kit with 2 Catalina added toms.
1 Masterwork cymbal, 2 Sabian Cymbals, 2 Zildjain Cymbals, Zildjian hats
Taye bass drum pedal, Tama hi hat stand.
Pearl Rack, Sound Pro cymbal arms
 
Sometimes Frankenstein is sexy.

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I am in the middle. Except for the snare, my drums (toms, floor tom and bass) have to be the same make, model and series. My cymbals I could care less about as long as they sound good. My hardware spans from the 60s up to now with 4 different makes.

That describes me pretty well, except for the 60s part.
 
My stands don't need to be the same. My snare can be different. Toms and bass? Must be the same. My cymbals currently match as well, as do my hi-hat stand and my kick pedal. I'd prefer to keep it that way, but might be persuaded to have the kick pedal be different from the hat stand. As for the cymbals, I love the looks of my full Saluda Earthworks set, and I love the sound, so I see no reason to change. However, should I decide I need a China, I'd probably just go Wuhan, so that doesn't have to match.

So, yes and no from me :)
 
I use what I like. My main kit has Aquarian,Evans,Remo, Zildjian,Sabian,and Meinl on it.
 
Hardware: Mapex, Gibraltar, Tama, Gretsch
Snares: Pacific, Mapex, Peace
Toms: Gretsch Catalina (12", 14")
Bass Drums: Gretsch Catalina (18"), Pearl Export (22")
Cymbals: all Sabian, except Rancan 18" China

I bought the Pearl bass drum specifically to use with the Gretsch toms. They look and sound good together. I have neither a Gretsch nor Pearl snare, so I cannot play a set that is all the same brand. Peace and goodwill.

Peace and goodwill.
 
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