Does everyone go through a drum rack phase?

PorkPieGuy

Platinum Member
Does everyone go through a drum rack phase? I know I did. While I never owned a rack, I really, really wanted one at one time. All of my drumming friends that ever had a drum rack ended up selling it.

How about you? Did you ever go through a drum rack phase?

Any other interesting drum-related phases you went through? I went through "get a lot of China and splash cymbals" phase, but I'm trying to forget it.
 
I have never really been a fan of racks. When I purchased an electric kit I was forced in to a rack setup and I hated it.

Right now, I'm in an "acquire lots of drums" phase in an effort to find my "sound." I'm sure once I find a sound I prefer over others, I will pair back to maybe 1 or 2 kits, but its a process.
 
I never wanted a rack, I will never buy a rack. I always found them incredily ugly. It hasn't changed the past 25 years. And now, as I only play 1 up 1 down, using a rack would be silly, too.
 
Did for a few months when I was about 19/20. Had a Hayman which I refinished in chrome so it looked cool but got tired of lugging it around and went back to stands fairly quickly.

I play 1 up 1 or 2 down so no need for a rack.

They're useful if you're touring and you just wheel the kit onto a stage out of a truck or you're Hal Blaine (gotta love those Blaemire toms!)
 
Any other interesting drum-related phases you went through? I went through "get a lot of China and splash cymbals" phase, but I'm trying to forget it.

Briefly, I went through "have a lot of toms" phase. Years ago I bought a Rogers set with 12/13/14/15/16 toms. I tried playing all of them a few times, but then put the 14/15 toms in the closet. And played the kit as a 5-piece.

And then 7 years ago a got a PDP kit with 8/10/12/14/16 toms. A few times I tried using all of them. And again, I put away the 8/14 toms and play it as a 5 piece.
 
Never really got the appeal of racks. Seemed like a lot of claptrap to solve a problem that didn't exist for me.

Only phase I really went through was the big kit phase back in the '80s. Once I got up the scratch, I bought a big double bass 6 tom kit. In theory, it was my dream kit, but in practice, it was just too much to think about while actually playing it. I think I'm too ADHD to have so many options in my face all the time.

Looked cool, I guess.
 
I don't have one for my acoustic kit and given my config is minimal (1 up, 1 down, 3 cymbals) I don't think I will.
I can set up in about 10 mins, I know drummers with the jungle gym rack thing who take an hour.

I have a rack for my electronic kit but that is just how they come.
 
I think I did at least twice. It is an easier way to set-up and strike, provided you can transport it in a pain-free manner. But that would be a problem for me now, so I guess I'm out of my rack phase for good.
 
I had a rack for a year or so when I first started playing and thought I was Dave Lombardo or some shit with a huge kit, but after I had to move it all ONE time I sold it!

I've been thinking about getting a Gibraltar Stealth Rack recently to eliminate some floor clutter, I could put my snare, rack tom and a crash all on one bar that would eliminate a cymbal stand, snare stand and occasionally an additional snare stand for my rack tom.

But I think I'll just get standard issue cymbal stands instead!
 
I starded on a quite early age with a Pearl DR503 rack. Then later in my life I had a Gibraltar and ended with the Hexrack, yet always kept using stands for smaller set ups.

Now I went back to a 8/10/12/14/16/22 set up (with a lot of splashes, crashes and a china) like I was a young kid (only now with the best quality drums available) with the DW and thinking about a rack (and a x hat)

I still have a extended Hexrack 1 with a ton of parts laying around which is for sale, but I need to go Gibby or Dw for my feeling.

But I now use 6 9000 stands (heavy as heck, true) and dogbones and it works.

Maybe when i'm playing out again I go for a rack or use the kit without the 8'' and two splashes.
 
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Racks seem like they would become more interesting as the number of instruments increases. If you're playing a 4 piece with 4 pies up top, a rack would probably be more trouble than it's worth. If you're laying an 8 piece and doubling as an auxiliary percussionist, it's probably worth investigating.

Definitely not for me at this point in my drumming adventures.
 
To me they're just ugly and industrial looking. They really detract from the aesthetic. I especially hate seeing them on the Guru Tour kit. Sorry Andy, but there it is.
 
Not me. Ugly and industrial is a good way to put it. Even when I played a large kit, I wasn't tempted.
 
I don't have one for my acoustic kit and given my config is minimal (1 up, 1 down, 3 cymbals) I don't think I will.
I can set up in about 10 mins, I know drummers with the jungle gym rack thing who take an hour.

Same here, probably 90% 4 piece with 3 cymbals. Having done lots of live audio I've seen countless guys spend more time setting up & breaking down racks then actually playing. Only time they went up quick was when they came out of the trailer pre-built in one piece.

A few months ago I considered getting a rack for the studio kit for about 9 minutes. Was drum shopping on craigslist and saw one pop up at $150 with 4 or 5 booms. Tempting, I was thinking about adding some stands anyway and thought it might save a little space... cleaning up the floor would make it easier to position mics and that sort of thing.

Then I realized that for one, I still need to gig that kit every so often so probably not practical. Kiss of death was after measuring I realized that it would actually increase the overall footprint of the kit space!
 
The biggest problem I see with racks is that on most dive-bar stages with multi-band bills, it takes two people to lift them up onto the stage and into place. This while the previous band and soundperson is trying to clear the stage and your bandmates are also trying to get set up.

Then it happens again after the set and anything that slows you down impacts the next band.

I can't rely on having someone else being at gigs helping me with my gear and I can't lift a rack myself without risking snags in mic cables and knocking over guitars.

Other band members have their own gear to worry about so if I can't handle roadie-ing a rack on my own, then I won't even consider one.
 
Makes setup so much easier and consistent if you use a big kit. I still use the basic rack at times. I'll go against the grain and say a basic rack setup looks pretty kick *** IMO. Plus, it allowed me to use an "arena" kit on some very small stages.

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Ps. Imo its impossible to get a bigger footprint with a 3 side rack then with stands when playing more then 2 stands.

Also for setup I am quicker with rack then with stands, and its always in the same place, almost to the mm.

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My old design before it went to Guru Drums. It was lighter then the stands, showed more shell then (more then two) stands could fit on a smaller stage and was quicker to set up, with this bigger setup.

The old Super rack had anti vibration foam inside the pipes. The Hexrack I works with a resin ball to prevent vibrations and the II model works with a plastic grip to do so.
 
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