List your equipment failures

Don't do anything on my account. Research it for yourself and make the best decision for you. I have a friend who has been using a Roc n Soc hydraulic for years without incident.

I have had mine since 94 with no issues...
 
I had issues with one of my old Stewart flat base cymbal stands in the 70's. One of the legs would start in a locked down position but would somehow randomly loosen and fold up so the stand and cymbal would topple over. Think Skitch's performance in Pittsburgh in That Thing You Do! That happened twice.

I had a Samson hydraulic throne that lasted forever . . . well almost forever. One day the luan wood base of the seat broke all the way around the spindle bracket/mount. Gravity took over immediately. Fortunately my reflexes kicked in fast enough to avert a self-induced colonoscopy.
 
for the last few years all i've had go wrong with my gear is sticks wearing out/breaking, and one rubber foot on my old gibraltar 9608 base kept breaking in two, but lately ive had one snare wire ping off at one end, 2 brand new pairs of sticks snap in one show, and last night i had a cymbal tilter arm on one of my cymbal stands snap off.

i usually take minimal gear with me but im going to start taking more backup gear to gigs
 
One notable equipment failure for me was doing a showcase at the Red Lion in NY's Greenwich Village. I was playing the house's drum kit. I was rocking away and then all of a sudden the only mounted tom decides to just fall off and roll on the ground. Gotta keep on going with a full house. Someone actually came over and tried putting it back on but it just dipped again at an unplayable angle. I fixed it after that tune was done. I'd say that was probably the worst one for me. I take pretty good care of my stuff so when I'm playing my own kit, I never have a failure. Actually yesterday during a first time jam with a bunch of guys I met from a craigslist ad, I was playing a kit owned by the guy who was hosting the jam. At the end of one of the first couple tunes I hit the crash on the left side and all of a sudden the nut, felt and the entire cymbal went flying. I took it a little easy after that.
 
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for the last few years all i've had go wrong with my gear is sticks wearing out/breaking, and one rubber foot on my old gibraltar 9608 base kept breaking in two, but lately ive had one snare wire ping off at one end, 2 brand new pairs of sticks snap in one show, and last night i had a cymbal tilter arm on one of my cymbal stands snap off.

i usually take minimal gear with me but im going to start taking more backup gear to gigs

RE: snare wires. I always see guys with that issue, and it has never happened to me. I don't kill the drums when I play, but I hit pretty solid. I always wondered how people snap snare wires? My main snare is a 55 Ludwig Supraphonic, and it has the original wires on it...
 
RE: snare wires. I always see guys with that issue, and it has never happened to me. I don't kill the drums when I play, but I hit pretty solid. I always wondered how people snap snare wires? My main snare is a 55 Ludwig Supraphonic, and it has the original wires on it...

im not sure either as its the first time its ever happened to me, i think it may have caught on something or got bent and snapped in the case, but inall honesty im clueless as to how it happened,i jsut opened up my case and seen the wire dangling down.
 
im not sure either as its the first time its ever happened to me, i think it may have caught on something or got bent and snapped in the case, but inall honesty im clueless as to how it happened,i jsut opened up my case and seen the wire dangling down.

I never thought about then getting snagged on the padding in cases...I use towels in my cases instead of the factory installed padding...

I do know a few guys who hit hard enough that the bottom head interaction with the snares might cause that to happen, but that is nuts to me....those guys are also constantly replacing hoops and cracking cymbals too :rolleyes:
 
At one show I put a hole in my batter bass drum head. Another show I blew out the bottom snare side head. Of corse many broken sticks, and one cracked cymbal. I also forgot my drum throne once. The one I borrowed was set really low. I was asked not to change the height, so that show was rough.
 
Usually broken sticks mid song which somehow I managed to change before broken the pieces hit the floor (so it actually looked kind of cool), a couple of snare heads, my first pedal didn't have a base plate so it kept falling off the hinge and would be just held by the chain, bass drum beater broke once, broke a bass drum head on a borrowed set (pretty sure the head was the factory shitty head), a few cymbal stands collapsed, floor tom fell on me mid song too, had to finish the song bumping the tom with my leg every time I hit the bass drum pedal, Hi hat would come off the top and just remained closed, I use double nuts now to prevent that. tom moving to an unplayable position. of course bass drum walking away and bass pedal coming undone. (all of them happened at different gigs)
and not a failure but once a guy got knocked in the face in the mosh pit, his nose started bleeding so he got out, he proceeded to stand next to my hi hats and head bang blood all over them, I Sparta-kicked him out of the stage with my left leg. (I used to play at some rough places).
 
and not a failure but once a guy got knocked in the face in the mosh pit, his nose started bleeding so he got out, he proceeded to stand next to my hi hats and head bang blood all over them, I Sparta-kicked him out of the stage with my left leg. (I used to play at some rough places).

oh man...i have had the entire pit flood onto the "stage", and into my drums before. Had a singer stand on my bass, and fall backwards into me and the kit while playing; have had beer bottles and cue balls thrown at us on stage...load outs were even more "fun" sometimes o_O

but have also had some major fun as well...mosh pits with people on Big Wheels in the pit; had a birthday show where they threw a sheet cake into the pit, and every thing was covered in cake....good times!
 
I had a scary gig where we were inside a skateboard ramp, (the band) which was placed right next to another ramp which was being used. every time some skater took a jump, they were literally flying above my set and falling back onto the ramp to my left. not to mention we were at floor level ( I had no riser) and the mosh pit was brutal. The only good part is that it was not my drums... (that was before Slayer released that video for Dittohead). but pretty similar except that the people in our show were not extras and didn't care who they hurt.


oh man...i have had the entire pit flood onto the "stage", and into my drums before. Had a singer stand on my bass, and fall backwards into me and the kit while playing; have had beer bottles and cue balls thrown at us on stage...load outs were even more "fun" sometimes o_O

but have also had some major fun as well...mosh pits with people on Big Wheels in the pit; had a birthday show where they threw a sheet cake into the pit, and every thing was covered in cake....good times!
 
I got nuthin’ but a couple busted heads.

Bill Bruford’s story about being a guest performer with Yes and Alan White wins my vote for most embarrassing: as he and his Simmons kit came out from under the stage on a hydraulic riser, his kit failed. Absolute silence from his e-kit. ?
 
I had a scary gig where we were inside a skateboard ramp, (the band) which was placed right next to another ramp which was being used. every time some skater took a jump, they were literally flying above my set and falling back onto the ramp to my left. not to mention we were at floor level ( I had no riser) and the mosh pit was brutal. The only good part is that it was not my drums... (that was before Slayer released that video for Dittohead). but pretty similar except that the people in our show were not extras and didn't care who they hurt.

oh man...I haven't played a skate park since the mid 80's...we were worried about getting hit with fly away boards after trick bails as well...we were up top though, not in one of the bowls
 
oh man...I haven't played a skate park since the mid 80's...we were worried about getting hit with fly away boards after trick bails as well...we were up top though, not in one of the bowls

Another skate park guy here. It was always after-hours. The park doubled as an all ages venue. Anyways we would set up on the top of the ramp, and the mosh pit would run up and down the ramp. It was nuts. You could really feel the ramp moving as they did.

I would be playing, some random dude would just pop up right in front of me, and then jump off into the void. It was cool.
 
Another skate park guy here. It was always after-hours. The park doubled as an all ages venue. Anyways we would set up on the top of the ramp, and the mosh pit would run up and down the ramp. It was nuts. You could really feel the ramp moving as they did.

I would be playing, some random dude would just pop up right in front of me, and then jump off into the void. It was cool.

was it indoor? That sounds awesome ?

we should probably start our own thread...this train is starting to derail !!
 
Had a chain on my dw5000 double pedal snap off on stage warming up before we were to start playing at a concert. Luckily a drummer from one of the earlier bands lent me his Tama Iron Cobra double pedal so that was nice. We were an extreme metal band so the double bass was pretty important lol.
 
My cymbals once failed me.

I was playing at a senior high school on their last day of school...... beautiful sunny day, was an outdoor show.

Anyways.....I see my cymbals as being like Captain America's shield.

These year 12 students threw a few sausage rolls at me and hit me in the side of my head.

So my cymbals/shields failed me.......they didn't deflect the flying sausage roll ?
 
An extra bass pedal is all I bring along with an extra drum key. I've dropped drum keys in the back crack of the stage. The extra bass pedal is from a Yamaha double pedal that the slave stripped while at a gig.
I have an IC double pedal, but went back to single pedal a few years ago. I still use the IC minus the slave, so I always have an extra spring, beater, and spring attachment should something go on me. Spare parts built right in!
 
Backline walking bass drums are always a treat.
 
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