Are you still playing the same brand drums as your first real set?

[Bo Eder]

LOL... a concise answer.

If only the OP's post was worded differently. A full chronology of all the kits Bo has owned, with dates and short reviews, would be a fun read!

That will not be forthcoming as I admit there will be some I don’t remember. But, and it must be a bucket list thing, I will have owned and tried mostly all of the big manufacturers pro offerings. I was started off on Slingerland/Ludwig stuff, but loved those Camco sets I saw in the early 70s around SoCal. And being a Los Angeles kid, I gravitated to DW. And even that took me five tries to figure out what I wasn’t liking from DW.

 

[GretschedHive]

Started on what I now realized was almost certainly a Ludwig Acrolite. My first kit was a red sparkle MIJ stencil kit with cymbals which might as well have been pie pans except those might have been sturdier and sounded better.

Got a new Gretsch kit for my 17th birthday and by then I'd started spending my paper route and lawnmowing money on new Zildjian cymbals.

That Gretsch is still in storage on the other side of the continent, along with the Acrolite. But when I got back into drumming a few years back, after more than a decade off, I had my brother send me the hardware and the cymbals. I picked up some crazy cheap kits off CL, but resold most of them. So while I still have the Yamaha Power V Special, I'm now I'm back to playing a Gretsch Catalina Birch with my old Zildjian As, and a few additional Zildjian As I picked up along the way.

 

[SomeBadDrummer]

That will not be forthcoming as I admit there will be some I don’t remember. But, and it must be a bucket list thing, I will have owned and tried mostly all of the big manufacturers pro offerings. I was started off on Slingerland/Ludwig stuff, but loved those Camco sets I saw in the early 70s around SoCal. And being a Los Angeles kid, I gravitated to DW. And even that took me five tries to figure out what I wasn’t liking from DW.

A short list of your favorites over the years, say your top 3 all time?...just for the peanut gallery.

 

[Vintage Old School]

Started with a Yamaha kit and stuck with Yamaha kits.
Started with Yamaha hardware but switched to DW.
Started with Zildjian A's, tried pretty every major brand cymbal over five decades, but ultimately landed with Istanbul Agop cymbals.

 

[SomeBadDrummer]

I went down to a bop kit. Sold my 5 piece kit when I moved.

We all do what we have to do. Play on.

 

[SomeBadDrummer]

I didn't like the name. That's it, totally superficial. The drums, I would have bought.

I will never buy a Craftmatic bed, because I despise the name.

I am fortunately not old enough to remember but I read somewhere that the Ford Edsel was a great car that didn’t sell because of the name... what if owning the craftmatic bed was life changing, providing you with the best sleep imaginable? You could rename it Serta or Sealy and no one would know.

 

[Bo Eder]

A short list of your favorites over the years, say your top 3 all time?...just for the peanut gallery.

DW
Ludwig
Gretsch

Don’t get me wrong, I think everybody makes great drums, but I found dealing with parts, or add-ons, if you’re a big nobody like me, it sucks when dealing with companies overseas, so this is why my top three are US companies. They’re easier to deal with the network of dealers and stores in the US.

Oddly enough, I’ve stuck with Zildjian my entire life - and some cymbals I’ve had for at least 25 years. I alternate between two head manufacturers, both in the USA, as well as sticks from Vic Firth for the last 40 years. Man, I’ve been doing this for a long time!

 

[Andy]

Nothing tempts me anymore.

Great quality full fat artisan ice cream - gets me every time

 

[Bo Eder]

Great quality full fat artisan ice cream - gets me every time

I woulda done Guru, but Andy refused to make me single-headed concert toms

 

[larryace]

Even the dual glide snare strainer which people fawn-over is unnecessarily overdesigned when compared to something simple and perfectly functional as Noble and Cooley's throw-off.

Rant over. Please continue...

I'm with you on the Sonor Dual Glide.

I could kill someone with that if I threw it at their head.

 

[larryace]

Great quality full fat artisan ice cream - gets me every time

Ah well ice cream, who doesn't eat ice cream? I do love ice cream. I am definitely tempted by ice cream.

I have no ice cream in the house, crap.

I need to make an Ice cream run.

Thanks a lot Andy!

 

[drummingbulldog]

Started in 82 on Gretsch rb kit. Still have it along with ssb kit, New Classic kit & a Marquee. I also have an 80s Yamaha Recording Custom kit. I've had Slingerland/Premier/Yamaha MC/80s Gretsch USA/Mapex/PDP & more brands in snare drums. Cymbals Sabian/Zildjian/Istanbul/Paiste/Stagg/etc.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

I have thankfully upgraded from the CB-700.

but for soooo many of us in the 70's and 80's this was the first kit we had!! And Camber cymbals...

I lucked out and got to start on my dads 1955 Ludwig, and still use it to this day. Though back in the early 80's, it was NOT the massive, arena rock monster that all of my idols were playing, so back then, I did not appreciate it as much as I did as I got older.

I did get my fervent allegiance to Zildjian from dad, and have always and only ever played Zildjian because of this

I got my own high end kit in 1994 - Pearl Master Custom Maple, and have used that as my rock kit ever since. Not really because of brand allegiance, but because I have never had enough disposable income to buy another kit, and have (on purpose) never needed to. I bought the Pearl as my "last kit I will ever need" kind of set up and was influenced to buy it because I loved the sound of Pearl marching drums.

The only other brands that have really left me considering another kit purchase would be the Tama Starclassic line and Ayotte custom drums.

 

[iCe]

Started out on Pearl (Export) and Paiste (302). Cymbal brands and taste in cymbals have changed of the years, but i no longer feel the need that everything needs to be the same brand. So since early 2019 other brands have slipped into my setup besides Zildjian.
Had a Osan kit for almost 10 years, which was replaced with a Pearl kit (Vision). Got a Masters BCX not much later and been playing that ever since, so gone full circle.
Don't know what why next kit will be or when, but i doubt i'll only look at Pearl and might end up with a Tama or Yamaha

 

[Andy]

I'm having a hard time imagining Andy sitting behind a chrome drum set. LOL

I must confess, it's the only wrap kit of any significance I've ever owned, but I still find chrome kits attractive to this day. They look amazing under stage lighting, but consumption of white cotton gloves is a PITA.

Andy refused to make me single-headed concert toms

Correct

I need to make an Ice cream run.

Thanks a lot Andy!

My pleasure - enjoy

 

[Tamaefx]

I used to be a Tama guy ; 5 Tama midlevel sets and then, I happily moved to Premier. Though I'm definetely stuck with Tama hardware.
In term of cymbals, appart from the poor beginner Paiste I had, I've been playing Sabian for a very long time.

 

[mikyok]

Started off with a Tama, some orange Rockstar with a hanging floor...pooey! I had a late 70s/early 80s Superstar in Tobacco fade which I should never have sold. I still use Tama hardware, the single brace roadstar stuff is great for gigging and I still have the snare stand from the rockstar that has done hundreds of gigs and is still going strong.

I still have my first proper snare 402 and because it felt lonely I got it a 400 and Acro and the rest of the kit to keep it company.

Started with Zildjian ZBTs and a 10" A Brilliant Splash, the A Splash is still going strong. I used Paiste for years and then went to Ks and As and stayed there.

Kit wise, my Mapex Saturn V Tour is perfect for me.

 

[Peedy]

Or has yet to take his meds in the morning...

Dang, I was thinking that he just had! I guess it depends on what he’s taking.

Edit - yes Premier. And no from mishmash to A Zildjians.

 

[sillypilot]

Yup, Ludwig was first. So I have a Ludwig, but also have a Tama and DW. Love them all, greats kits all around.

 

[GretschedHive]

We've discussed before how the Craigslist and FB Marketplace (and maybe Reverb, but I don't check that as often) offerings are surprisingly slim and surprisingly expensive over the past six months, just the opposite of how some of us had expected it to go. But this thread is reminding me of just how much easier it is to find used gear than it was back in the pre-internet days.