New guy in here!

Messerschmitt

Senior Member
Hey there guys,
I`m new in here, even tho i`ve been following the forum for a while. I decided to show you my kit, so as not to be a stranger. I must admit, i`m pretty ashamed showing my humble kit between all these fancy Tama`s, DW`s and others. I had a veeery tight budget when i started, so I didn`t really have a choice. I`ve started drumming almost two years ago, beginning with Rock, then going further towards Metal, and now I began expanding my horizons, as I learned all kinds of stuff, Reggae, Blues, Latino, etc. and got my kit last summer. It was a basic, cheap, low-end, Millenium MX222, in black finish. I was as happy as hell when it arrived.I knew it ain`t that much, so when I had some extra money , i started buying other stuff, so as to make my dream-kit. (don`t we all do that?). So here it is my current set-up:
22x16 Bass Drum
14x5,5 Steel Snare Drum
8x7,10x9 ,12x10 ,13x11 Tom Toms,16x16 Floor Tom
14''Millenium Hi-Hats and Crash, 16''Millenium Crash and Paiste PST3 Crash, 20''Millenium Ride
Custom and experimental hoe, sounds nice
Temporary Djembe
All hardware is Millenium, except two cymbal stands wich are home-made
All heads are stock, except Remo Powerstroke 3 on bass drum and Remo Emperor on 12'' Tom. Lack of money, eh...
Sorry for my grammar errors, past tenses are not really my friends...
Enough with the talking, here are the pictures!
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Welcome to Drummerworld! Your kit looks like a lot of fun to play, doesn't matter what kind of kit you have, it's the drummer that makes the music. Sounds like you are expanding your musical interests as you expand your kit!

Enjoy your kit and have fun! Welcome!
 
Regarding musical interests, it`s not just that. After a while, i started considering 4/4 rock grooves "pretty easy", so i needed something more challenging. Also, my teacher plays mostly funky-fusion-jazz stuff, so that was an influence, too.
It is, indeed, very fun to play! I`ve got some big future plans (new reso head for Bassdrum, 14''Floortom, a splash, etc) but i`ll have to wait until i have enough funds. Overall, i`m pretty happy with it, only that peope make fun of it for being a no-name kit, even though it sounds really good! My only dissapointment is the snare. I`ve never liked the sound of a steel snare, it`s too ringy for me, that`s why i use a sound control ring. Also, the heads are pretty bad, they get out of tune very quickly, and i`m planning to replace very shortly at least the batter head. The biggest problem is the shell, which is out of round, and i don`t really have a clue how to fix it. i`ve read over the forum that steel shells are easy to fix, but i`m afraid to do it without proper instructions. Do you think you can help?
 
Sorry, but I'm not seeing any pictures...

Might be just my computer though if SOG can see them.

-Jonathan
 
....i`m pretty ashamed showing my humble kit
No need to be ashamed ... most of us started out .... well .... not playing DW and Tama .... my first kit was a Japanese stencil kit. Welcome.​
Since you're using a ring on your snare, you might wanna try a coated Evans HD Dry snare head ... I have one of those on my Yamaha steel snare ... and on my Pearl Omar Hakim ... really nice, versatile, snare head ...​
 
Thanks for the nice comments! I`ve seen Leo and his kit before, really impressive!
The only thing that is not that well placed is the hoe (it`s on the left cymbal stand).I sometimes hit the cymbal from underneath when playing it. It may seem foolish, but it has a nice sound, say, like playing a ride while muting it.Short, crisp and metallic.It works really good for funky!
Regarding the snare, I`ve played on a bunch of snares, some steel, some wood, and with various heads (coated and not coated) and the one i liked the most was Remo Controlled Sound, coated.It gives that "whack!" sound with as little overtones as possible.I like my toms very resonant, but I like short, punchy snare and bassdrum sounds. Also, I keep my snare prety low-tuned compared to my friends, it doesn`t have such a sharp, high-pitched sound. As i`ve said before, the biggest problem is the shell, wich is out of round, and i have to tighten the heads pretty much just to get rid of the wrinkles, so that`s the first thing i want to fix before buying any head.
My god, did I write this much again?!
 
Hey there, guys!
Here`s some new pics with my beloved ones:
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As you can see, i`ve got myself (finally!!) the Gretsch reso head i`ve always wanted and a Remo Controlled Sound snare head. It`s been a pain saving the money, but it`s well worth. The reso head is thick and coated, and it also has a dampfening ring, just like the Powerstroke 3 on the batter head. That black thing around the hole is an add-on I got for strengthening and to make cutting the hole a piece of cake. It sounds amazing right now,and it looks even better then it sounds. What i`m missing now would be some wooden hoops, just as the Catalina model from Gretsch...
Also, the snare head is AWESOME! I managed to re-round the shell (wasn`t that much of a trouble) and i tuned just the way i like it. I can get that muted-like, almost-no-ring sound, even without any dampfening.I never taught i could get that much of the ring from a steel shell. Also, it has an awesome WHACK!, it`s loud as hell...
Also, i`ve changed the venue and finally got in a band, we play heavy-thrash-neoclassical metal... something like Malmsteen meets Bach meets Megadeth...pretty technical stuff.. We have our rehearsal room in a basement wich, as you can see, is pretty well soundproofed. Now, i don`t have that much reverb, so it doesn`t kill my ears after rehersals...
Let me know what you think :)

Razvan
 
...something like Malmsteen meets Bach meets Megadeth...
I thought Malmsteen was Bach meets Megadeth ...​
Cool, the Gretsch reso head .... I have one of those ...​
Pull those Millenium badge/stickers off the kit, and you'll just have a black "stealth" kit ...​
 
Pull those Millenium badge/stickers off the kit, and you'll just have a black "stealth" kit ...​

I tought about that earlier, but they have a strange mounting sistem, looks like they`re riveted to the wrap or something... The badge on the snare is also riveted to the shell.I don`t know how they would look without the badges and with some "dots" on the wrap, so i guess i`ll keep them this way, for now. Or, i could flip the toms so that the badge faces the drummer, like i did on the 12" tom.
By the way, I just bought these today:
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I don`t really have a clue how cheap used cymbals should be, but these costed me around 55 euros... I have no idea what they are stained with, but for now they`ll stay like this. I`m quite afraid of cymbal cleaning solvents, as i don`t like the idea of loosing the logos. I`ll give them a vinegar wash, through...
 
I tought about that earlier, but they have a strange mounting sistem, looks like they`re riveted to the wrap or something... The badge on the snare is also riveted to the shell.I don`t know how they would look without the badges and with some "dots" on the wrap, so i guess i`ll keep them this way, for now. Or, i could flip the toms so that the badge faces the drummer, like i did on the 12" tom.
By the way, I just bought these today:
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I don`t really have a clue how cheap used cymbals should be, but these costed me around 55 euros... I have no idea what they are stained with, but for now they`ll stay like this. I`m quite afraid of cymbal cleaning solvents, as i don`t like the idea of loosing the logos. I`ll give them a vinegar wash, through...

Piste 2002's are awesome cymbals!
Nice kit, it has a lot of charm and character. And hey, if those guys making fun of you on their Starclassics can't play half as well, you win! It's the player, not the bat/racket/stick. :)
 
I had a set of 15" black label 2002 hats ... excellent rock hats .... I bought 'em used, back in/around 1992 ... for $250. Played on 'em for 18 years ... and then sold them ... for $250. Can't go wrong with Paiste 2002's.​
As far as dealing with your drum badges ... if you're handy with your computer, perhaps print a logo/cover/sticker .... something like this, perhaps ...​
 

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As far as dealing with your drum badges ... if you're handy with your computer, perhaps print a logo/cover/sticker .... something like this, perhaps ...​

Haha, good one,buddy!:D
I`m not thinking of getting rid of the badges, really. I don`t find the point of doing that and after all you fellas have told me, i sat down and taught to myself... It is, indeed, the drummer that makes the sound. Why should I be embarrased of my drums, if i love them and take great care of them?

Now, regarding the cymbals. I`ve always loved the sound of the 2002`s, so this is kind of a "dream come true" for me. I was expecting a brighter sound, but it`s still very nice sounding. I`ve compared it at the rehearsal room with my old Millenium brass hats and a set of Sabian B8`s and , even though the B8 have a more brighter and crisp sound, my Paiste hats really kick ass. If i could just clean that damn stains...
 
OK, got some updates.
I`ve cleaned the 2002`s with Paiste Cymbal Cleaner AND have keeped the logos intact.. They cleaned out really nicely, but the stains appeared to be rust. I`ll give them another wash with cleaning agent, but I doubt i`ll be able to get the rust off.
Now, one question. I`v always loved the look of the wooden bass drum hoops of the Gretsch Catalina, laquered only on the outer edge.
I`ve got a friend who has a bass drum with wooden hoops, but they are in pretty bad condition.The drums have been neglected and abused, they`ve been scratched, bruised and god knows what else. Judging from the pictures below, i`d like an opinion from you guys. Is it worth trading my steel hoops for these ones and refurbish them? If yes, how can they be refurbished?
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The fact that they are black makes them easier to refinish. Strip them down with liquid stripper or just sand them smooth and paint them with black spray paint and they should look fine. It may take a little time but will be well worth it.
 
Nice score on those hats! That shouldn't be rust because there isn't any iron in them. Must some other corrosion.
 
I recommend Jasco for stripping paint ...​
 

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Nice score on those hats! That shouldn't be rust because there isn't any iron in them. Must some other corrosion.

Well, by "rust" i meant "heavy corrosion that won`t come off easily, as it is quite deep."

I started refurbishing the hoops, by sanding.I was affraid of using paint stripper as not to affect by any means the quality or strength of the wood. They have a couple of dents wich should be very easy to fix with wood glue, it should work good as a extremely-small surface filler. The thing is, I only noticed the bad part when i unflipped the donor drum: a pretty big wood chunk is missing, i guess it was from the area where the pedal has been screwed to the hoop. It`s pretty deep, as it went through the first ply of wood. I was thinking of making a filler compound out of wood glue mixed with sawdust, but i`m not that sure if it would work. Wood fillers don`t come in cheap... What do you guys think? :|

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