The beauty of only one kit

Bo Eder said:
So it's been at least three weeks now I've had my Tama limited edition black oyster kit and I realized today that it's not so much the drums I love, but the fact that I only have one set of them.

Some guys here have several kits, and I did to up to this point. I had actually three different kits at the same time in the house. One was under the guise of being the monster double bass kit for that part of my experimental side (that I knew I'd probably never use on a gig), and one was the Sonor Bop, to be used obviously for jazz things, and my old bubingas that got the majority of the traveling.

I think having more than one complete kit in the house to play on makes you a bit schizophrenic. So I chucked them all and got this one black oyster kit in the house now and I'm digging it. All the cymbals I own, are on that kit. Every drum I own, is with that kit. It's like having a single grand piano in your living room. It does what it does well, and it's up to you to make whatever you want happen. I realized quickly that by having several kits to choose from, for me anyway, you fall into this "paralysis by analysis" trap because I'd play a certain way on each different kit. Now I have this one kit and it has to fit the bill for everything - and its a nice feeling to know that that bit of talent is my hands and feet, and not the kit. I like this feeling.

Now because I know a few of you have more than one kit, am I the only one who's made this realization, or am I crazy? I like the fact now that when I look back in the room on my way out to a gig, I know I have everything with me because the room is empty!
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Ok, I must be really "Out of Focus" because I own 17 complete kits...LOL
 
I always had one kit at a time, so I always had to make it with the kit :)

I only had a second kit for about a year when I was teaching a long time ago, but it was for the students, I did play on it from time to time though :)

Pollyanna said:
I like having one small kit - there's not a lot to think about. Here's the kit, let's play. No brain required! (a great thing for people like Gruntersdad, given his catastrophic recent "IQ" score ;-)
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With an IQ of 309 you should have a kit like Terry Bozzio, at least it will fulfill your cerebral capacities ;)
 
i would like to get a second kit. But only because my son is learning to play and i think it would be cool to trade fours with him.
 
So, it's been about four weeks of one kit-ness.

What's the over/under that Bo picks up a new drum this weekend? :p
 
It's all live-and-let-live. I was a one kit guy, for 30+ years .... now I spread my wings, with 7 acoustic kits ... and a bunch of e-lec-tron-ic toys. Simply because I want it .... and damnit, I deserve it. Simple pleasure for me, after all the crap I had to wade thru, to get to where I am today.​
Bo Eder said:
It's time to replace the backyard fence, which I just agreed to the tune of $4,000 and this morning, a thunderous crack sound means I have to have my garage door spring replaced (if it was an old school door I'd do it myself, buts it's one of those roll-up metal doors, so I'm hosed). I'm wondering what else will break in my house this year.....
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Man, I know that tune. My house is 85 years old. We're getting all the upstairs windows replaced .... cost .... $10K (and that's not instillation)​
My "custom" garage doors were relatively cheap. Maybe $1.5K for both garage sides (a 1 car and a 2 car...divided by a wall). Soon to be my drum studio.​
My driveway, is still a dirt path, since the wonderful peeps at city hall decided to make me jump thru every hoop they could make. So far, we got the driveway construction @ $13K, surveying my property @ $1K, my engineer @ $1.6K, buying a Geo Tracker to drive up my dirt path $6.5K (my Olds wagon was a no go) .... so that's over $22K, and I ain't even got concrete poured yet.​
Heck, owning 7 drum kits is cheap .....​
 
I have four kits and I think my back would revolt on me if I had to go down to one. One kit stays in the practice room. I would hate to set up and tear down just to practice. One kit stays in the guitars players basement for rehearsals. I am not gonna carry my gear down his rickety narrow stairs every week. The third kit stays set up at church. It is much better than the no name junk kit the church owns. The fourth kit is packed up in the garage for gigs.
 
Bo Eder said:
The amount of credit they cleared me for for the installation of a new backyard fence would easily let me squeeze in a new Black Beauty. If they sold those at Lowe's. Damn.
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haha....I know the feeling.

For all that I've spent at Lowe's over the last several years on home repairs, I could have easily bought several high end kits.
 
In the 60's and 70's I struggled with only having one drumset (kit? - old guy here)...because
I played jazz and rock. My set wasn't right for either..kinda' a middle ground for both. These days I only play jazz so my one set is "just right" "perfect" for the groups I play with. I vary
cymbals and have a piccolo and 5" snare depending on the group. I try to keep everything
in my life as simple as possible....or as Einstein said "but not simpler".
 
Bo Eder said:
Well, it wsn't my intention to say you were unfocused. I said I was really unfocused. I deal with music better when I have one set of tools in the toolbox, I guess.
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I didn't take any offense to your remark, I was just being facetious. But I do own 17 complete kits. All are top of the line equipment and most are collectable. I have at least 5 set up right now and a Ludwig Keystone series that is in flight cases for my gigs.
 
Well, I have 2 kits, but they are both the same config and sizes. One at the band's rehearsal space, and one at home. The home kit is the one I use for gigs. Does that make me a one kit guy, or...?
 
jjmason777 said:
Well, I have 2 kits, but they are both the same config and sizes. One at the band's rehearsal space, and one at home. The home kit is the one I use for gigs. Does that make me a one kit guy, or...?
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Similar for me too, but I doubt I'd get away with the one kit tag under Bo's scrutiny/definition. The straight truth is, I'm too lazy to break down, haul up stairs, & set up every time I want to play out. It's a practical solution, not a gear yearning. I'm a one kit guy, but I just happen to have two of them :)

However, if I ever got to form my dream band, then my alternative setup of 24" bass drum, 18" floor tom, & 13" snare would become a necessary evil :)
 
I owned one set for 20+ years. That changed last year when I realized I am too lazy to keep breaking down and setting up.

Now I have two complete sets (hardware and all) so the only way I leave anything behind is if there's a drum case left in my room. Easy to spot and have yet to have issues.
 
Plenty happy with my 1 kit.. starclassic b/b/. No need for 2 kits since i don't play jazz (therefore i wouldn't necessarily need drums with a smaller dimension.. mainly bass drum i guess.

Could be interesting to one day turn my 16" floor tom into a bass drum, and just use 8 and 12 toms... 1 up 1 down.. with my q popper snare used as a main... food for thought !!! My dimensions right now are 8/10/12/16/22... with an assortment of various snares ( Stew Copeland sig, Mike Portnoy maple sig, Customized Legend Snare 7x14 w/ wood hoops, & the Pearl Q Popper). I feel like having an interesting and personal snare and cymbal collection is much more noble than an overbearing amount of kits.. but what do i know ;p
 
...I have three kits.

My least favorite is at the home of an old high school buddy who I have worked with for the past four years, and have been jamming with for the past month.

My other two kits could be lumped into one big double bass seven piece monster, so I will say that is the one kit that I would keep.

Barry
 
dmacc said:
I owned one set for 20+ years. That changed last year when I realized I am too lazy to keep breaking down and setting up.

Now I have two complete sets (hardware and all) so the only way I leave anything behind is if there's a drum case left in my room. Easy to spot and have yet to have issues.
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At first I let this laziness dictate to me that I should have a second kit just to practice on. But I realized I'm like Steve Howe (Yes guitarist) in a way. He has his favorite guitar, that he even buys plane tickets for, and when he's not playing that guitar, he knows it and doesn't feel so good about it.

Of course, I didn't have my kit for the last forty years, but it does feel a bit different when it isn't that kit.
 
I think I caught the bug. I was at GC just now to get a snare stand and a Stick Control book for my nephew because I'm sending him my PDP Ace SD. I ended up walking out of there with a stand, 2 Stick Control books (one for myself), and a Pork Pie Big Black SD. It looks exactly like the Ace only that it sounds much better. The hoops are thicker and the throw-off is better, plus there are tension rod locks on it (I guess that's what they're called). It was on sale for $290 out the door. The Ace I bought at Christmas time for about $100. So that's not so bad. Two snare drums for the price of one. I did a side by side comparison, and I am very happy with the Pork Pie. Sure, it's no Black Beauty, but it still sounds great.

I could easily see myself walking out of there with that set of Renowns that was in there too for only $700. Yep. Once you get started...it's hard to resist.
 
I have 2 kits. One is a Slingerland (I posted pictures on here before) which is ideal for the Rock N Roll band I'm in and I keep it down at my main rehearsal room.

I've also just had a travel kit made up which is ideal for my swing band who practice upstairs in a pub. I can carry everything in one go and can also take it on the bus/train. It's 16" Bass Drum, Snare, Hi Hats, Ride. Not much but the drums and cymbals fit into one specially made case, and the stands in a bag. It's completely independent from the other kit (apart from the snare), so I can keep it all stored away in my flat, rather than having to nip down to the rehearsal room to get a pedal etc.

But as a lover of vintage gear I've recently been looking at old 1920's kits, like the Mickey Mouse one on the previous page, one of the big bass drum ones with the percussion blocks mounted on top and I really fancy getting one. But I'm not sure if it's worthwhile as I don't really have an outlet to play it in a band setting, I could have it set up at my flat to practice my brushes on, but is it worth it?

For what it's worth, I use the same snare for all kits.
 
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