What products have caused you to become a snob?

PorkPieGuy

PorkPieGuy

Platinum Member
After playing drums for almost 30 years, I've never been happier with my current setup; however, I feel like its caused me to enter the world of snobbery. I now adjust my powdered wig and hike up my pantaloons while I look down my nose at lesser gear and snidely remark things like, "Well, if you can be happy with that, then good for you." I've found myself uttering "tut-tut" when browsing Craigslist as my maid lights my cigarette from its 12" holder. As I lounge in the parlor on sunny days, I have pageboys come before me, kneel with heads down while lifting up the latest, greatest whatever from the world of drumming on velvet pillows. I find myself giving a slight hoity chuckle, and with a slight flutter of hand, I simply say, "Off with you" while they scurry away. It's good to be the king.

*Stands to take a bow

With all that said, have you bought a piece of gear that upped your personal standards? I know for me (forgiveness please), I don't even bother looking cymbals that aren't Turkish. I'm a spoiled brat at this point, but I am aware of my current snobbery.

What have you obtained that has caused you to be a [snare, cymbal, drum, etc.] snob? Are you brave enough to answer?
 
For me.. Its the Sonor Sound.... Last summer I bought 2 high end kits, first the Ludwig Oak and then Sonor SQ1... And while I loved the Classic Oak kit, once I heard and felt the response of playing these high end Sonor Drums, I just never played the Ludwig's again. I sold them a few months ago.

Same deal with Sonor's 2 new Benny Greb Snares. When I purchased and played them, I suddenly had no need for the 13 other snares that I owned. I sold them and Im down to just 5 snares.


I also think I've been spoiled by the sound of my earthworks Microphones.. I just love the way they sound. I love when you buy a piece of gear and it just quenches that gear thirst and you no longer feel like you need to upgrade.
 
Snobbery is something I'm trying to remove from my mindset.

I'm not sure if it's an ownership of gear thing or a personality thing.

I could easily act like a snob with the drums I play, but I try to downplay it for that very reason. Snobbery is judging others. Not my place. I've done it and it's just wrong for me. My standards apply only to me. It's not my place to hold anyone to my standards which may be lower or higher than whoever I am comparing to.

Just like discretion is the better part of valor, humble-ness is the better part of owning coveted gear.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
After playing drums for almost 30 years, I've never been happier with my current setup; however, I feel like its caused me to enter the world of snobbery. I now adjust my powdered wig and hike up my pantaloons while I look down my nose at lesser gear and snidely remark things like, "Well, if you can be happy with that, then good for you." I've found myself uttering "tut-tut" when browsing Craigslist as my maid lights my cigarette from its 12" holder. As I lounge in the parlor on sunny days, I have pageboys come before me, kneel with heads down while lifting up the latest, greatest whatever from the world of drumming on velvet pillows. I find myself giving a slight hoity chuckle, and with a slight flutter of hand, I simply say, "Off with you" while they scurry away. It's good to be the king.

*Stands to take a bow

With all that said, have you bought a piece of gear that upped your personal standards? I know for me (forgiveness please), I don't even bother looking cymbals that aren't Turkish. I'm a spoiled brat at this point, but I am aware of my current snobbery.

What have you obtained that has caused you to be a [snare, cymbal, drum, etc.] snob? Are you brave enough to answer?
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Ride cymbals, man. Over the years I've worked my way up to Zildjian K/custom level cymbals (various brands, but y'know, that price range) and I recently sold all my nice cymbals (Istanbul Sultan ride, a couple of K custom dark crashes and K custom dark hats) and replaced everything with used A's which you can find dirt cheap, just because I wanted to make some money. I was like "they're A's, they should at least be serviceable". So I picked up a 14" and 17" A thin crash, and some New Beat hats, and an A ping ride all used. Now the crashes are fine. I'd like to have my K's back, but I mean, crash goes "crash" so they are fine. Hats are great, can't beat New Beats. But the ride............oof. I mean, it doesn't sound bad necessarily, just....a big step down from the Istanbul. So I immediately went looking and found a used K medium ride, and I was just instantly like "Oh thank god, I have a decent ride again." So yeah, if there's a single piece of gear I've become a snob about, it's the ride cymbal.
 
larryace said:
Snobbery is something I'm trying to remove from my mindset.

I'm not sure if it's an ownership of gear thing or a personality thing.

I could easily act like a snob with the drums I play, but I try to downplay it for that very reason. Snobbery is judging others. Not my place. I've done it and it's just wrong for me. My standards apply only to me. It's not my place to hold anyone to my standards which may be lower or higher than whoever I am comparing to.

Just like discretion is the better part of valor, humble-ness is the better part of owning coveted gear.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I came across as "higher than thou" Larry. I was just having some fun. It's not really snobbery; it's probably more just being really satisfied with what you have. I just wanted an excuse to do some creative writing. :)
 
Not in the way described by PPG, but I’ve tried my best to avoid entry level anything. I grew up in a home were cheap ruled and cheaper was king. Year after year we’d put up with crap stuff, till it was absolutely unusable, then buy the next cheapest thing and repeat. With that I’ve done my best to buy at least mid-grade stuff. I have to have good reason to go high end, but try and find the best value product and go with that. I guess I’m a snob to some degree because I just despise cheap. Now, if cheap is simply monetary and not quality, then I’m all in.

With drums, I’ve just learned to avoid overthought and overbuilt stuff. They have almost always been way better in the brochure than in reality, and heavy too!
 
Martin, you never come across as high and mighty. You're really pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

Being satisfied with certain gear, and snobbery towards others, are 2 different things in my mind. I focused on the snob thing.

In that case it's my 14" Soultone hi hats. It's the hi hat tone that I hear in my head.
 
larryace said:
Martin, you never come across as high and mighty. You're really pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

Being satisfied with certain gear, and snobbery towards others, are 2 different things in my mind. I focused on the snob thing.

In that case it's my 14" Soultone hi hats. It's the hi hat tone that I hear in my head.
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Thanks brother! :)

Ooohh Soultones. I'd love to hear some of those.
 
Ummmm - I think it's really a combination of stuff.

Cymbals probably #1 - I tend to fall into judging a drummer by their cymbal choice haha.

The second is like....little modifications and goodies: Drumgees, Clap Stacks, Snare Weights, Cymbal Resonance Systems, Booty Shakers, Cympads, etc etc....all those little gadgets put together have me look at "Stock" kits with a slight level of snobb haha.

I also don't really care what anyone else is doing haha - so I'll see a kit maybe take half a second of thought about it before moving on.
 
Good cymbals in general. My 22" Canadian Zildjian ping ride has spoiled me in regards to all Zildjians, I think.

Craviotto and Sonor and Dunnett have spoiled me in regards to snares. I don't ever want to play anyone else's snares at this point, and I always bring my own.
 
I honestly don’t feel this way about gear. I’m, like you, very happy with my gear but I’d never look down my nose at someone else’s gear choices or a well made reasonably priced product (take my Prem APK 1006 COS 14” x 6.5” snare, Paiste 1000/Alpha cymbals and Pearl Export for instance). I know that you’re a good guy, not a snob in the slightest and that this simply makes for an interesting thread.:) However, there’s a number of guys on here who’re a little more open about their disdain for gear such as what I’ve listed above…I’ll grab my popcorn!! 😂 (y)
 
I'm a broke ass American, so I have nothing high end or super quality so no. I buy the cheapest yet most reliable things I can and then make them do what I need and last as long as possible.
Snobbery is what I am subjected to on a regular basis being the guy who fixes the expensive stuff.
 
Hi PPG

I grew up on a silver CB kit with 2 MX cymbals, then self purchased an Export with my work money at 16.
I enjoyed those kits just as much as I enjoy the kits/gear I have now, though my current kits aren’t boutique or artisanal quality.

It’s relative and I understand you feel proud.
Your busting ass and it’s paying off which is gotta be a great feeling, keep it up!

For me it’s the LOVE of the action to drum, and a lot to be thankful for in what I’ve got.
 
There's an old saying that goes something like "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush". :unsure:

After various kid's starter sets and one no-name el-cheapo full size kit, the only other name brand kit was a Tama Royalstar kit from the 70's which I got in 1980 and sold in the 90's.

I now own what is considered a semi-pro level (pre-classic) Tama Superstar kit which I received as a gift bought at a used music store and have added the hardware and cymbals over time. Main snare is a Tama Starclassic, all of them except the bass drum have die cast hoops. Almost all of my cymbals are Zildjian A's which I have slowly upgraded over time. The hardware is mostly Tama vintage stuff, some of it has issues but it all holds the bronze pretty much in place. One of the snare stands has a slightly loose nut but so far hasn't lost a beat.

Own a really nice Tama Iron Cobra powerglide double bass pedal that I found for $100 including the original hard case. It was dirty and the previous owner had lost a couple of the connecting rod set screws and had duct taped stuff together. The pedals and other components are virtually flawless and after a good cleaning/oiling and new screws, it looks and works like a brand new one.

  • Am I a snob about my gear? No way. It didn't cost enough!
  • Am I proud of my gear? Not as proud as I am of my family, but yes it is a 'nice' drum kit. I would not be embarrassed to show up for any gig with my gear, which is probably the defining quantification of the concept. (I was proud of every drum kit I've ever owned at the time I owned it, and didn't fully appreciate it until it was gone. Always kept everything clean and polished, ready for the stage.)
  • Am I content with it? Absolutely. I know other kits cost a lot more and have fancier finishes, hardware and build quality, but it's amazing how good so called 'mid level' drums can sound with new heads tuned properly.
  • Do I look at other gear, sometimes lusting/drooling 🤤over a fabulous finish or chrome hardware on a $5,000 kit, or some cool looking 24" ride cymbal? Never! :ROFLMAO:
  • Would I love to have another 'ultra high end' kit as a trophy? Are you kidding me? Who wouldn't? I'd probably have one hand made by a small shop that would do everything by hand with attention to detail.
  • Could I own 50 snare drums without guilt? Yes! but that would take a lot of cash so I'll probably never own more than 8-10 at any one time lol
  • Do I look down on anyone for their 'inferior' gear? No, that would open me up to getting looked down upon by those with 'superior' gear, so what's the point? Someone else is always going to have better gear than the next guy, so why try keeping up with the @C.M. Jones' when I am just trying to keep up with double bass at speeds leading with the left foot?
  • Do I look 'up' on anyone else for their superior gear? Sort of in the same way one 'admires' someone riding in a Bentley - that must be nice but I'll never own it, I don't need it, so I really don't give it any thought.
  • What gear has caused me to be a snob? None of it; except for heads and some add-ons, everything is used but in great condition, sometimes just needed cleaning and sometimes missing a small part which I replace, and always fully enjoyable which is what it's all about for me.
Interesting original question btw...are you feeling guilty?

p.s. I started responding to this several hours ago, so apologies in advance if I used any other's similar ideas...
 
Al Strange said:
However, there’s a number of guys on here who’re a little more open about their disdain for gear such as what I’ve listed above…I’ll grab my popcorn!! 😂 (y)
Click to expand...
Is it disdain or secret envy? :unsure:

I've found that most times when people insult or belittle something or someone, it is invariably because of some shortcoming of the issuing party rather than the object of the insult or belittling. I think people on DW generally refrain from blatant disdain and lean more towards backhanded compliments. :ROFLMAO:

Here you go:

🍿🍿🍿
 
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