Why so many C & C kits on TV

[Stefan Brodsky]

My drum shop guy said that the reason you see so many C & C kits on shows like CBS This Morning Saturday and Austin City Limits is that they give out free promotional kits to selected artists. I'm not connected to the endorsement world. Has anyone else heard that?

 

[Gottliver]

They all do. Its normal product placement. Also, they are very chic at the moment.

 

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

Though they make all kinds of drums, within a certain folk-rock-pop segment they hold a sort of status that Gretsch does with jazzers.

 

[bermuda]

Hmnmm, I've seen a C&C kit on TV maybe once or twice.

But the brand depends on the drummer, not because a manufacturer supplied drums for use on a show. Even if there was a house kit and it was mandatory to use it, the vast majority of drummers (playing with an artist well-known enough to appear on TV) would endorse a different brand, and ask that the C&C logo be covered. In the industry, covering a logo with a mask or sticker is called greeking.

Bermuda

 

[Lee-Bro]

In the industry, covering a logo with a mask or sticker is called greeking.

Bermuda

Is that a derivative of "It's all Greek to me?" -making everything Greek?

 

[bermuda]

Is that a derivative of "It's all Greek to me?" -making everything Greek?

Possibly, idioms/terms come from all sorts of far-reaching origins.

 

[MrPockets]

Possibly, idioms/terms come from all sorts of far-reaching origins.

Greeking is a style of displaying or rendering text or symbols, not always from the Greek alphabet. Greeking obscures portions of a work for the purpose of either emphasizing form over details or displaying placeholders for unavailable content.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeking

I think the tape being a placeholder for your endorser is the reasoning behind using the term.

 

[bermuda]

Greeking is a style of displaying or rendering text or symbols, not always from the Greek alphabet. Greeking obscures portions of a work for the purpose of either emphasizing form over details or displaying placeholders for unavailable content.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeking

I think the tape being a placeholder for your endorser is the reasoning behind using the term.

Thanks for that. I'd only heard it in a TV studio.

Bermuda

 

[Vandalay]

In another example, in "Modern Family", there are a couple of episodes where Cam plays drums, he appears to be playing a Gretsch kit, but there's no logo on the kick, and the badges appear to be covered..

 

[J-Boogie]

In another example, in "Modern Family", there are a couple of episodes where Cam plays drums, he appears to be playing a Gretsch kit, but there's no logo on the kick, and the badges appear to be covered..

Lol I think I remember seeing that, like he played a way too long drum solo and thought he was the man. Funny stuff

 

[MrPockets]

Lol I think I remember seeing that, like he played a way too long drum solo and thought he was the man. Funny stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6GYCDnc1TE

One of my favorite drummer jokes in this scene too.

 

[MrInsanePolack]

In another example, in "Modern Family", there are a couple of episodes where Cam plays drums, he appears to be playing a Gretsch kit, but there's no logo on the kick, and the badges appear to be covered..

The opposite happened on The Goldberg's. In the few episodes that there are drums, the bass head clearly says Peavey, who didn't make drums in the 80s.

 

[Otto]

The opposite happened on The Goldberg's. In the few episodes that there are drums, the bass head clearly says Peavey, who didn't make drums in the 80s.

I remember before I graduated HS(1985) my local music shop(when it existed) carried Peavey Drums(one set).

 

[Juniper]

Ive certainly noticed a lot of C&C Drums on my screens when watching music shows here in the U.K. in the last year or so.

Does tend to visiting Indie bands from America/Canada.

Nice to see some variation.

 

[KamaK]

Related...

When we had a TV (97' ish?) gig, I called my Marshall rep to try to score some free loot. The result?

They sent me a JCM2000 face plate for my JMP50 and a Marshall logo for my Vox AC30.

Ironically, this particular Vox-AC30 was literally made by Marshall in England.

 

[Chunkaway]

My drum shop guy said that the reason you see so many C & C kits on shows like CBS This Morning Saturday and Austin City Limits is that they give out free promotional kits to selected artists. I'm not connected to the endorsement world. Has anyone else heard that?

I was a C&C endorser for a bit and I can tell you, they do not give free kits to anyone. (At least not that I have ever heard.) They do give their endorsers discounted prices on gear (as do most drum companies), but I have never heard about free gear being given away by them.

C&C are played by everyone from the drummer from The Shins to Spoon to The Flaming Lips to My Morning Jacket and so on. So, while they are definitely big in the indie music world, they have crossed over to more mainstream bands as well.

I can't speak for all the C&C drummers out there, but I think there are a couple of reasons why they are so popular. First off, they focus on vintage sounding drums. When I was an endorser, I had been playing my vintage Ludwig kit, which I loved. The problem was I had several issues with the hardware (lugs) breaking/gear stripping out on me during shows. I really wanted a kit that had that vintage Ludwig sound, but was more reliable. I didn't have $3000+ for a Ludwig Legacy, so I spoke to my friend - a current C&C endorser - and he recommended that I give his C&C kit a try. I did and I loved the warm, Ludwig-ish sound. The C&C drummers I have spoken with also seem to be drawn to vintage sounding/looking drummers.

The second reason is they came out with inexpensive (relatively, at least) vintage sounding/looking drums - specifically the Player Date I and Player Date II series. These are often the drums you see touring drummers play on tv/YouTube. These drums sound and look like vintage drums, but they are attainable for many drummers. The Player Date I series are VERY tubby sounding! They are some of the warmest (and lowest volume) drums on the market. Those things appeal to many drummers, I guess.

 

[Bo Eder]

I've never seen any C&C kits on TV. Austin City Limits, I guess there's a possibility there. But where else?

I don't know C&C that well - are they able to support their artists? I recall the really big brands are able to really support their artists, like when Gavin Harrison appeared on the Dave Letterman show. He didn't haul his own gear - Sonor got it there for him and all he had to do was arrive and play it. Does C&C do that?

 

[Chunkaway]

I've never seen any C&C kits on TV. Austin City Limits, I guess there's a possibility there. But where else?

I don't know C&C that well - are they able to support their artists? I recall the really big brands are able to really support their artists, like when Gavin Harrison appeared on the Dave Letterman show. He didn't haul his own gear - Sonor got it there for him and all he had to do was arrive and play it. Does C&C do that?

I just went to YouTube and looked at Jimmy Kimmel’s and Jimmy Fallon’s pages. I looked at the bands playing on those shows for the past two months to see which brands the drummers were using. There were a significant number of bands whose drummers used C&C. I’m not sure which shows you are watching and not seeing C&C, but they are very common. (Ludwig was the most common followed by DW, and to be fair, C&C are not in that range at this time.)

The bands that used C&C stuff were mostly indie/alternative. The pop/r&b acts gravitated more toward DW, while the rock and country used Ludwig more frequently. It was actually an interesting thing to look at and try to figure out.

C&C does absolutely have backline gear in major cities and for festivals. I had the opportunity to use their backline gear in Austin, for example. They have a silver sparkle kit in New York and a wmp kit in L.A., if memory serves. They certainly don’t have the support that Ludwig, DW, Yamaha, etc.. could provide but they do have some.