Would you consider a "Hybrid" drumkit?

Mad About Drums

Pollyanna's Agent
Hi guys

I read some posts lately that's influenced my thoughts on what could be my future drums.

It could includes differents types of woods and/or differents brands of drums.

The post by Keep It Simple regarding Lutz visit's to Andy's Guru drums had a video of Lutz playinng a kit with different wood shells on it.

The post by The Scorpio had a video of Kyle playing a song live and upon discussion about the sound of the kit, it transpired that Kyle has a "mutant" kit using a Yamaha kick with Ludwig Toms.

I know that Simon Phillips had, at the beginning of his career, a kit with Ludwig bass drums with Staccato toms (looking like toilets sink to me, ha ha)

Steve Gadd used a different wood combination between toms and kick on his Recording Custom.

Steve Jordan use kits with different woodshells from various brands (mostly vintage) to have the sound that he desire within a recording session.

While we're already mixing/using differents snare drums in terms of sizes, depths, types of shell constructions, but also from differents brands to have choices for the context of the music being played. I, for one, had differents snares on my kits over the years, various Tamas, a Premier Resonator, a Ludwig Black Beauty and a Sonor Signature.

A "hybrid" kit could have the sound you're looking for and it couldn't be achieved with a given brand's line set up (ie: all with the same shells)

Loyalty to a brand could be a problem for some drummer, if it implies buying drums from a different brand than the one they've played for years.

I've been loyal to Tama drums for 29 years and Zildjian cymbals for 25 years.

But as a concept, I think I would use a "hybrid" kit and cymbals regardless of brand's names, putting the sound I want to achieve/produce first.

Maybe endorsments contracts could be a barrier to some drummers, but in the studio, the brand's not important, only the sound's matters.

What do you think? would you consider a "hybrid" kit?
 
Last edited:
Hybrid, I think of like acrylic/wood stuff, but that's kind of silly.
I'd like to have a maple/birch combo, or even maple/walnut/mahogany and birch. The low end for kick and attack for toms.
 
"Pearl Reference Kits" they have offered the combination of woods mixed together and seperated as the size changes.
I used different drums for a kit for years in my first traveling band from 1968 thru 1971. Had a Supra snare 5x14 chrome, , a 8x12" ludwig (maple) blue sparkle, in a snare stand basket, and a 14x14 Gretsch (maple) natural stain brownish, with a 14x24 Slingerland 3ply map/maho./map. Green with a yellow center stripe hahaha!!! Those cans kicked butt and it was a very high energy band that played very very loud. The bass player used 2 /360 Acoustics bass amps, the B3 player had 3 Leslies reworked with crown power just to give you an idea of backline volumn. That was a killer set. To much is made out of the companies offerings all though the drum sets today are fantastic, especially the intermediate sets that are in the 700.00 to 999.00 with complete hardware packages. Thats tuff to beat and they sound damn good. Doc
 
I couldn't agree more. I've always had different brands of cymbals. My last three have been Sabians, but I'm thinking of getting a Paiste 2002 16" (my favorite cymbal of all time) or that new Zildjian 14" crash (which also sounds incredible).
 
yeah man, i'm a big time gretsch lover...i wish they offered more wood variety as a mainstay in their renown (besides the limited ed. purewoods), new classic and usa lines. they do ash, birch, and mahogany on their mid budget catalinas only....bummer. stil looove my usa maples tho.

i have used tons of materials and brands on one kit. along with my usa maples i will use toca siam oak bongos above and to the left of my hats, a 12'' remo designer series composite shell djembe below the bongos. i have three drums above my kick: one 12x6 maple pork pie snare with contoured hickory w/ outer ply of birdseye maple hoops as an auxilary (better to put it there since i play open handed, had to install a shell mounting bracket to keep it in a tom's usual place) a 12x9 gretsch usa rack tom (on a snare stand, couldn't think of any other way to do it when i have that snare on the set, don't want to drill hardware into the kick either!), and a 13'' drumset timbale by pearl. my main snare basket is a whore: she shares herself with my 14x7 phosphor bronze ludwig, 14x5.5 gretsch COB hammered and my gretsch 14x5.5 ten ply maple with contoured hickory w\bubinga outer ply hoops. usa maple 20x16 kick, 14x12 and 16x14 floor toms, lp 8'' mambo or 6'' salsa cowbells and a cyclops tambourine complete my set. i use all zildjians, though (20'' K ride, 20'' K Custom Hybrid Ride, 16'' and 18'' A Custom fast crashes, 13'' A mastersound on top, 13'' K top on bottom, 10'' A Custom Splash, 12'' K Splash). i use tama roadpro cymbal stands (booms for all four big cymbals), iron cobra power glide single, gibraltar bong stand, clamps, and accessories (beaters, throw offs on my ludwig and maple snares, clamp boom arms, aux perc clamps, l-rod ball arms and heavy duty clamps for toms) pdp dual leg hat stand, pearl L arm for timbale. i change drumheads as need be, and i get jokes about having clear and coated heads (g2 clears for the floor toms, EMAD 1 ply for kick,remo ambassador coated for snares, clear ambassador for timbale, white evans bongo heads, remo "skyn" djembe head) love it, so much fun to play!
 
Last edited:
Well you know where I stand lol!!

My "mutant kit" (I love that and I am going to steal it) came about because of necessity. I was really wanting a new kit, but at the time the kit I wanted was WAY out of my price range lol. But I found a good deal on the Ludwig tom's, and they were a step up from the tom's on my then current kit. The same thing happened with my kick. I had just discovered John Bonham, so of course I wanted a huge kick;) My old band director gave me my marching 28" as a graduation present, and I converted it to a kick drum and gave them all a paint job.

As it turns out, all of the drums work well together (to my ears) and I don't think I'll be changing kits for a while.

I think that drummers looking to upgrade from their beginner kit are resistant to have a hybrid, because all the drummers you see in advertisements play matched kits, and also those "matchers" give a feeling of solidarity and cohesion.

A hybrid kit on the other hand, can be much easier and cost-efficient to acquire.

Even though you tend to lose the "professional-looking" side of things, you get a unique kit that is totally your own. And for me, that is very important

Do I get funny looks? Yes. Condescending laughter? You betcha. But during sound check, all of that stops in short order. Because the main and most important point is the sound. If you're kit sounds gorgeous and the tones make you want to play better and practice harder, then who cares about how it looks or if its matching?

-Kyle
 
Do I get funny looks? Yes. Condescending laughter? You betcha. But during sound check, all of that stops in short order. Because the main and most important point is the sound. If you're kit sounds gorgeous and the tones make you want to play better and practice harder, then who cares about how it looks or if its matching?

-Kyle

Hi Kyle

You got it so right there...

Having said that, there's plenty of "normal" kits that does sound very good too. And some drums lines from certain brands are available with differents woodshells (maple, birch, ash, oak etc.) so the "matching" of the kit wouldn't be a problem.

But I'm convinced that a hybrid/mutant kits is the way to go to get the sound that you want.
 
I'd like my "Hybird" Kit to have Birch Bass Drums and Maple Toms....and a metal snare...... C:
 
I sometimes use a Hybrid kit in the studio. More in the last year than ever before.
I did a session last fall with an Oak bass drum and maple toms, and one a few months ago that used a thick-ass maple kick with mahogany/ash toms.

It's all about what's right for the song(s) and what sounds best in that room.

For some live gigs I'll also pull out the hybrid acoustic/electronic kick and use all electronic pads for toms and real kick, snare and cymbals...
 
Just being a "broke" drummer pushed me into the realm of hybrid kits, many, many, many years ago. Before the word "hybrid" certainly became a daily usage standard.​
My first kit was a Gracy (Pearl stencile). I added a second kick to it, a fiberglass Blaemire, then some CB 700 concert toms, some roto-toms .... my first 9 piece (POS) kit ... but, it was all I could afford ... my "Frankenstein" kit ... rocked many a house and hall in the San Gabriel Valley, in the 70's.​
For me, I use the term "hybrid" when I'm running acoustic and electric drums together.​
 
I wouldn't be opposed to it in principle, but if it was a matter of buying a kit, I think I would keep the kick and the toms from the same company and with the same finish. Within a single manufacturer, like DW for example, I might consider different woods, grain orientations, or even different series for different drums. I haven't given it much thought, but at least in theory...

Pearl Reference are interesting hybrids, though they tell you what those different wood compositions are going to be for a given size drum - you don't get to pick, so I'm not sure if that counts.

Snares and cymbals are different animals, though. They can come from anybody and mixing and matching (or un-matching, as the case may be) won't break any rules with me whatsoever.
 
Hmmm, this is a sticky one for me to chime in without sounding like a biased promo whore, but here goes;

On thicker ply shells, honestly, the difference between the wood species is very small. Frankly, having complimentary bearing edges & heads is a bigger deal.

On thinner ply shells, you start to notice the difference more.

On solid shelled drums, the difference is bigger again, as the fundamental shell tone becomes a greater part of the resolved sound.

The application where you'll notice the affect greatest is the toms. Less so on the bass drum, & even less on the snare.

Ok, keeping the above in mind, varying wood species as well as constructions from one drum application to another can be a very good idea. I won't go into all the possible combinations, but augmenting a drum specifically towards it's intended use is absolutely the way to go. That means varying shell thicknesses, bearing edges, & depths as well as wood species.

If you're thinking of thick ply shells & the decision to use different materials is going to cost more, then I'd steer clear of that, as there's little benefit. Outside of that, I'd say go for it, but the toms should receive due consideration to matching bearing edges & complimenting depths & shell thicknesses.

So, in principal, it's a great idea, but to get the best out of the kit, it probably requires greater consideration of the end goal than usual.

Good luck!
 
I sometimes use a Hybrid kit in the studio. More in the last year than ever before.
I did a session last fall with an Oak bass drum and maple toms, and one a few months ago that used a thick-ass maple kick with mahogany/ash toms.

It's all about what's right for the song(s) and what sounds best in that room.

For some live gigs I'll also pull out the hybrid acoustic/electronic kick and use all electronic pads for toms and real kick, snare and cymbals...

How does the Oak Bass sounds like? Somewhere between Birch and Maple?
 
Why apply non-existent rules to yourself? If you are not getting paid to play a specific brand, mix 'em up!

I've got all types of cymbals in my kit. I buy them on the sound I'm looking for, not the name brand.

Same with drums. I've done sessions with Roto-Toms, a Pearl snare, a Tama bass drum, two Pearl toms and a Ludwig floor tom.

The music didn't notice.

MT
 
Kick - Ayotte Custom Maple 22 x 19 - Canada

Snare - Dunnett Titanium (Named Cinderkone by Ronn Dunnett) 14 x 8 - Canada

Rack Tom - DW Birch 12 x 9 - USA

Floor Tom - Tama Starclassic Bubinga Elite 16 x 15 - Japan

Side Snare - Gretsch Ash 12 x 6 - Taiwan

Cymbals - Turkish (14" Hat x 2, 18" Crash x 4, 20" Ride x 1, 22" Ride x 1, 19" China x 1) - Turkey

Yamaha hardware & throne
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    109 KB · Views: 594
  • 2.jpg
    2.jpg
    116.4 KB · Views: 591
  • 3.jpg
    3.jpg
    84.6 KB · Views: 581
  • 4.jpg
    4.jpg
    91.5 KB · Views: 824
  • 5.jpg
    5.jpg
    99.8 KB · Views: 590
  • 6.jpg
    6.jpg
    104.5 KB · Views: 594
  • 8.jpg
    8.jpg
    85.8 KB · Views: 619
  • 9.jpg
    9.jpg
    107.7 KB · Views: 714
  • 10.jpg
    10.jpg
    112 KB · Views: 577
  • 11.jpg
    11.jpg
    93.3 KB · Views: 683
Back
Top