What is your least favorite concession you made in your set up?

MrPockets

Gold Member
Rarely are we perfectly happy with how we set up our kits. Certain parts that need to be set up in a specific way get in the way of other parts of the set.

What is that one item you can't set up perfectly because it isn't high enough on your priority list?
 
My hi hat. Yes it sounds silly, the hats are such a main part of the kit. My left foot having a kick pedal is more important, so the hats are farther away than I would like. I want 15" hats, that would bring them in a half inch, but I want them like 6" over. A cable hat won't work either because I play two rides, and the left ride is in the way. So I concede with my hats. They play just fine, I just get sticks under them more than I would like.
 
I had to remove my ride in favor of a xhat, cowbell set up because all three wouldn’t fit on my right plus I realized the ride was hardly used for the music my band plays. The xhat was needed to relieve stress from over-done cross sticking.
 
For me it is the third crash. It is too close to the hi-hat rod, and sometimes I hit the rod rather than the cymbal. Peace and goodwill.
 
My preferred tom setup is 12/14F/16F but when your kit is a rescue in uncommon vintage wrap, you settle for a 13/16...
 
Tom angles........................Would love to have them a little flatter.
 
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My hi hat. Yes it sounds silly, the hats are such a main part of the kit. My left foot having a kick pedal is more important, so the hats are farther away than I would like. I want 15" hats, that would bring them in a half inch, but I want them like 6" over. A cable hat won't work either because I play two rides, and the left ride is in the way. So I concede with my hats. They play just fine, I just get sticks under them more than I would like.

The high hat side real estate is limited :). I picked up a double pedal that has the beaters in the center. That could give you an extra 6". It is an awkward PITA to set up and it aint cheap, but it solved that problem for me.
 
I am surprised at how many people are compromising on their setup. I have everything right where I want it. I have a small 5 piece setup with a couple crashes so its all pretty easy to put things where I want them.
 
When I was younger I used to compromise positioning just for asthetics but I'm older and wiser now. I don't carry any extra pieces that my gigs don't really call for so my set up is efficient and compact and exactly how i want it. Sometimes it's hard to think outside of what you know for set ups...you need to see someone else doing it. No leg hh and snare stand, mounted off stealth rack, was the game changer for me, courtesy of Thomas Lang's old rig.
 
Only recently have I made peace with a snare mic position.
 
Hmm..
I guess other than the hi hat cld be closer, thanks to the double pedal (a sacrifice I choose to live with), I would say that having everything crammed in so tight that I have to break the set down almost completely to take the toms off when I tune. (I like to have them where 1 side is on a pillow).

I cant take the 8" tom off without moving the 10. But to remove the 10 I have to move the snare. To move the snare I have to move the "throne"(This is easier than loosening the snare stand to take it out). Not a huge deal, but seems like getting it exactly where it belongs takes some time.
To remove the 12" I have to move the floor tom out a bit.

I know, all these "Problems".

I suppose, I could make some marks or tape outline for floor tom, snare seat and hat stand, that way putting it back just right would be closer..


YMMV.

T.
 
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There are lots of toys that I'd love to add, but it just doesn't make sense, given the venues I play and the time I have for setup/teardown.

I know its goofy, but I always wanted roto-toms when I was a kid playing. When I started playing again 5-6 years ago, I told myself that I was gonna have them this time around. Bought a used off-brand version, then promptly figured out that I don't have an easy way to incorporate them into the setup.

I keep trying to devise a way to squeeze them in, perhaps only using the two smaller ones. We shall see. Same with a set of chimes, as much as I'd love to have them for ballads in one of the bands I play in, finding a way to put them in place for the few times that I use them is hard to justify.
 
Power toms.
90's kit with deep 10x9 12x10 13x11 rack toms. 1 or 2 inch shorter would have been great for me (I'm not tall).
Still, I love how they sound !
The other concession : the weight ! I love my drums, I love my Tama hardware, but damn : heavy as hell.
 
Have you considered mounting them vertical?

Yeah, I did consider that. I also was trying to devise a way to put the two smaller ones together, and the bigger one underneath, in an inverse triangle shape. That's a spring/summer project, as the weather gets better to spend some time in the garage. My workshop skills aren't the greatest, but I shall make a stab at it.

The most fun about adding them will be my guitar players head exploding :)

I was more interested in trying to do the chimes vertical, if there was a way...dunno how that would work, since they wouldn't bang together, kinda defeats the purpose
 
Power toms.
90's kit with deep 10x9 12x10 13x11 rack toms. 1 or 2 inch shorter would have been great for me (I'm not tall).
Still, I love how they sound !
The other concession : the weight ! I love my drums, I love my Tama hardware, but damn : heavy as hell.

I am still lugging around my old Titan stands too...very heavy. I get it
 
I can totally agree with this. Peace and goodwill.

Ya - I guess it's not really a concession, just not the right choice.
I wanted the kit and didn't think it through. Never had one like that before.

One concession I won't make is for a double pedal.
It'd be fun to use one, but it pushes my hi hat pedal far out enough that it throws everything off for me.
I suppose I could get used to it given enough time, but I can do without it just fine too.
 
Ya - I guess it's not really a concession, just not the right choice.
I wanted the kit and didn't think it through. Never had one like that before.

One concession I won't make is for a double pedal.
It'd be fun to use one, but it pushes my hi hat pedal far out enough that it throws everything off for me.
I suppose I could get used to it given enough time, but I can do without it just fine too.

I thought like his until I got one, I had enough space to fit it in as the pedal link was very adjustable. Needed one for a song with the intent to use it in the studio and then sell it after the session, nearly three years later I still have it.

If having one to the right of the hi hat pedal is an issue you can always have it set up to the left instead.
 
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