DRUMMER CAFE

In the past year, meaning 2007 to present, what's been your favorite acquisition as far as instruments, gear, etc.?

I personally haven't purchased any drum gear as of late, but I have picked up a few percussion accessories and electronic nick-nacks ... although nothing I care to share about.

How about you, anything?
 

Cool thread Bart! 

By far, my favorite gear acquisition in 2007 was my Tama Stewart Copeland Signature snare drum.  The number one reason is because my wife surprised me with it for an anniversary gift.  That goes way above and beyond, yes?  Number two reason is that it is a beautiful sounding drum.  It's now my go-to snare for most situations. 

Coming up for this year's anniversary is an 18" bass drum - Tama Starclassic Performer to match my silver sparkle kit.  Should take receipt of it in the next month.  I can't wait for it to get here because I've been playing some painfully small venues and I could really use the smaller footprint. 

After that, I'm done, I promise!   

Sabian Vault 14" Hi-Hats.  They are musical, responsive, and very fun to play.

It's a huge upgrade from my Zildjian Scimitar Bronze "RAWK" hats.  (Don't laugh, they sounded great, I have recordings to prove it!!!  )

Ask me again in a few months when Toontrack releases Superior Drummer 2.0...

About 3 months ago I aquired a 70s pAisTe 2oo2 18" ride.  I use it as a heavy crash mostly.  It works well for me because it makes the 18" medium crash and 20" medium crash stand out more.

About a month ago I bought a 6.5x14 solid shell maple Craviotto snare.  What a fantastic drum.  Everytime I play it Im blown away.  I wouldnt mind having a full kit made by Craviotto.

Since December practically all my stuff is new.  New kit, new cymbals, new hardware, new bags.

I picked up a 6x13 Mapex Black Panther birdseye maple snare that looks and sounds great.  I just tweaked the stock Ambassador heads and it sounds lovely.  I hadn't ever played a 13" snare before, and this was new and cheap on eBay so I just went for it.  Makes me miss my 6.5x14 Mapex Pro M - I like 'em deep.

My entire setup was bought about a year ago. Moved (back) from Australia to Norway, and used to opportunity to upgrade my entire kit.

So out with the old Mapex M and Meinl setup, and in with a brand new Sonor Force 3005, A Custom and rack setup. Lovely 

Last year I picked up my Tama Superstar Custom kit which I really love. I also bought a few more Saluda cymbals which are great. A couple of months ago I scored a great deal on some multi-clamps for my rack. For VDay my wife bought me a new multi-pattern LDC. Most recently my band mate and I went in together on an Iron Cobra double kick pedal (bought from another friend). That has been a lot of fun.

I'd like to get a few more Saludas this year. I'm also looking for a new mic pre and a D/A so I can use 6 inputs on my DAW instead of just 4. However, the hardware stuff will probably wait. I want to start building electronic kits this year, and my end of year goal is to have at least one nice pre clone.

Which one did you get?  I got one of the Burlwood ones with guitar strings in it and have been fairly happy with it, but it seems like every time I turn around Meinl's got some new cajon.

The Ebony model.  It's a snare cajon with a knob to handle the snare assembly.  Ebony front plate.

It's listed on this page:
http://meinlpercussion.com/products/meinl_percussion/cajons/snare_cajons.html

i sold 2 bassdrums, an entire premier XPK 6 piece kit, a 22" H&B enduro case, some dw pedal parts, a conga stand, and 2 old electronic pads.  i got back nearly 100 square feet of our apartment-- officially my favorite drumming acquisition ever.

in all truth though, the process of making music has been extremely streamlined now tht there's a whole lot less stuff to move.

I love the 18". I only use felt strips for a bit of muffling. It can sound wide open or you can tune it to be very punchy also. You will miss the stage volume punch of a bigger drum though if you are in a louder situation. But it still mics up well, even in a large venue. Oh boy! and is it easy to carry around.
I do not have a lift, I thought about it, but I don't mind hitting the drum off center, its part of the charm of an 18" to me, being able to get some tone to the drum. Like any drum, some rooms you can't make it sound good, and then some rooms, the 18" will be larger than life.
As far the the SD, its still early in my looking around, so I'm very open. I hoping to go to the Chicago drum show, so maybe I find something that I love there or get some ideas.

My fav acquisition was a large, used Tempus kit (2 each 17x24 kicks, 13, 14, 16, 18 toms).  I completely disassembled it, removing every piece of hardware from every drum.  I had to get rid of the old black Gibraltar mounting parts (toms & spurs), remove tons of black spray paint, replace most of the hoops, and had Paul cut two the toms down.

If I remember correctly, I got it in September.  Well, today I'm picking up the last two parts I ordered to get this kit ready to play out.  I'll post pictures in the drum porn thread in the near future.

My most recent acquisition (certainly the best of 2007/8 to date) has been a small PA system so that I can have rehursals at my place instead of lugging my kit around.

The system consists of:
2 Madison M2-15 main speakers
1 ART power supply
1 ART 2x15 EQ
1 Carvin DCM1000 power amp
1 Soundcraft E8 mixer
3 Audix OM2 mics
2 MXL 2003 mics
...and a seemingly infinite number of cables.

Pics below...all of a sudden, my man-cave has become a popular place to hold rehursal! 

Cheers, Bob

Mostly a few mics (SM57s, Beta52) and also a mixer that was a deal I could not pass up.

On the drum gear side, nothing too interesting -- heads, sticks, a couple shakers. Saving up and researching some kits for a planned purchase later this year... but so many kits still to be heard. (Top of the list: DW Jazz series, Ludwig Legacy Classic)

But really, the mics, mixer and software has given me a whole new set of things to play with and learn about.

Though I did check out the Steve Jordan signature drum today and was sorely tempted.

My favorite gear purchase in the last year was a power amp that has enough power to properly run our subs.  It made a BIG difference on our overall low-end sound, but I am pleased with being able to 'feel' the thump of my bass drum now.

Rick