Hey, check out what a friend of mine found:

http://portplastics.com/plastics/Tubing/ClearCastAcrylicTubiSPA.html

Cast acrylic tubing in sizes up to 27", and wall thicknesses up to 1/2". That acrylic drum set DIY may not be too far off after all...

I have a request in to ask about pricing, and possibly if they have remnants they'd like to get rid of, but no response so far. Since they have a distributor in Denver (about an hour north of me) I may just go ahead and give them a call.

Hi everyone,

Here's my two bits. If you have a chance, try to audition some Ayotte drums. They're rare in the US but common in Canada cause there Canadian made using well cured Canadian sugar maple. I've never heard any snare like them. The craftmanship and design are flawless.

Hey all!...... I couldn't help but chime in!I have a Noble & Cooley CD

Maples kit,I've had it for about 8 years now.Man!.these things

sing.I can't say enough about this kit.check em out at :

noblecooley.com

I get alot of compliments on the sound and look of these drums.

Well,I had to throw that in there since I saw no other mention of

a Noble & Cooley,but that is a long thread I could have missed it.

Take Care

My dream kit is the one I have... I must admit I am VERY lucky.

I have a set of Ludwig Super Classics from 1964. 20" kick drum, 12" rack tom, and a 14" floor tom. For a snare I have a 1967 Ludwig Supraphonic, 14"x5".

Cymbals are all Sabian... 16" HHX Evolution Crash, 16" AA Thin Crash, 21" Hand Hammered Raw Bell Dry Ride (my baby), and a set of 14" AAX Fast hats.

Hardware is half old and half new, as I'm in the process of upgrading it to something half decent that works... old hardware just doesn't last 40 years without breaking! :) I still have an original Ludwig cymbal stand and hi hat stand, along with my Speed King bass drum pedal (that I'll never get rid of and always use), and the rest is Gibraltar stuff.

These were my Dad's and so I managed to get them for free since they were collecting dust in the basement. Pretty good deal, so I make sure I take good care of them and treat them with respect. Still probably the nicest set I've played, although I am partial to a Sonor kit I played... however, different sound altogether.

Pics to follow!

Tom

fibes fiberglass shells!!!

I have a set of mid-70's (Martin era) fiberglass shell Fibes drums. Bought 'em used in 1987 for $200 with no snare. Found a (non-matching finish) Fibes snare from the same period a few years back which I paid $220 for. I keep drooling over new kits, but then I go back and play my Fibes and think, Damn, don't need to replace these suckers! The only reason I would have for buying a new kit is that the Fibes, well, they are loud. So maybe a small birch kit for quieter gigs. But for rocking out, the Fibes with Remo coated Ambassadors, and a Powerstroke 3 on the kick. Like the A Zildjian's the best on top.Never had a problem with those (except for crying when one of them finally cracks!). PS why does everyone refer to cymbals as "brass"...they're bronze!! At least good ones are!

Ok here we go:

1964 Ludwig Super Classics, 3 ply maple, champagne sparkle color
8x12 Rack Tom
14x14 Floor Tom
14x20 Kick Drum
1967 Ludwig Supraphonic Chrome Snare, 5 1/2 x 14
1960's Ludwig Speed King pedal

14" Sabian AAX Fast Hats
16" Sabian HHX Evolution Crash
16" Sabian AA Crash
21" Sabian Hand Hammered Raw Bell Dry Ride

All Gibraltar hardware

Audix drum mics:
D2 for rack tom
D4 for floor tom
D6 for kick
ADX-50 condensers for overheads

Shure SM-57 for snare

I have a set of Ludwig club date (1967) that's only gotten better with age. They're little, easy to move and sound great. Plus being small they're really fun & 'comfortable' to play (and I'm 6'1"). I just saw them used on the new Weezer video.

I have a set of big R Rogers, and liked them so much I bought a vintage chrome-over-brass 6 1/4 x 14" dynasonic snare that I use with my Yamaha Recording Customs (birch). The Yammies are by far my best sounding kit - the power toms just have this magical quality when you hit them and the bass drum is awesome.. did I mention the toms??

As far as my dream kit - the sound of my Yamaha/Rogers kit that folds up into a suitcase and weighs under 10 lbs. it would also have integrated drum mics with a built-in submixer with one measley balanced cable that plugs into the main mixer. It should be able to set up and tear down in less than 30 seconds - or at least be faster than those damn SAX guys that show up with their little case and mic - and are packed up and gone in under a minute without breaking a sweat... do I sound jealous?? Naw - drums are much cooler!! :lol:

Premier Bashing A Common Past-time On This Continent

I'd like to post some of my experience with drumkits,but let's not make this too personal cos at the end of the day,it's just preference.

I had owned an older Pearl MLX maple kit that I'd like to talk about.
I am good at tuning drums as I have a very good ear for pitch as well as write my own songs,blah ,blah,etc but I couldn't understand why my Pearls had the most ring and uncontrolled resonance of any kit I've ever played.They held up recording sessions far too often ,to the point where I had to use other players kits.
I tried both Remo and Evans heads in single,double ply,coated and non-coated combinations.I put Evans Hydraulic heads on both sides(something I've seen other Pearl drummers around here do) to attempt to control the ring.It did help but then it became a bassy ,less piercing ring.
This kit I had must have been possessed,I have never seen such a problematic kit to tune in my life or the lives of the local studio engineers and other musicians I worked with at the time.

Anyway after the horrid sounds that came from this kit,years of experimenting with drumheads and tuning,I finally part-traded them in for my Premier Artist Birch kit that cost less then my Pearls did but sounded much superior to them in every tuning range I tried.
My low end Cabrias sound so good for what I paid as many ppl at smaller gigs I do comment on how great they look and sound,something I wasn't expecting from a cheaper kit,what a pleasant surprise.

My Signia Marquis kit sizes: 22x18 bass,10x8,12x9,13x10,16x16 toms and 14x5.5 snare are about 4 or 5 years old in mint condition bought used recently for a steal.I cannot believe the sound of this kit and having played Ludwig,DW,Sonor,Pearl and Yamaha ,I would honestly put them against the lot .

I can't understand 'Golli" saying how his Signia snare sounded,thin and unimpresive,my little 14 x 5.5 snare literally slams you,it has depth,clarity and loads of tone.Perhaps he encountered a bad drum like my old Pearl kit??.Any ideas on 'bad drums'ppl??
My bass drum literally punches you in the chest even unmiked.

I recently had 3 drum dept salesmen at different Long & McQuade music shops(here in Canada) offer to trade me their old Ludwigs,Gretsch and Tama kits,not a word of a lie.
So there ya go,it's obvious to some players(not just me) that yes Premier still make some great drums.Why do I see such negative references to Premier?.I have played all their ranges in differnet places and they all sounded good.

I get a little fed up of brand bashing,but understand brand loyalty as having good experiences and finding satisfaction in quality will make many of us fans of the brands we favour.To be honest I have examined a number of brand name drums and founds flaws in many of them including high priced DW's,the only exception being Yamaha.It seems everything this company make has a high standard of craftsmanship.

dream kit?

Phil Collins' Gretch kit from the early 80s, Face Value record.
Steve Smith's Sonor kit from the early 80s, Frontiers record.
Various custom ordered to spec kits from GMS, DW, TAMA, however
all would include the Sonor DMP4 kick pedal.
My current obsession consists of:
1-16x24"kick
1-6x14"snare
1 each-5x8",7x10",9x12",11x14",13x16",15x18" rack toms
I also like the idea of a 17x20" floor tom, and a 3x6" rack tom
Hihats are 13" and 15" A or K Zildjians one or the other if not both
of them on remote systems.
Rides would be A or K Zildjians...yes two rides aswell...one left and one right...one could be a 20" and the other a 22". I like various ride sounds.
Crashes are specific, 14&15" A Fast, 16&17" A Thin,18&19" A MediumThin.
10&12" A Splashes.
EFX are 6&9.5" ZilBel, 16" A WhiteNoise, 16&20" A China High, 22" A SwishKnocker.
I like a 14x20" kick and a 14x26", and I like a tubby snarey snare sound, but I like a short bright focused snare sound too. I need at least 3 kicks and 3 snares and 3 or 4 sets of toms, 1 set being square, depth and diameter being equal in concert form.

update on dream kit

I have just discovered OC Drums, and about all they do is custom order to spec drums...so I'll replace GMS, DW, and TAMA with
OrangeCountyDrums. They seem to offer every possibility I can think of in drums.

I was thinking about building a custom set for myself but found out it costs a whole lot of money (not that I thought it would be cheap). But here's how it was going to go...

(height x diameter)
8"x 12" Tom
14"x 14" Floor Tom
18"x 18" Bass Drum
4"x 13" Snare

With Zildian A Custom Cymbals
14" Hi Hats
14" Crash
16"Crash
22" Ride
18" China

And thats about it. It would have been nice to build but hey what you going to do?

-Will

it would be enough to have a Roland TD-20 :)

(since I cannot play acoustic drumkits into my apartments :( :( :( )