|
NEW!!

fave pics of last month

pic of the week
start
stupid
person convention
videos
gigs
bands
photos
drum talk
drum gear
celebs
ten dollar store
contact

my view
the berg's phone message...looped
helium
| |
Drum Gear I've known and loved

newest tom on the block November 2007
PHATT!! 14x15 cherry shell by Matt Wille. The 15" head gives it
tone and huge bottom.
oiled and finished with Nouveau lugs and cast aluminum hoops

This African Mahogany 9x12 shell, by Matt Wille of Global Drum Co,
is also oiled and finished with Yamaha's Nouveau lugs

snares
5.5 x 14 cherry finished December 28, 2005.
Matt Wille shell with Pearl hardware and Puresounds. Mmmmmm good. I've heard engineers say
cherry snares record better than anything. It's true. Had it in the studio only six days
old and couldn't make it sound bad no matter how hard I tried. This drum goes on 90% of my
gigs and always sounds great.

----------------------

Here are my first two segmented shell snares.
The first of a limited edition by Matt Wille from Global Drum Co, the 6x14 segmented shell
(above) consists of maple, wenge and zebrawood. I have played it on gigs with many bands
and it is awesome. The drum has a few different voices and they are all happening. It is
nothing like a ply shell; the sound is truer and more expressive. It's like lifting a
veil. When you hear Matt talk about the sound it seems good, but hearing the drum is
really persuasive. An instrument so good I asked Matt to build me another from a Honduras
Mahogany/Padauk shell he had (below). It is a 4 1/2 x 14 but slightly thicker shell than
the tri-wood. I've used it on many my gigs and the sound is wonderful. It is my "go
to" studio snare. A deeper sound than you'd expect from a 4 1/2" drum, but the
rim shots are as cracking as any I've ever heard.

|
 These 1965 Ludwigs
(with 1977 stainless melodic toms) did the job nicely for 25 years.
My first luxury kit; it replaced my 1965 Ludwigs, was a custom built DW Collector's series in Regal Blue that I had built in
1991. Ordered it and paid for it in 1990 and then waited tenuously for 7 months to find
out what regal blue was. It is a beautiful sounding set of drums. I sold the kit in
early 2004. See detailed photos of the DWs here.

|
|

a superb kit I owned for a few
years handmade by Nashville's Sam Bacco- serial numbers 001-006
hot red Rock Tour Customs- my
first Yamaha kit

had a large blue sparkle lacquer Maple Nouveau
kit for a year. It was too good for anything I had going on. Couldn't justify the cost.
Wanted to. Couldn't. |
|
 Yamaha Rock Tour Customs- current gigging kit |
| Currently I
am playing Yamaha Rock Tour Customs 10x10, 10x12, 12x14, 16x22 in white with a pearlescent
coat. For some gigs I add an 8x10 Alex Acuna 10" maple timbale. |
| 
Orphans. Note homemade subkick mic. |
Through the magic of ebay I have been buying and
selling some really fabulous kits. A 1992 DW Collectors 5 piece covered in Blue Abalone
was a joy. Even had some pink Tama Granstars. A Tama Starclassic maple kit in Marine Blue
Fade lacquer. I used those on the Swing Shift CD. I recorded a
blues/rock CD four years ago with WIRED using a Pearl BLX birch
kit. The finish was the ultra fab Sheer Blue, which is one of my all time favorites.
That kit is long gone as is the Tama Superstar deep snare I used with it. Here and there
dabbled in Yamaha Rock Tour Customs and Tour Customs which I love. |
| On my recordings
with Dry Jack I used the Ludwigs that dad bought me at Manny's in 1965,
augmented with two stainless steel Ludwig melodic toms I picked up in Kansas City in 1977.
On the Suspects and live WIRED CDs I used a Pearl MLX
maple kit that had a 16x22 kick, 10x10, 11x13, and 13x15 toms, as well as a DW 5x14
Collector's snare. That snare gets talked about by many of the sound men I've dealt with.
The Pearls were nice drums and sounded good but were too HEAVY for me to lug around. The
kit which I custom ordered in 1990 and was just about too nice to leave the house, was a
DW Collectors series in regal blue lacquer stain. Sizes 16x20, 8x8, 9x10, 10x12, 12x14.
That kit was used when I played with Ernie Watts in 1992 on a PBS jazz
series, broadcast around the world. I use a DW hi hat stand and a DW 5000 bass drum
pedal. |

|
| CYMBALS I've used all kinds of cymbals. Started with Zildjians but got frustrated in
the 70's and 80's because the sound was so inconsistent from one cymbal to the next. The
Zildjian's that have survived are a 20" ride that I bought new in 1965 with my first
kit, a 16" medium thin crash that I bought about 20 years ago, and a 14" medium
heavy hi hat that I got on ebay a while back which I've been teaming lately with an even
heavier Sabian AAX brilliant bottom. Had a 17" thin crash that I loved and an
18" Swish that was the best, but they cracked up and are long gone. After Zildjian I
loaded up on all kinds of Sabians. I still use HH 13" fusion hi hats and a
20" HH heavy ride, sometimes a 10" HH splash. At home and for some jazz gigs I
use a 20" Jack DeJohnette ride and also his 14" signature hi hats; these are
both the original Sabian issues. Some of my favorite crashes ever are AA 12" sound
controls; I recently acquired an old 14" SC AA and a new 12" SC AA and am
treating them gently. |

Old Pearl BLX's. Nice drums but heavy to lug
around.
the most beautiful sheer blue in the world |
[ gigs ] [ bands ] [ photos ] [ drum talk ] [ celebs ] [ store ] [ contact ]
|