The House Kit................meh !

[Ricardo]

My guitar player keeps booking us into a certain club in town that requires me to play the house kit..............we are in that club this coming weekend.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't gripe too much about this situation..............
I bring enough supplemental gear to make it tolerable................my throne, pedals, some cymbals, etc.
The breakdown and load-out is the best part............I'm done in 20 minutes.

But this kit is some kind of Mapex (Storm, I think..............certainly not Saturn or Mars) that has single ply heads. Every time we go in there, I need to re-tune the kit.................you wonder of other drummers ever think about it.

The thing that makes it tough is the kit is sitting behind the dreaded plastic barrier and the set-up takes as long as if I brought my own stuff..............even after I give it my best effort in the set-up, the kit is just weird.................no room to work with at all.

The kit is just different enough to make the gig awkward..............I'll get through it OK...............but some of the tougher fills never satisfy because the shells are simply in a different place..............feels different and makes it not as much fun.

When we get to a gig wherein I'm using my own set and I have room to set it up like it needs to be set up, I play much better and I have more fun.

Anticipation rant complete.

[SpazApproved]

Nothing worse then when they MAKE you use a house kit.
I like when they offer a house kit but don't make you use it.
I'll scope it out first before I unload all my gear.

Good luck and that sucks!

[inthpktplayer]

Power through it. You'll be fine.

[slinglander]

Been there, done that....argh! Sometimes I just don't even do my usual fills.

[lukesplat12]

I always feel SO much more comfortable on my own kit at a gig. That plastic shield probably isn't helping, either.

[dudimentz]

Playing the house kit is the most conveniently inconvenient situation!
The last time I had to use the house kit at a gig the tom heads were beat to **** and surprisingly they sounded terrible, the kit was on a wood floor with no rug/carpet so everything walked as I played and between songs I'd have to scoot everything back in place and start all over!

Seeing as you know the kit sucks I'd say do what you can to make it suck the least! I'd personally take a cymbal stand tom mount so I could mount the rack tom off a cymbal stand like I've got on my kit, if the hardware sucks I'd bring 1-2 cymbal stands and a snare stand, I'd even consider bringing a set of used heads for the toms if time would allow swapping out the heads.
The sound guy has a million other things to do and replacing the heads or even tuning up the house kit probably doesn't even cross his mind.

On the bright side at least you don't have to pack up your whole kit when it's time to get the **** out of there!!

[Ricardo]

Playing the house kit is the most conveniently inconvenient situation!
On the bright side at least you don't have to pack up your whole kit when it's time to get the **** out of there!!

Bingo !

The set-up and playing some of the songs really sux...............while on some of the other songs, it really does not matter.
The breakdown and departure are quick and happy.

Meanwhile, my guitar players bring all their own guitars, amps and rigs and wonder why in the World the drummer just doesn't love the gig ???

[jedi]

I started a thread on how I hate using the house/backline kit . How I insist on using my own kit and don't mind at all the extra work it takes to do so . I do this for a living so yea...I'm all in .
Well last June I gave in and used the house kit because it was at a college and we were only doing an hour . So i get there and it's a brand new Gretsch Ash Club kit STILL IN THE BOXES ! So I had to put it together . It had a 24" kick 13" , 16" toms and a 6 1/2x14" snare . Out of the box the tuning was spot on ! The snare was beautiful ... oh the crack on that thing ! However there was no muffling for the kick drum so I had to play it wide open . What I did was drop the tuning on the batter head and crank the reso head , bury the beater into the head and sounded great !
That was the ONLY time I have been thrilled to use the house kit . Mostly ...I'm with you . I hate the house kit . But I will always bring my stuff and set it up even if I have to be there earlier than most and have to stay later than most .

[SpazApproved]

I started a thread on how I hate using the house/backline kit . How I insist on using my own kit and don't mind at all the extra work it takes to do so . I do this for a living so yea...I'm all in .
Well last June I gave in and used the house kit because it was at a college and we were only doing an hour . So i get there and it's a brand new Gretsch Ash Club kit STILL IN THE BOXES ! So I had to put it together . It had a 24" kick 13" , 16" toms and a 6 1/2x14" snare . Out of the box the tuning was spot on ! The snare was beautiful ... oh the crack on that thing ! However there was no muffling for the kick drum so I had to play it wide open . What I did was drop the tuning on the batter head and crank the reso head , bury the beater into the head and sounded great !
That was the ONLY time I have been thrilled to use the house kit . Mostly ...I'm with you . I hate the house kit . But I will always bring my stuff and set it up even if I have to be there earlier than most and have to stay later than most .

That's the day you need to buy a lottery ticket cause that's the golden ticket of luck right there!

[isaacvining]

As long as I can use my own cymbals, snare, and pedal, I will GLADLY use a house kit/share drumsets with other bands if at all possible. This heavily leans on the fact that I'm lazy/I can do without toms if need be, so it saves on loading and makes the sound guys happier :D . ...as long as the kick doesn't sound like poop. That said, I've run into some funny situations. The main one is most people don't usually play a 22" or 24" ride in their left side, so the cymbal is usually hanging over the top of the high Tom. Those are the gigs where the high Tom becomes a phone and stick holder

[Ricardo]

We played the gig last night...............house was not completely packed..............more like 3/4 full..........but we had a good spirited crowd.

I took more time during set-up and got the kit better for feel.............an inch here..........an inch there............you know.
But as usual, still not totally comfortable.

We had 8 new songs on the set list last night and they went over well with the crowd................however, one of those new songs was not as well received.
It is a slow song and the crowd was not wanting to hear slow songs.

Next gig is in the best club in town: great sound and lights.............roomy stage...........I use my gear...........best pay in town...........mo better !

[Johnny G]

Glad you had a good gig in the end.
I hear you about the ballads. Sometimes you just have to know when to skip to the next upbeat number.

[slinky]

I remember in the Army there was a drumset at the recreation center in a soundproof booth. It sucked but was enough to at least kind of play along to my walkman. Really dating myself now aren't I. It was 1988. I'd bring cassettes RATT, David Lee Roth Eat Em N Smile and Skyscraper were good ones, Aerosmith etc.

I'd bring these Sabian HH cymbals I bought with me, get in the booth, adjust everything and turn the light off. The booth had a glass front and didn't really like people watching. They probably thought I was a weirdo.

Ft. Ord, CA (Planet Ord). It got that name from the thick fog that would come in all the time without warning. miss that place, good time in my life.

[SpazApproved]

I remember in the Army there was a drumset at the recreation center in a soundproof booth. It sucked but was enough to at least kind of play along to my walkman. Really dating myself now aren't I. It was 1988. I'd bring cassettes RATT, David Lee Roth Eat Em N Smile and Skyscraper were good ones, Aerosmith etc.

I'd bring these Sabian HH cymbals I bought with me, get in the booth, adjust everything and turn the light off. The booth had a glass front and didn't really like people watching. They probably thought I was a weirdo.

Ft. Ord, CA (Planet Ord). It got that name from the thick fog that would come in all the time without warning. miss that place, good time in my life.

Funny I found like 3 walkmans when unpacking at the new house a couple of weeks ago.

[Ricardo]

I remember in the Army there was a drumset at the recreation center in a soundproof booth. It sucked but was enough to at least kind of play along to my walkman.

When I was in music school we had four soundproof drum-closets like that.
Each one had a Sonor bop kit and a cassette player with headphones.

There was also five piano practice rooms and a number of others where you brought in your own rig; i.e., horn, guitar, violin, whatever. There was also one organ practice room that had a really nice cathedral organ installed.........I bet I've heard Toccata and Fugue in D Minor 100 times.

Good days, for sure.