Drum gear totes...

[fiacovaz]

As I read the posts about Vater Slicknuts, it reminded me of my hardware. I use double braced chrome straight and boom stands. Man, this stuff is heavy. My hi-Hat is a Gibralter Intruder I picked on eBay for $60 a few years back and it is very heavy. At present, I haul all of this stuff in two duffle bags...one with wheels which broke sometime ago. I think I need to get a third bag and further divide the gear so I don't have so hard a time carrying this stuff. My pedal is Tama Iron Cobra so that's taken care of with the case that was provided. However, I still have all the accessory pieces like cowbells and clamps. Cymbals are toted in separate bag...two rides, two crashes, hi-hats and small splash; heavy too. In addition to that, I also store my music stand, music charts book and stick bag all inside the totes. It all adds up the weight. As for the shells, I only take the 4 pc. on a gig and each is in its own Tuxedo bag. For this reason, I have to show up to a gig at least an hour or more before the others just to unload and set-up and then rest a little before playing. Then there is the tear down and loading the car again....getting tired just thinking about it. Anyway, I thought I'd post this thread to see what tips I can pick up from those of you who do a lot of gigging and know how to haul the gear properly.

Thanks...Frank

[Bish]

I know your dilemma and feel your pain. I've been comtemplating a different solution. I'm learning to play piccolo.

But one thing you might ponder.....look into a rack. It will eliminate tripods on all your stands. I used the boom half of my cymbal stands, clamped to the rack and for any other needs I used the Gibraltar boom-arm add-ons.

I still have to carry a trap case with all the boom arms snare stand and hat stand, and throne stand. But now I can make one trip with the trap case and another for the rack components and in two trips, the hardware is inside.

I am also able to add more Gibraltar booms and not increase weight by that much so I can haul more cymbals and use a more extensive collection that just a simple matched set.

I'm loving this direction.

Comparison pix available upon request.

[Andreeew]

Carrying a lot of heavy bags is a drummer thing, you dont see them vocalists having trouble

[1DrumBum]

Hey Frank, I have to go with what Bish is saying on this. I'm gigging with an 8 piece kit with 7 cymbals and when I was using stands for everything, my gear case was soooo heavy that I had to divide everything into 2 cases and it still took 2 people to carry each case. I was using Pearl 900 series hardware, which is very heavy to start with.

I switched over to a rack system and my gear totting problem went away immediately. I now pull the side bars off my rack and leave the front section together. It goes in the truck first (weighs about the same as 2 boom stands) and my drums go underneath it when i'm packing up. The side arms, hi-hat stand, throne, and various blocks and bells all fit in one case now with room to spare and weighs about 2/3 of what one of my cases did before. I have plenty of room on the rack to add on more accessories without really adding on anymore weight and set-up time is still the same. It used to take me about an hour or so to get everything set-up before, now it takes me 20-30 minutes and everything is always set in the exact same spot everytime.

Take a look at some of the racks out there. It might solve your problem.

[fiacovaz]

You see, there's a lot to learn. I always considered Racks to be what you got when you had multi-toms to set up as well as cymbals etc. I think I should investigate this a bit further. Thanks, guys!

[drummer]

Here's one tip for ya. I use a double tom case for the rack toms. So you can carry both drums at once. I use a Protection Racket rolling bag for the rest of the drum gear. I never think too much about extra trouble we drummers go through. I've been doing it so long, I'm on auto-pilot. It doesn't faze me.

[Kjbakke2]

i built one box that everything fits into with casters on it
it takes me and my bass player(another big guy, football player) to get it into the truck
but its only one trip hahaha
with my slow conversion over to all 9000 stands though this will have to change soon

[kay-gee]

I think a rack would detract from the classic big band drum look. The best solution is to enlist groupies to help haul the stuff.

all the best...

[fiacovaz]

I think a rack would detract from the classic big band drum look. The best solution is to enlist groupies to help haul the stuff.

all the best...

To be truly honest, that's what I, too, think. The guys in the band do help me with the gear and, like I always tell them, this is what I love to do and there's nothing else for it.

[funkymcstain]

i finally have my load and unload system down (at least with a 4pc). i have a large flight case on casters that holds all four drums. also a large hardware bag holds 2 pearl bc2000 stands that i mount toms on, 1 straight stand, hat stand, snare stand and throne base. all my cymbals in a H&B hardcase. pedal, mics, cables and stick bag go in a smaller gigbox. i can roll the whole thing in with one trip and be ready to go in less than 30 min.

when i'm rockin' a 7 pc i use seperate hard cases for all but my 8" &10" toms, wich go in a converted djembe case that holds both. i also lighten my hardware bag when i use a big kit since all hardware is mounted on a rack wich is broken into 3 pieces for transport. this setup also goes pretty fast since all i have to do is unpack the drums and mount everything.

[rritter]

I have stated before that I have the heavy Pearl hardware and lighter 5600 series Gibraltar hardware. I use the Gibraltar hardware for my shows. The difference in weight is incredible. Pearl makes great hardware but the weight difference is just too much. I do have one lone Sonor stand that I gig with. Along with the tom mount platform, pedal, and a couple multi clamps my hardware case still is in the 70 pound range. I use an XL Specialty 36x16x12 case with wheels that works great. You can pick up one of these for $132.95 at Midwest Percussion. A lot to lift but one guy can lift it all in to the band trailer or up a flight of stairs.

[fiacovaz]

I had considered a specialty case but, since I have to transport all my gear in the trunk and backseat of my car ( '00 Dodge Intrepid), space can be an issue. Fortunately, the trunk is deep enough so I can store an additional duffle bag and spread out the hardware. Oh, what we drummers go through for what we love...and wouldn't have it any other way.