Playing someone else's kit

[peach_tx]

So we played a gig Saturday where the first and last bands had the same drummer, so it really did make sense to use his kit, since we had the middle slot. (It was pretty cool because the first band was Christian metal, the 2nd band was us, then the 3rd band was plain ol' evil metal!)
I just changed out the pedals, used the rest of his stuff. Man, it really made me appreciate my kit so much more than I already do!
The placement of the drums themselves was fine, but they had some crusty old heads that were terrible and he had just muted them with bits of paper towel and tape. The bass drum had absolutely NO response or bounce to it at all and felt and sounded like a cardboard box. That was really the only part that tripped up my playing; during one of our faster songs the deadness of the bass drum really felt weird when I was trying to play quick little triplet parts with my feet.
The cymbals sounded horrible and were like half the volume of what I'm used to. We have some parts in a few songs where I really bash the hats wide open, and I could barely hear them at all! I probably shouldn't mention brands 'cause I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or stir up anything stinky, but the cymbals just sucked...

It was challenging and fun in a way, but man I will be glad to gig on MY beautiful kit next weekend!!!
(BTW I hope I don't come off sounding like a snob, I really am not snobby about brand names and stuff in general.)
Anyone had similar experiences?

[Drumslave]

Did you try it before the show started?

[peach_tx]

Nope, I had just enough time to change out the pedals, set up my Roland unit and its trigger pedal and DI box next to the hi-hats, hang my stick bag from the floor tom, put a beer and a water on the floor of the riser behind me, step on the pedals to get a feel for the bass drum, and say to myself 'uh-oh, here we go!' !!!

[saturn]

i always have a strange feeling when i play on others drum kit and this is normal when you are used to your kit and usually at small festivals the drum kits and cymbals suck.... i always bring my snare and my pedals and at least 3 of my cymbals

[armyoflarry]

The last time I played a gig on someone else's gear I got lucky. It was a huge DW, tuned to perfection.

That was the one time i was glad to play someone else's kit.

[backtodrum]

I have had the same privilege as you did on this gig and yea it does make you appreciate your own kit and that you take time to have pride in it. but nothing is harder to play to me than a dead lifeless bass drum. It certainly does not inspire me to play in those situations.

[Dustin]

I wont let anyone use my kit out of principle - I had damage done to the shells on my old kit where the share was pushed against the toms and took the finish off......

As a general rule in Britain, if a kit share is happening, its only the bass, toms and sometimes hardware. Each drummer is expected to bring his own snare, cymbals and bd pedal.

[backtodrum]

I'm not hip on letting someone else play my kit, so I don't get into situation where I will have to let someone I don't know play my drums. I f I know them personally then that is another thing. But I would not play a multi bill gig with different bands and use my kit as the primary kit.......It just won't happen!......

[ThePloughman]

Sabians eh?

kidding.

Its tough playing someone elses kit most of the time. The only complaint Ive ever had when someone played one of my kits is that there just werent enough drums.

[funkymcstain]

the cymbal thing has more to do witht the model rather than the brand. every company makes poop cymbals. i know how you feel tho. i have had to do it on plenty of occasions.

[peach_tx]

Yeah, most of the cymbals were lower-line cymbals from a good company. I took my snare & stand but the sound man didn't want to change it out and it wasn't worth arguing about it.
I used to not care so much about other people playing my kit, but now that I have a nice kit, to let someone else use my stuff it would have to be a trusted friend...

[simon]

yeah i've played on some rough kits in my time! always take my own snare cymbals and pedal tho. mostly because thats what i'd expect of someone if we were sharing my kit. i just do not let anyone else use my cymbals unless i know them very well. (and they are a good player)

[crazydrummer]

I hate playing other people`s kits...unless of course its a DW kit tuned to perfection...also, i hate people playing my kit, especially those who dont appreciate the quality, or the work thats put into a good-sounding drum kit...as for using someone else`s kit in an actual gig, i`d definitely scout out the kit before agreeing to play it....unless the money is really good....

[bruarm]

I've had opportunities to play others kits at the local open stage. I'm always kind of intrigued at other people's set ups, so it's kind of fun. Especially when you're doing a fill and hit the ride cymbal where you would normally have a tom set up in your own kit. Or my favourite, go for the cymbal crash and miss!! Darn muscle memory...

[=^-..-^=]

What's good about playing other peoples' kits:

1. Less setup
2. Opportunity to try other set up possibilities, and maybe apply them / avoid them.
3. Opportunity to hear other brands of drums, heads, cymbals, and see if you like them.
4. More satisfaction when you get 'home' to your beloved Gretsch kit and setup.
5. People are dissatisfied with their (non Gretsch) kit sound, and after you play it, they realize that it sounds just fine.

What's BAD about playing other peoples' kits
1. Risk of breaking something & having to pay for it
2. Their setup / tuning can just plain stink.
3. It's just not your kit
4. It's just not your kit
5. It's just not your kit
6. Dissatisfaction with your crappy kit when you get home, if they play Gretsch and you don't .

What's good about others playing your kit:
1. You get to actually hear how your drums sound out front, with music, and you can make adjustments.
2.
3.
4. I got nuthin'

What's BAD about others playing your kit:
1. They might break something, and the reason they are playing YOUR kit is they are always broke.
2. They tweak the stands and toms and DON'T put them back - Grrrrrrrrrr!
3. They make your kit sound better than you do.
4. JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING - STAY OFF MY KIT!!!

[peach_tx]

AMEN!!!
I totall agree with your points, ***** face...

[Bish]

What's good about playing other peoples' kits:

1. Less setup
2. Opportunity to try other set up possibilities, and maybe apply them / avoid them.
3. Opportunity to hear other brands of drums, heads, cymbals, and see if you like them.
4. More satisfaction when you get 'home' to your beloved Gretsch kit and setup.
5. People are dissatisfied with their (non Gretsch) kit sound, and after you play it, they realize that it sounds just fine.

What's BAD about playing other peoples' kits
1. Risk of breaking something & having to pay for it
2. Their setup / tuning can just plain stink.
3. It's just not your kit
4. It's just not your kit
5. It's just not your kit
6. Dissatisfaction with your crappy kit when you get home, if they play Gretsch and you don't .

What's good about others playing your kit:
1. You get to actually hear how your drums sound out front, with music, and you can make adjustments.
2.
3.
4. I got nuthin'

What's BAD about others playing your kit:
1. They might break something, and the reason they are playing YOUR kit is they are always broke.
2. They tweak the stands and toms and DON'T put them back - Grrrrrrrrrr!
3. They make your kit sound better than you do.
4. JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING - STAY OFF MY KIT!!!

That's classic. I love it.

[ratmycue]

I dont mind if the kit is tuned and up to snuff otherwise I will either tune it or use my own. has to be my pedal and snare though.

[funkymcstain]

i really dont mind sharing kits on most gigs. most of the time we agree to play mine as it is usually the nicest on the gig. sometimes i get to play some nice drums that are not mine. most of the people on the scene i play are veterans and i enjoy hearing a good player on my drums from out front sometimes. however you never know sometimes, so i always pack pedals, snare and pies.

[0ldSchoolDrummer]

I got to fill in during our Sunday service last week on a Mapex set and was quite impressed. I've gotten used to the E-Drums lately so getting to play an acoustic set was quite refreshing to say the least.

[Christiandrummer777]

actually my experinces havent been bad. i played a 4 piece dw at a festival with zildjian ks and it was good. a pearl export at my church which except for how hight the snare and hats were sounded good. another kit at my church a yamha dtxpress was alright and then a ludwig at a high school festival. then the bad a ludwig at a friends place and this kit at a small festival that was a remo kit from the 80s with bad tuning and because i would have liked to tune it but they left it on for a choir in front of us. and thats it. luckly im good at adapting.

[Tam]

Hmmmmmmm, first off, be thankful some dude let his kit be used by others, reasons don't really matter here. Bad kit, crummy sound, no matter, he's letting others use it, so they don't have to cart theirs around. Yeah, I know, you guys aren't sounding ungrateful, but I still want to make that small point.

I've sat behind other kits, as you guys spoke of, not to MY liking, but that's how it is. Definately can be a learning experience, that's always a positive there. I never brought in any of my own stuff, except for my own sticks, and asked the kit-owner if it was cool if I could make a few adjustments to suit me. After all, it's not MY kit, so nuff said there.

Reminds me of an open jam my band hosted, I let drummers who asked permission for some adjustments to do their thing, but I watched over it so I could get ME back, if you know what I mean. I didn't let anyone go too drastic, cuz my attitude was, to a point okay, beyond that, bring in your own freakin' kit!!!!!!!!!

One band, the drummer wanted to duct tape the heads of my drums, cuz, the kid {around a 14-year old think he knew it all} wanted "His" sound". The little {profanity deleted here} was immediately told the rules, got offended, so I said, get your own kit and set up, ya {deleted}!!!

That's my point.

[Christiandrummer777]

good point tam lol i deal with 12 year old no it alls. but i dont usually let anyone play my kit. ive had my stage customs almost a year and expect for my 18 inch crash and wuhan china no one has played my kit

[AndyC]

Did you listen to the kit out front when the other guy played it? I've played some kits that sounded really bad to me when I sat on them, but watching the other bands play, it sounded GREAT from out front.

Re letting others play my kit. It really depends on whether I like the person, and how they ask. I once had a situation where a "Name" artist at a holiday camp festival weekend walked up to me at the start of their soundcheck and said, "By the way, my drummer will be playing your kit." After a few choice words we finished up, "Your drummer can HIRE my kit." If he'd only asked rather than told, there wouldn't have been a problem.

Andy

[daniel_pl]

the only real issue i have with playing other peoples kit is placement, the way that i'm set up ,everything is close ,toms, cymbals,and my snare is just high enough i can do a rimshot without bruising my thigh, call me picky but one thing i don't understand is how can you play rack toms when they're almost facing each other?