Full Circle...

Ok, so we've probably all though it at one time or another... wouldn't it be nice to find a classic kit, possibly (depending on our age), that is as old as us? Ok, so this probably applies more to you if you are over thirty (on account of not many drum builders dating their shells any more), but wouldn't it be great to own a kit which was actually built on the day you were born? And one that you could prove? Date stamped inside the shells with your Date Of Birth? It doesn't matter if its not perfect, it can still be a ''player''.

Similarly, looking at the forum, there appears to be a bit of a trend recently to buy a kit identical to the very first one you owned or maybe one that was particularly personal. Whether is was something to be proud of, or a complete pile, we always seem to hold dear that first kit, the one we set up how we thought was correct and bashed away for hours on. If you are younger then this might not be to difficult (after all, there are many Pearl Exports kicking around and chances are high you may have started on one of those), but as we all get older the chances of finding ''that'' kit get smaller. It also gives us a good reason to stop berating ourselves about kits we wish we'd never sold.

A friend of mine has regretted selling a particular kit for the last ten years or so. It was a nice kit (one I'd happily have) in fairly rare sizes, and a rare-ish colour. Although he wouldn't admit to any regrets to its sale, it was obvious that it was something he missed. A few weeks ago, something similar cropped up on the Dolbear Classifieds. It wasn't the same (there was no 10" tom) but the rest looked like a similar spec. I rung him and told him, and he followed it up.

A few days later he went to collect the kit. As soon as he saw it, he saw the mark on the top of the bass drum from the time the 12" tom had fallen on it when he was packing up at a gig and the bass player tried to be ''helpful''. The kit had gone full circle and ended up in his hands again, and thanks to the previous owner (who'd used the kit on some rather large and well documented gigs) my friend has a pretty good idea about what the kits been up to since he sold it.

So, where are your old kits now?