| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mark W |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 18:20:26
Hi All,
It's a truth universally acknowledged that the drum kits in rehearsal rooms lead a hard life.
On Monday we went to rehearse & were given the room which had the metallic greenish Pearl Forum kit in it. Now this kit is so robust that I was so struck by it the first time I used it that I started to consider Pearl for a future purchase, something I'd never done previously.
Anyway, on this occasion the kit was on it's knees  The 12" tom was set significantly higher than the 13" with the batter head almost vertical to the player. The 13" was set at a similiar angle. Playing them would be like standing in front of a wall & trying to play it. Both drums were set to either as far left or as far right as is humanly possible to set a tom over a bass drum. Now I know that we all have our preferences in how we set up, but this was just a shocking display of ignorance/laziness/stupidity. So I set about moving them to a more sensible position....& couldn't. Every wing screw was tightened so hard that I couldn't budge them, & this was totally unnecessary as all of the hardware was in perfect working order. So after trying every screw & almost dislocating my thumb, I picked up my drum stool base & used the rubber feet as a hammer to loosen things off  It took a while. Next I attempted to lower the cymbal stands &, surprise surprise, for all three of them the seat/hammer was roped in to belt both the upright tube screws & the cymbal tilter screws.
So with this done I sat down, removed the snare drum (as to all intents & purposes it was dead), put mine in place & hit the bass drum. The result was....nothing  And by this I don't mean a bass drum drum sound that one person may like but another doesn't, no I mean a "none" sound. With only the bass player with me in the room tuning up, the drum could not be heard. So I went to the front head first & saw that some of the claws were so loose that they were literally just hanging. The last time I was in there this wasn't the case. Why had someone gone to the trouble of doing this? What were they trying to achieve?? So I wound a couple of turns onto each tension rod, sat back down, and boom! A bass drum that actually sounded like a bass drum & was about 10 times better than before. Then just to satisfy my curiosity I put a turn on each rod on the batter side. Bingo! As good a sounding drum as you'd want.
So not exactly a rant, just a post to share with you my mystification as to what exactly goes through the heads of some of our fellow drummers
Mark W |
| 27 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| PhilR |
Posted - 26/06/2012 : 09:37:32
I've been involved with my mates rehearsal rooms for years so I can safely say that nothing goes through the heads of some drummers there. We've had people through there that were thicker than month-old double cream. I've had numerous people asking me how a hi-hat clutch works.
One that really gets my back up is when certain people start minesweeping for unused stands and we find that everything has been stripped of felts, which are then transferred to the other stands so they can be squashed down as tight as possible. I've been playing on some of my stands for years and the felts haven't compressed but some of the practice room ones end up thinner than cardboard after a while.
Having said that many guitarists are the same. Regular as clockwork we'll have folks asking which speaker output they're supposed to plug in to (either of them!) and the next week they'll ask again. Some people just form self-imposed blocks on learning. |
| martydrums |
Posted - 25/06/2012 : 22:13:06
Berkeley 2 in Glasgow is good. At last I have found a decent place in Edinburgh, thanks to flurbs! |
| drumdmc |
Posted - 25/06/2012 : 22:05:19
quote:
Originally posted by Jayremedy
I have kept the rehearsal kit I use alive by using bits n bobs I had lying around. I mentioned that there isn't much life left in the kit as bits have been nicked and mistreated.
So turned up last week the woman who runs the room was eager to tell me how someone had donated a kit to the room and I could set it up if I wanted. This is what I walked in to find.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/jayremedy/drum%20stuff/IMG_04321.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/jayremedy/drum%20stuff/IMG_04331.jpg
They are still better than some of the rubbish i have seen over the years!! |
| Jayremedy |
Posted - 25/06/2012 : 17:54:31
I have kept the rehearsal kit I use alive by using bits n bobs I had lying around. I mentioned that there isn't much life left in the kit as bits have been nicked and mistreated.
So turned up last week the woman who runs the room was eager to tell me how someone had donated a kit to the room and I could set it up if I wanted. This is what I walked in to find.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/jayremedy/drum%20stuff/IMG_04321.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/jayremedy/drum%20stuff/IMG_04331.jpg |
| drumanorak |
Posted - 25/06/2012 : 12:32:36
The rehearsal studio I go to, had an old premier kit there when i first started going there wasnt great but with a few tweaks was okayish I donated 3 5000 range premier stands to the studio as the stands were not any good the following week they had all gone!! (Scum!!)
I now use my own kit and cymbals when we use that studio. |
| www.ecymbals.co.uk |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 14:49:13
In our rehearsal building some guys smoke inside even though there are signs everywhere saying no smoking. |
| rollingthunder |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 14:42:30
I've found over the years that most of the vandalism is caused by guys who are not drummers as such, they are just out for a thrash with their mates and have no interest in looking after the equipment.
Having said that, I've seen some that do little or no maintenance to their gear. I saw a Marshal combo once with no plug. The bare wires were jammed into the holes. How hard would it be to fit a plug?
Why do Berkely 2 have such a good reputation? Regular maintenance. If you are hiring anything out, it's going to need regular maintenance, whether it's drums, plant or van's.
It' like everything else in life, you get what you pay for and if it's that bad, go elsewhere. |
| Yard |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 14:13:47
For a rehearsal it is not absolutely crucial for the kit to sound superb,or is it?
As long as your own snare satisfies you,a quick tweak here and there should suffice?
The more you pay for facilities,the better it should get? |
| Badman_batman |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 13:58:30
quote:
Originally posted by Powelly
I went to a different rehearsal room recently, which was a little more expensive than where we usually go but you could really see where the extra money went.
Apart from all the amps and PA being in great order the Drum Kit was a 5pc (no snare) Mapex M which had actually been tuned fairly well, and the hardware was in decent nick. It wasn't pristine by any means, but I didn't have to spend ages changing everything before I could play it.
Maybe that's the answer; go to more up-market studios?
this is my point, people will pay more to use decent equipment, i certainly would |
| Powelly |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 11:20:59
I went to a different rehearsal room recently, which was a little more expensive than where we usually go but you could really see where the extra money went.
Apart from all the amps and PA being in great order the Drum Kit was a 5pc (no snare) Mapex M which had actually been tuned fairly well, and the hardware was in decent nick. It wasn't pristine by any means, but I didn't have to spend ages changing everything before I could play it.
Maybe that's the answer; go to more up-market studios? |
| nickh |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 10:35:56
I have a stripped down rehearsal kit, 20" bass drum, two toms, and everything mounted on the bass drum and one stand.
I can load in and set up in 15 minutes which I reckon is quicker than messing around trying to sort out the house kit. And my kit sounds the mutts nuts. |
| Mark W |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 10:19:57
quote:
Originally posted by hoagy
Mark, I know where you're coming from and Badman- this might interest you. The studio I use has not been going too long and is run by an ex 'pro' drummer. Initially the kits were in great nick although they were as you'd expect- 2nd hand exports and similar. All absolutely fine to use though and well tuned to boot. Over 3-4 months it remained the same except that the tuning was a bit suspect, then slowly the tuning became abysmal. Next to go was the positioning of the toms and eventually the condition of everything eg no cymbal sleeves, torn heads,non adjustable positioning of anything etc. When I asked the proprietor why, he replied that with 6 rooms it took him too long to check stuff at changeover/ end of day and people would let him know when things were wrong. don't get me wrong, he's a top bloke, but you can see that he's been broken by the less careful fellow drummers that use his facility. While I like to think that all drummers are as you tend to find on here, considerate and respectful, it appears there are a large amount of t055er5 out there who don't care as long as they've had their go. I'm off to simmer with a beer now, thank you
Hi Hoagy,
These rooms started off with two new Yamaha Gigmakers and sure enough as time passed the reso heads got battered, tension rods went missing, the bottom heads disappeared altogether and it even reached the stage when one kit had two 12" toms and the other had two 13" toms. Lunacy.
And don't start me on cymbal sleeves, I always take my own cymbal stands as back up and end up using them more often than not rather than risk trashing my cymbals on the abused stands in the room.
Cheerio
Mark W |
| atkinsx |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 10:04:44
The place I use has a good selection of Mapex Meridian sets which are very well maintained. They check everything in the rooms at the end of every session, so any damage or pilfering can be attributed to specific bands. As a result, no-one takes the proverbial. Job done. |
| Yard |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 09:59:48
My son runs a rehearsal room in a unit next door to me and has a PDP kit in there.To re-head this kit costs around £100-£120 which equates to 3 sessions at £40 per 3 hours.
As one band leaves as another arrives I should think that tweaking the kit would be down to the drummer?
If not ..bring your own? |
| shakeyjakey |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 09:53:02
The kits at one of my local places are a strange assortment. They have a lovely old premier in great condition, a couple of pearl exports which look a bit battered, and two or three really dreadful old ddrum kits that look like they fell from a great height into a woodchipper.
Obviously, there is always high demand for the room with the good premier in! There is also quite a lot of sneaky goings on when the staff aren't about, drummers are always attempting to switch the kits without anyone spotting them at it which is usually quite hilarious to watch  |
| wibblylad |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 09:35:48
The kits at the Drum Academy in Leicester are brilliant. Ok, not your usual band rehearsal room but still a room for rehearsing......!?! |
| metallicpearl |
Posted - 23/06/2012 : 00:08:32
I think this just comes down to the fact the some people have no respect for things that don't belong to them and will always abuse them. It's a shame and it riles me right up.
I always take my own kit these days for this very reason. |
| Badman_batman |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 22:49:07
Just realised I'm being naive and optimistic
How can anyone sit through a full days CCTV to find someone who stole a few felts, but they still cost money
|
| Badman_batman |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 22:47:12
I understand all the pints but surely a CCTV system may not stop damage there and then but a quick visual check could be done to see who damaged it and when they return ask for damages to be paid and then a warning given
It's such a shame there are people who don't truly love the instrument they play
|
| rufusisdrumming |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 22:32:26
A little tip for loosening the T bolts, it you place a stick either side of the flat then you get a lot more leverage.
I didn't explain it that well but I can upload a photo. |
| hoagy |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 22:10:54
Mark, I know where you're coming from and Badman- this might interest you. The studio I use has not been going too long and is run by an ex 'pro' drummer. Initially the kits were in great nick although they were as you'd expect- 2nd hand exports and similar. All absolutely fine to use though and well tuned to boot. Over 3-4 months it remained the same except that the tuning was a bit suspect, then slowly the tuning became abysmal. Next to go was the positioning of the toms and eventually the condition of everything eg no cymbal sleeves, torn heads,non adjustable positioning of anything etc. When I asked the proprietor why, he replied that with 6 rooms it took him too long to check stuff at changeover/ end of day and people would let him know when things were wrong. don't get me wrong, he's a top bloke, but you can see that he's been broken by the less careful fellow drummers that use his facility. While I like to think that all drummers are as you tend to find on here, considerate and respectful, it appears there are a large amount of t055er5 out there who don't care as long as they've had their go. I'm off to simmer with a beer now, thank you |
| drumdmc |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 21:52:25
Mark W your first post on this thread was so long i didn't even bother reading it. I kind of knew what was coming.
However, i was at a rehearsal studio in Dundee just the other day and the kit was a Mapex Saturn. OK slightly an older one but it did sound good for my feeble efforts. I used to think all rehearsal kits were utter shyte but this one despite its rashes and knackered heads was superb!! |
| Yard |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 21:30:43
Berkely 2 is a good place |
| lee haydn |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 20:39:58
There is also people out there who are drummers and people who own a drum kit?? |
| Unkle Kev |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 20:00:55
The gang at Berkeley 2 in Glasgow keep their Masters kits in great nick, but it costs them a lot due to idiots tightening cymbals stands and tom holders to the point the thread strips, despite it being modern gear that doesn't need it. I spend about 15 mins every week putting the kit back in playable condition with terrible tuning and even rods removed. Some drummers are clueless and others are just disrespectful. |
| Mark W |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 18:37:56
quote:
Originally posted by Badman_batman
I never undersand why practice rooms dont put CCTV in the rooms and charge for breakages and loss
I have toyed with the idea of doing my own practice rooms, mainly so i can practice in place that doesn't echo, the first thing i thought was as a drummer i couldn't allow others to use a kit that was just a complete mess
Well the Premier Signia kit that had been in situ has now gone. Scratched to billy-o, with a tension rod holding one of the bass drum spurs in place & with a 6" screw hammered into the Lokfast tom holder in order to keep one of the toms in place. One of the toms also had SEVERE pitting covering almost the total area of the head "miraculously" appear.........on the resonant side
The guy who runs the rooms has also started charging for cymbal hire, I can only guess that this is because the amount of breakages he was experiencing were costing him money.
In theory a practice room with everything there in place to be used is fantastic. In practice I wouldn't attempt to run one if my life depended on it.
Mark W. |
| Badman_batman |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 18:30:05
I never undersand why practice rooms dont put CCTV in the rooms and charge for breakages and loss
I have toyed with the idea of doing my own practice rooms, mainly so i can practice in place that doesn't echo, the first thing i thought was as a drummer i couldn't allow others to use a kit that was just a complete mess
|
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