Highest Reputation Content

I just checked my Profile here and saw my "reputation rating" was a big fat 0


Beginning today I'm going to work extra hard to burnish my rep with you all and get my rating up to at least a 1


thanks for being there / here for me, guys
Tee Are

Maybe the mods could help answer these 2 questions, but I'm just genuinly curious...

 

#1  How many folks actually post here vs the actual number of members?  Just a quick look seems to show over a thousand members, yet it seems like the same 50-100 of us post on even a semi-regular basis.  (myself included of course).

 

#2 What exactly are Reputation Points and how do you accumlate them?  Are they randomly given or are they somehow earned?  Just have no idea what they actually are and how they are awarded.  Some seem to have way more than others. 

 

Thanks in advance for any help with these questions.  I don't mean to be a dumb-a$$, but figured I may as well go ahead and ask....

Well, this thread was useful for me, because it confirmed what I've been feeling for a while now - that I have absolutely nothing in common with many of the people on this forum. HNY.

DanRH,

In one of your other posts, you hinted at something I'm about to mention. I'm happy you've got a new car and I think it's great you're enjoying it. Your posts of possessions are starting to grate on me though. I found it perplexing when you underlined "I'm not a wealthy man, but..." and proceeded to list various cars, house improvements, drums, and other possessions. By all means enjoy yourself, but there is no need to continually post picture after picture of your "non-wealth". While I'm not at the point of One Star Guy, I am close to the point of ignoring your posts. The frequency of your "look what I jut bought" topics is wearing down my interest in what you have to say about drums and drumming. With that said, I do truly hope you enjoy the new ride.

WOW. This forum kicks major butt. I used to have the conservative attitude of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but now, after this upgrade.. What else could the mods, Eck, Chris, etc. do to improve it? You've got a shout out box at the top of the page, a very easy message system (once you figure it out), and you can even click on the lower left side of the post you really dig and give members brownie points.

Wow. Really great, great job guys. Kudos and a half

 

 

The word "Knight" comes from Old English "cniht" meaning 'boy" or servant. So we as Americans are now celebrating someone deliberating prostrating themselves before a Monarchy? How our founding fathers must be shaking their heads. I would have had more respect for him if he respectfully declined. The "crown" Knighted Jimmy Saville also if I am correct. Wonder how that one slipped through MI5?

Hey Naaci, Bug off. We're all happy for Ringo. Quit raining on our parade okay?

Bun, I will post where I please unless the Boses tell me otherwise and that includes your Ringo Fan Boy thread.

 

 

Naaci, I think you're one of main reasons the professional drummers have left DFO.

You troll a congratulatory post about a 77 year old man getting an award.

Yeah, I'm a Ringo fan boy, and proud of him for his award.

Last week I posted to see if there were any DF members in the Sandusky OH area that might be able to help me purchase some drums. Even though I thought it might me a long-shot, I've read posting of other DFers needing and offering help so I gave it a try. Florian1 (Dave) replied back and stepped up in a MAJOR way to help me out!

After a couple of emails and a brief chat he offered to look at a 9000 series Yamaha kit for me(pre recording series in natural birch finish)that was located about 1/2 hour away from him (but about 11 hours away from me). I offered to wire him the money up front but he declined saying "just let me check it out first to see if it's legit before we talk money". Once he saw the drums he went ahead and bought them on the spot for me with cash out of his own pocket BEFORE he even allowed me to Paypal him the money! A short while later he called me back to say he had the drums in his car and gave me his PP info. I transferred the money into his account plus extra for his time and gas. As if that wasn't enough, it just so happened that Dave was going to be in the general area of my wife's ex-husband's house (ironically he's a drummer too) that Friday and was willing to bring the drums over there and drop them off. AMAZING!

The level of trust and willingness to help out that Dave showed was totally outstanding.
Thanks again Dave, perhaps I can repay the favor to you someday but for now I nominate you for DF member of the year.
Cheers to you!

Tim

awwww, shucks. Like I told you during one of our phone conversations, Im happy to help. I find that actually getting out from behind the keyboard and doing something for someone is very rewarding. So, thank you for the opportunity to help you, Tim....you were very generous to me for my time and I do appreciate that. I hope to meet you face to face someday and have a beer or two.
As for DFO member of the year.....Im just an ordinary guy, there are others far more deserving.
Thanks again for the nice words, Im touched and honored.

Dave
aka F

The word "Knight" comes from Old English "cniht" meaning 'boy" or servant.  So we as Americans are now celebrating someone deliberating prostrating themselves before a Monarchy?  How our founding fathers must be shaking their heads.  I would have had more respect for him if he respectfully declined.  The "crown" Knighted Jimmy Saville also if I am correct.  Wonder how that one slipped through MI5?

 

Hey Naaci, Bug off. We're all happy for Ringo. Quit raining on our parade okay?

I belong to a Louisville Drummer's Group on Facebook. Another member (whom I don't know) had a vintage Ludwig Supraphonic listed for an asking price of $400.00. A couple of other guys responded right away on the posting and offered him the full asking price. I took a look at his photos and realized he had a late 50s/early 60s 6.5" x 14" Ludwig Super chrome-over brass. I advised him that he had a drum worth a lot more than $400.00. Today, he wrote me and thanked me. I also got some nasty messages from a few members who were trying to jump the gun on the guy.

I feel I helped out a guy by letting him know what he had. I'm sure the bargain-hunter vintage guys here will disagree, but I stand by what I did, and feel good about it.

I 

don't

like

reading

this

way.......

Sorry for the slow response guys - I was out and about for the weekend.

 

Thanks for the better photos.  This is an anomaly of a shell for sure.  I checked out the serial log book (yes, book - we're old school) and drum number 1161 shipped to Guitar Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 23, 2002.  So, the seller has a couple details a bit off, but the rough timeframe and location are accurate.

 

Everything about it looks like our drum, but I have never seen a shell come back from being cast that has that large of an imperfection in it.  Slight imperfections will happen in the casting process from time to time (that's kind of the beauty of the raw shells), but I would consider that much more than "slight."  

 

Your photos have us stumped! I didn't start here full time until 2006, so this predates anything I would have seen, but I showed it to Jay this morning and he can't figure it out either. 

 

If this is an acceptable solution for you, here is how we'd like to solve the issue:  If you are willing to cover round trip shipping to get the drum back here for us to inspect, we will replace the shell with a new one at no charge for you.  I will transfer over the hardware to keep our costs to a minimum, but it will leave you with a drum we can guarantee is one of ours, and we'll all sleep better at night having this one off the street.  

 

If that is amicable, you can send your snare back to the factory at:

Noble & Cooley

42 Water Street

Granville, MA 01034

 

Thanks,

I'll need a photo of the wife.

Honestly, IMHO, the DFO goes through near-hysterical cycles over such-n-such drum companies with some regularity.  Ming, Oriollo, Jenkins-Martin, and now INDe all come to mind.  That's not to take anything away from these companies, and all seem intriguing in their own way.  I'm rooting for them all actually even though I haven't so much as laid a stick on them as of yet.  But there's some degree of "herding" going on.

It says i have 2 reputation points on here, anybody know what that means?

Mark,

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.  I appreciate the insight.  The passion you speak of for the craftsmanship of Roberto Spizzichino is akin to the passion I have for creating the best drum store I’m capable of.  I’m driven by improving what we do, and I wake up each morning with a tremendous obligation; an obligation to my family, my staff of all drummers whom each of which have obligations to their families, and I have obligations to my customers: I want to bring them unique products and to do so in a way that exceeds their expectations.  The amount of pressure I feel as a business owner with a staff of seven is immense. I'm forced to make scores of choices each day, and I'm often not given the opportunity to ponder these choices; I'm forced to push forward and rely on my convictions. If I'm fortunate enough to take a lunch break, I normally have to field a few phone calls during that break.  

 

  One of the things I do to make my life easier is align myself with builders and suppliers that I have great relationships with and create the least amount of headaches, and in 17 years of drum retail, I've never had one iota of nonsense from the people at Universal Percussion.  They've been a rock solid supplier, and nice people. So imagine me, seeing that they are offering some B25 cymbals that had a lineage to Spizzichino cymbals, well, I got excited at the notion of having an opportunity to have another unique product to sell.   Did I fact check the ad copy? No I didn't.  Did I bring the authenticity into question? No I didn't.   I put my faith in my supplier.  I rely on them to deliver a product that is of the pedigree in which it is

claimed.   Are they any good?  I still don't know yet.  I haven’t had a free moment to try them. I know that my co-worker Tom, the one who does the cymbal demos, thinks they are great.  I'm writing this note from a hotel room in Canada, as Tom and I are up at Sabian, hand picking a couple of hundred cymbals today, the best sounding ones we can find.

 

I put a lot of faith (and a lot of money) into this, I've had them photographed, weighed, filmed, and entered into our database.  This is very expensive and time consuming.  We try to run efficiently, and we work hard, so I’m not surprised to see that we’re the first shop presenting these online. Then I read that the ethics of the product launch are brought into question, and that customers aren't going to patronize my store. The very people I try to appeal to as clients, ones who have spent more time than I accruing the knowledge of the claims put forth by UP are boycotting my store as a result. 

 

 I’m very disappointed, but entirely respectful and equally understanding of these convictions.   All I want to do is have a really great shop that people want to work at and people want to support.  

 

To get a better hold of the situation, here’s what I think I know.

 

  My loose understanding is this, I’d appreciate it if someone could correct me if I am wrong here:

 

   1.The “Spizz” name was registered by UP. 

   2.UP went to the source where Roberto went to get the raw material (cymbal blanks)

   3. UP is claiming that the hammering and lathing methods Roberto employed are used on the Spizz cymbals by the craftsmen he worked with in Turkey.

   4. Since that time, the Spizzichino family has said that they were never contacted on this.

   5. This matter is one of ethical, and not legal breaches.

 

Once again, please let me know if this is not correct.

 

 

Running a shop, I’m used to taking lumps on a daily basis from people, I’m used to seeing unethical practices from manufacturers, distributors, retailers, artists, and end users.  I’ve seen things that have made me sick to my stomach.  I’m suspending my own belief on this until Universal Percussion puts forth a statement regarding this.  I’m also suspending any re-orders of the product.  

 

  Regardless of the outcome, I appreciate your kind approach, your past support, and your willingness to stand up for what you believe in.  You have my respect.

 

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Shane Kinney, Drum Center of Portsmouth

Nominated As One Of The Top 100 Independent Music Stores By Namm For

3 Years in a row!
Tel: 603-319-8109
shane@drumcenternh.com

 

 

 

 â€œA strong relationship with a well respected retailer is one of the most valuable tools a drummer can have in his arsenal"

I completely disagree with the term "wasted".  Steve Smiths drumming on early Journey was exactly what that band needed and his fills and grooves stand up even now as perect 1980's rock drums.  And THAT to me is what is important.  Rod with the Dixie Dregs wasted - you must mean Winger?  Even Bozio with MP had some incredible grooves and rhythms.  Was Jeff Porcaro wasted with Toto because he never soloed?  Jim Gordon wasted in Delaney Bonny and Friends?  Gadd wtih James Taylor?  Etc. Etc. Etc.

I guess it comes down to what you want to hear - Swiss triplets or a drummer playing music to a song.  Part of the reason why Joe Morello speaks so loudly is his ability to play the song and solo for the SONG and not just to jack off his chops to other drummers.

 

Play music - not drums.

My best friends Mom spent SEVEN GRAND on an old stray cat that got feline leukemia. She had rescued the poor critter from the pound for God knows what reason, and lovingly took care of it for years. Meanwhile her son lived in near-poverty conditions and, lacking healthcare, died at age 53 from preventable causes related to high blood pressure and heart disease. Later, Mom announced to her other son that he was being cut out of her will, and would get nothing, because his sister was her favorite. Now, I'm just asking, what's really more important? The pound is full of inexpensive pet replacements, and though we think our pet is special and one-of-a-kind, it really isn't. We spend billions in the USA on pets while most of the rest of the world's poor live like neglected dogs. I love cats myself, but I don't get too attached. After all, pets don't live very long, do they? As a result, they always let you down in the end. Just my opinion, not trying to offend. Please accept my aplogy if it happened.

Sorry, but Dan's being way too nice here... "they always let you down in the end??!?!?!?!?" You're kidding, right??

 

Let's skip over the simple rudeness of interjecting this considering the threads content.... How does the obviously wretched behavior of one poor excuse for a human being (the lady in you story) come to equal an indictment on pet lover's in America on the overall?  

 

Again I'm sorry but the arguments you are making could be applied to almost any act of kindness, charity and most any contribution to arts, sciences or society in general.  Heck, the very activity that brings us together here - drumming - could be described as a colossal waste of time. Frittering away millions of hours and countless dollars on what? A self indulgent,  almost entirely unnecessary activity. As you point out - there are millions of people that go hungry each and everyday - yet here we sit - most of us fully grown people, yapping away about our tapping - when we could be doing something towards helping with real problems that affect real people in horrible ways...

See... anyone can "express their opinion" in a way that calls out others for their failings, regardless of how rude it may be to do so. The other option would be to aim more for civility - the responsibility part that comes with free speech in a frees society. In other words, choosing not to exercise one's right to "express their opinion" because it would simply be hurtful to do so.

 

It would be nice to think we could strive to do better than this.

 

David

Full disclosure here. . . I invented/designed the ATLAS mount. I wanted to take a minute to explain the theory behind it, because it requires you to rethink what isolation/suspension is, and how it works.
A Vibraband, and many other isolation mounts rest the drum on several rubber points. While this effectively ISOLATES the drum, it also DAMPENS the drum. The weight of the drum is resting on multiple points on materials designed to dampen vibration. You can see this on the sustain plot: The oscillation on the Vibraband sustain plot (bottom) is where the drum is literally bouncing against those rubber bumpers.

 Atlas Mount Comparison- Vibraband bottom, Atlas top.jpg   194.15KB   54 downloads

The ATLAS mount takes a different approach: Let the drum resonate as a single unit, seperated from dampening components. The isolation & Suspension take place off to the side of the drum. The vibration of the drum has more leverage over the dampening when it is off to the side, reducing the dampening effect compared to the drum resting directly on it. This is why the ATLAS Mounted Sustain plot (TOP) is smoother, and resonates longer.
No trickery on this chart, same scale, same results on prototypes and final production models. The difference is small, but consistent and noticable

As for the effect of mounting to the shell . . . Some of the most resonant, great sounding drums I have personally heard, were on vintage drums. The brackets were mounted to the shell, but the mouting was connected with thinner, more flexible mounts than we typically see today, that had a lot of "Spring" in them. As mounts became more heavy duty, shell mounting became a problem. The ATLAS Mount puts the "Spring" back in the mount, without giving up the robust durability and flexibility of the modern mounting systems.

Initially, I was trying to design a system that was sonically equivalent to the Vibraband, but with huge versatility (and I hate changing heads and tuning drums with mounting systems that go around tension rods). When we started testing the mount, we saw the potential for sound improvment, and tweaked the design until that became a reality. I have been playing on these in various prototype stages for over a year, and have been extremely pleased. I hope you all are too when you get to try them out.

Sorry for being long winded, I am fairly passionate about the subject! I will try to keep up with this thread and answer any questions you might have.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh Allen, Design Engineer, Ludwig Drums

I am continually seeing sale listings with a price for a given item and then "plus 3%" for fees. Or "plus PP fees".

 

Stop doing this.

 

It discourages people from paying normally through Paypal and steers them into using the gift option. This only leads to problems as buyers lose all protection and chance of recouping their money should something go wrong. All in the name of saving a couple bucks.

 

Sellers - please for the good of community, just factor this into your asking price and stop trying to shift this cost of doing business onto the buyer.

 

I'm not talking about buying and selling between friends but publicly posted listings, btw.

It's hard... um, it's difficult to read this thread. Several things are exposed... folks, I'm just writing, not trying make puns. Anyway, this topic is not about drums or drumming. It is hardly... I mean, barely... I mean, only slightly about drummers. 

 

I won't be writing about transgenderism here, because this is a public forum and not at all an intimate meeting to discuss complex and controversial personal issues. Nor is a it a forum for theological or philosophical views on the meaning of gender, because 1) politics 2) religion 3) lack of portfolio. I'm not really sure why the OP brought transgenderism up, since it is completely irrelevant to anything I can understand about drums and drumming. Surely he knew when he made the decision to start the process that there would be (at least) social consequences, so the decision made by his band members should not have been surprising to him. 

 

One thing becomes quickly apparent: anyone who says that disagreeing with the OP's decision makes that person a bigot or a "hater" is precisely guilty of that very thing. If that's not clear, it's merely a lack of personal assessment. Not adhering to the politically correct response may possibly be an act of hatred, but it is just as easily a statement of principle. The tolerance crowd is rapidly becoming increasingly intolerant of anyone with an "outside" opinion.