Recent content by GMFrancis

Right to left. 24” GB multi then a 20” GB a thin last vintage 602 thin flat ride. All my GBs are an olive green apart from the 20” which is a copper /red.

The Who, “Live at Leeds” Dlx Edition feat ”Tommy” . Incredible guitar tone and the band to my mind at its best ever.

14”x5.5” Gladstone / Lang. Silver Glass Laquer. Maple Craviotto Shell 14”x7” Craviotto. Peacock Sparkle / Natural/Peacock Sparkle. Maple. 14”x7” N&C. Grey Saprkle. Tulip. Just got the Craviotto, I felt I had to share!

I’ve had both but not with the BB an edges but had BBs on maple drums. The mahogany overall was a bit too “soft” for me, especially the rim shots. In fact the rimshot was what sealed its fate, so it went the journey. The walnut was a nicer sound in the mix, definitely darker and deeper sounding...

I’ve had quite a few Cravs over the years and my experience is that the nicer figured or rarer wood gets the red PR badge. That’s it. You’re recalling paying for the visuals. Having said that at one point I had a 14” x6.5” PR flamed Maple that was underwhelming especially compared to a Crav CS...

Just added an 18” China and a 20” Crash to round off a 2002 set up.

Do I remember buying my first set of professional cymbals? Like yesterday! I’m based in the UK in the North of England . It was around 1973 and every rock drummer seemed to have Paiste GBs & 602s. John Bonham, Cozy Powell, Carl Palmer. I had a number of jobs over that time, a function band, a...

My first set of Paiste were GBs back in the mid 70’s and I used them for everything, dance bands, jazz, function bands and rock bands. I bought a set of the new ones a while ago 16” HH/18”&20” Thin and a 24” Multi and I love them. They really sparked my love of Paiste again. Prior to that I’d...

1970. Newcastle England. I believe it was Roger Spencer in “Idle Race” supporting the headliner “The Move” with Bev Bevan , later ELO on drums. More interesting was the Idle Race vocalist a Mr Jeff Lynne. So he was the first singer in a live band I’d ever seen.

I agree with the 8” depth comment on wood shells. The response seems a bit soft to me when playing them but the rimshot is always a disappointment. It always sounds out of whack, like it’s too lightweight, nowhere near as much punch as a 5.5” or a 6.5”.

I had one back in the late 70’s. It was a choice between that or a Paiste 22” bell ride and I went for the SCDR. If I’d had the cash I would have had both, there‘s a surprise! It was a killer cymbal,the best I’d ever played at that time. I stopped playing professionally and got stuck into my...

I nearly said in my post if you get a 6.5” Cherry Craviotto you’ll keep it for good! A great drum.

That looks a very nice piece, it’s got the Dunnett wood/metal hoops which are killer. Post when you ge5 it and have played it. I’d like to hear your thoughts

Yep, I’ve played a couple. 14x6.5 maple and a 5. Nice drums, I really liked them but I use metal or stave snare drums pretty much all the time. I was really taken with the shallower model, cranked up it had a real pop to it as you would imagine. However it sounded great at a lower tuning, a real...

I had a 14”x8” mahogany and sold it. I have owned a 10+ Cravs and out of all of them it was the one I couldn’t get away with. Nice enough to play on its own but in a band not satisfying to play. Too soft and no real depth to the rimshot and I put that down to the depth, it’s just too deep for a...