You guys do realize that young modern day drummers are looking at this thread in horror as they struggle to drag their 4 piece bop size kits with 2 cymbals around to their gigs! 
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Largest kit ( number of drums) that you regularly giiged.
- Thread starter Talktotommy
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First drum kit
Second drum kit
Last drum kit
Second drum kit
Last drum kit
Biggest I've regularly gigged with? 4 piece with hats and 2 cymbals.
And smallest? 4 piece with hats and 2 cymbals.
Still a bit of scale difference between the two though: 26/13/16/24x6.5 with 16/20/22 cymbals versus 22/12/14/14x5 with 14/16/20 cymbals.
And smallest? 4 piece with hats and 2 cymbals.
Still a bit of scale difference between the two though: 26/13/16/24x6.5 with 16/20/22 cymbals versus 22/12/14/14x5 with 14/16/20 cymbals.
My first regular gigging kit was my biggest: Ludwig Vistalite with two rack toms and one floor tom. Two crashes and a ride. At home I had added a 14” roto tom and a china cymbal I made myself. Don’t think those last two pieces ever made it to a gig though.
Biggest kit I ever played was, I think, one I’m modelling here, in college. My two roommates were drummers and we put all our kits together. This picture doesn’t show the full size but I recall three North toms and four regular toms and cymbals all around. I think I took it to one gig. No cases in the back of my truck. I vowed never to use a kit that big again and I never have. It’s all I can do to figure out how to play a one up one down.
Biggest kit I ever played was, I think, one I’m modelling here, in college. My two roommates were drummers and we put all our kits together. This picture doesn’t show the full size but I recall three North toms and four regular toms and cymbals all around. I think I took it to one gig. No cases in the back of my truck. I vowed never to use a kit that big again and I never have. It’s all I can do to figure out how to play a one up one down.
CherryClassic
DFO Veteran
8 piece; 4 up, 2 down playing Big Band style music. NOW, 2 to 5 piece playing Traditional Country. And once in awhile just a snare. Cymbals, 1 ride, 1 crash plus Hi-hats. AND only a single bass drum pedal.
sherm
sherm
I went out with a 10 piece kit a fair amount of time in the 80's - 4 in front, 3 floor toms, 2 kicks. Tama Superstar aquamarine; lovely kit and they sounded amazing.
What I learned - or relearned - was that while it was nice to have all these sound sources, I didn't necessarily use them all on every gig. Plus, I came to realize that it was less a matter of how many sound sources I had than what the music really needed. As my musical awareness grew, I came to understand that when playing pop music, most of the hits of the last 80 years could be played on a gig with kick, snare, high hats and a cymbal. Then I came to appreciate the challenge of getting the most out of a little, which is entirely different from being able to blaze around a large kit or having serious feet. Most importantly, I began to understand - or rather, it was pounded into my thick skull - that it is vastly more important to play the music at a high level than to play the instrument at a high level. It's great to be able to do both, but doing the former is what gets one called back.
What I learned - or relearned - was that while it was nice to have all these sound sources, I didn't necessarily use them all on every gig. Plus, I came to realize that it was less a matter of how many sound sources I had than what the music really needed. As my musical awareness grew, I came to understand that when playing pop music, most of the hits of the last 80 years could be played on a gig with kick, snare, high hats and a cymbal. Then I came to appreciate the challenge of getting the most out of a little, which is entirely different from being able to blaze around a large kit or having serious feet. Most importantly, I began to understand - or rather, it was pounded into my thick skull - that it is vastly more important to play the music at a high level than to play the instrument at a high level. It's great to be able to do both, but doing the former is what gets one called back.
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I gradually built my my 5-piece Rogers/Ludwig mongrel (Rogers 14x22 and 16x16 floor with a pair of Ludwig timbales for rack toms) up to a nine-piece by replacing the timbales with six Ludwig concert toms (6-14), then quickly followed Yogi Horton's lead and dropped the 16, leaving me with an 8-piece. I used that setup from the late 70s through the 80s.
It may sound like a lot, but it was easy to schlep: a 10x14 bag for the 6-10-13 and a 12x15 bag for the 8-12-14. Each pair of toms sat on a Ludwig Atlas clip stand. The first stand held the 6 & 8 toms; on each of the two other stands for the 10/12 and 13/14 pairs, I attached a Tama multi-clamp that held a cymbal arm, flying my crash from the 10/12 stand and my ride from the 13/14 stand. I had a cymbal stand for a second crash on my right.
The mounting layout was inspired by Carl Palmer's original Ludwig Octaplus. I was basically copying his kit minus his 15 &16, floor toms and extraneous percussion. I also stole another idea of his and inserted a Ludwig Hollywood double tom holder into the Rogers Memriloc receiver (both 1" diameter) and turned it sideways and put a cymbal arm on the far arm which allowed me to mount a splash cymbal and large LP cowbell on the center of the bass drum in between the two pairs of toms.
Nowadays it's either a jungle/bop kit or a 4-piece carbon fiber kit (20/12,14f)
The Carl Palmer template:
The poor man's version before dropping the floor tom (6 & 8 not visible):
It may sound like a lot, but it was easy to schlep: a 10x14 bag for the 6-10-13 and a 12x15 bag for the 8-12-14. Each pair of toms sat on a Ludwig Atlas clip stand. The first stand held the 6 & 8 toms; on each of the two other stands for the 10/12 and 13/14 pairs, I attached a Tama multi-clamp that held a cymbal arm, flying my crash from the 10/12 stand and my ride from the 13/14 stand. I had a cymbal stand for a second crash on my right.
The mounting layout was inspired by Carl Palmer's original Ludwig Octaplus. I was basically copying his kit minus his 15 &16, floor toms and extraneous percussion. I also stole another idea of his and inserted a Ludwig Hollywood double tom holder into the Rogers Memriloc receiver (both 1" diameter) and turned it sideways and put a cymbal arm on the far arm which allowed me to mount a splash cymbal and large LP cowbell on the center of the bass drum in between the two pairs of toms.
Nowadays it's either a jungle/bop kit or a 4-piece carbon fiber kit (20/12,14f)
The Carl Palmer template:
The poor man's version before dropping the floor tom (6 & 8 not visible):
13/16/22/snare. I usually do 4 piece kits.
12/14/18, 12/16/20, 13/16/20, 12/13/16...
12/14/18, 12/16/20, 13/16/20, 12/13/16...
gretschdrummer
Very well Known Member
Bought this in 1981
Does everything I need
Perfect timing
No tuning key needed
Works for free
And no need to even go to the gig
www.musicradar.com
Does everything I need
Perfect timing
No tuning key needed
Works for free
And no need to even go to the gig
Blast from the past: Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm
The classic analogue beatbox even a drummer could love
www.musicradar.com
This is one if the funniest things I’ve read on this forum.
I once had a seasoned guitarist tell me something to the effect that with a regular bloke/ amateur drummer, for every additional drum on his kit the band loses 15 audience members.
Yeah, 3 up, 2 down with a side snare and Roland pad. Those were the days.
Now, that is one of the funniest things I have read! Good stuff!!!
3 up 1 down with 4 crashes, 2 splashes and 1 ride. All fit with 4 heavy duty stands with multi clamps etc. All in a 45x17x17 Protechtor rolling hardware case with a divider. Top of divider held roc n soc seat and Acrolite as a back up snare.
yetanotherdrummer
DFO Veteran
I sold them. I loved the big set, but they were too loud and harsh for the gigs I was playing.
I have also regretted selling them, I didn't realize what a unique set I had.
TheBeachBoy
Ringo Fire
For me it was the standard 5-piece with hats, two crashes, and a ride. Eventually dropped a tom and a crash, then recently added another crash back to my setup.
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I had to really think on this one. I’ve had some obnoxious kits.
This one may not have actually been the largest, but it is one of my fondest of the larger ones.
Pearl Masters Mahogany Classic Limited Edition
This one may not have actually been the largest, but it is one of my fondest of the larger ones.
Pearl Masters Mahogany Classic Limited Edition
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The biggest? Five piece...all down.
Here's my Pearl Fiberglass "Octa-Plus" double bass kit from 1982. How I gigged with this kit, complete with two Ludwig Stainless Steel timbales, is beyond me. All I can say is that youth is a wonderful thing. This was a great kit that saw a lot of activity during that era.
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What are you talking about ? You still play gigs with kits this huge !!
yetanotherdrummer
DFO Veteran
My logic was that if I am lugging a giant drum set in and out of gigs then I didn't have to help the guitar players carry their gigantic amplifiers!
That was also why my first new "car" that I ever purchased was a full size Ford van in 1976.
