And I thought bass GAS was bad ... Bassist-to-drummer-conversion in process

Just fire the drummer, and you're in!!

 

Moving on to drums heh? Say it isn't so! ... beware the "Dark Side" Luke... er I mean Fletz My drummer spend $4000 on a set of Yamaha's. It never ends... same as bass rigs.

 

Speaking as someone in the same boat (bassist > drummer > bassist > drummer > repeat), I'll say this. Spend most of your budget on good cymbals, as most drum kits you can get by on if tuned up right (investing in a 'Tension Watch' isn't a bad idea). Scour craigslist for deals on kits people just want out of the basement (I paid less than $500 for a player grade Rogers '60s Holiday kit, which have some of the best sounding shells going). It helps to play (bass) with and hang out with great drummers, if you're a learning-by-watching kind of guy/gal. Practice. Gig if possible, which helped me grasp a lot of esoteric/fundamental stuff on my own....

 

Great, now you have 2 types of G.A.S.
Drummer I work with has a drum kit at one of our rehearsal spots, one at our studio, one in the back of his truck and
one in the back room at a club we regularly play at. Recently he asked me to stop by his storage rental to pick up a few things and it was full to the brim with drums, hardware, cymbals and PA's. It's not too often I see him using the same kit twice in a row and we are not talking cheap drum sets either, all top of the line stuff.
Just saying......

 

Drums are still my primary instrument, but I own eight American Fender basses, an EBMM Stingray, two Rickenbackers, two nice Ampeg heads, and several Ampeg cabinets.

Drums? I've got it pretty bad. At one point I owned eleven drum sets and thirty-four snare drums. I've cut way back, here is my current drum lineup.

I currently own five kits

1960s Gretsch round badge kit in the champagne sparkle finish. I sold several very nice kits in order to finance this purchase and don't regret it at all. The condition is excellent and they sound just wonderful.
12"/14"/20"

1972 Gretsch stop sign badge in the midnight blue pearl finish. I bought them in the fall of 2014 from the second owner, he bought them in 1978. They are in beautiful condition and came with vinyl bags embossed with the Gretsch logo. The kit came with a round badge COB 4160 snare drum, likely from the late sixties, all of the original flat based hardware, a set of Paiste 2002 black label 2002s a few old Zildjian "A"s and a trap case. The kit had not been played since the 1980's.
12"/13"/16"/22"

1973 Slingerland kit in the sparkling blue pearl finish. This is a great kit in great condition, a real joy to play. It currently resides in a third floor rehearsal ten miles from my home.
13"/16"/18"/24"

1975 Slingerland blakrome kit with a virgin bass. I've owned this since 1992. I drooled over this exact kit in the window of a local drumshop when I was sixteen. 17 years later I ended up coming across it used in a different shop and had to have it. I've used this drum set for over a thousand gigs over the years before my DWs became my primary gig kit in 2008. This set served as my work horse for many years.
12"/13"/14"/16"/18"/22"

2008 8pc DW Collector's Series kit in the Broken Glass finish. I lusted after a set of DWs for 10 years before I took the plunge in 2008. It's beautiful and sounds unlike the rest of my kits. Daniel Glass used it for a local clinic.
8"/10"/12"/13"/14"/16"/22"



My current snare drum arsenal


2004 DW Solid Shell Natural Satin 5" x 14"

2006 DW Solid Shell Natural satin 5" x 14"

2008 DW 10 ply maple Broken Glass 5" x 14"

2008 DW Edge Broken Glass 6" x 13"

2009 DW Super Solid Shell Broken Glass 5 1/2" x 14"

1960s Gretsch model 4175 Champagne sparkle 4" x 14" (Round Badge)

1960s Gretsch model 4160 Chrome Over Brass 5" x 14" (Round badge)

1970s Gretsch model 4160 Chrome Over Brass 5" x 14" (Stop Sign badge)

1990s Legend Maple 6 1/2" x 14" with die cast hoops Natural Lacquer finish.

2000s Ludwig Acrolite 5" x 14" Black Galaxie finish.

2000s Ludwig Classic Maple 3" x 13" Natural Lacquer finish.

2009 Ludwig Black Beauty 5" x 14"

2009 Ludwig Supraphonic 5" x 14"

2013 Ludwig Black Beauty 6 1/2" x 14"

2009 Mapex Big Cat 8" x 14" blue wrap with "Big Beat" logo signed by Jimmy Chamberlin.

1988 Noble & Cooley 7" x 14" solid shell maple Red Lacquer finish.

1960s Rogers COB Dynasonic 5" x 14"

1958 Slingerland Radio King single ply 5 1/2" x 14" Sparkling blue pearl finish.

1962 Slingerland Artist model single ply 5 1/2" x 14" Sparkling Blue Pearl finish.

1963 Slingerland Artist model 3-ply 5 1/2" x 14" Sparkling Blue Pearl finish.

1970s Slingerland Chrome over Brass 5 1/2" x 14"

1976 Slingerland Buddy Rich model 5 1/2" x 14" Blackrome finish.

1990s Slingerland Nashville Radio King Solid Maple 6 1/2" x 14" natural lacquer finish with die cast hoops.


My current cymbal inventory includes full setups of

Paiste Signatures

Sabian AAXs

Sabian HHXs

Zildjian "K"s

Zildjian K Customs

Zildjian Constantinoples

and about 20 or so Zildjian "A"s.

I'm currently putting together a "black label" Paiste 2002 setup.

I have an extensive hand percussion setup featuring Latin Percussion Classic series Congas and Bongos, a Gon Bops Alex Acuna model cajon, a Meinl bubinga cajon and a large selection of various shakers etc...

Drum GAS can be tough...

 

If you ever need to talk drums, send me a note. If you really want to get yourself in trouble, go to drumforum.org. It is the closest thing to Talkbass as far as drum forums go. I'm drummer5359 over there as well.

 

I can just see you in two years from now:

 

I'm a bassist and drummer, so I feel your pain. I upgraded all of my drum "stuff" last year and am still feeling the sting. That said, drumming GAS and expenses absolutely pale in comparison to operating a recording studio, which I also do, or more correctly am in the process of building a new studio. Even if my new studio was already built, the cost for putting together even the most stripped down 500-series rigs is staggering.

 

i used to drum on an electronic kit. i bought a lot of it used, and the module was only a TD6, but i quickly discovered after buying rubber pads that i wanted mesh, and even used or with brands like pintech, that gets expensive FAST!

 

I am a bassist who also plays drums. This will be more frequent soon, as our primary drummer at church is moving far far away. I really enjoy drums, and I understand the want for everything, and there are thousands of "things" you can spend $$$ on. The two drummers I have played with most have DW and a custom shop Orange County set. With full DW heavy hardware and zildjian A and K custom cymbals, they each have around $10k in their kits. Both kits play and sound phenomenal. I have a $250 gretsch Catalina club mod with sabian aax cymbals. Not a bad kit by any means. It sounds great...Until I play one of theirs.

Thankfully, after the initial burst, and subsequent depletion of funds, the drum GAS has subsided and I am content with my practical set. However, I just keep buying bass gear....

 

While our church was renting a space, I was feverishly searching for an affordable marrota hip gig set. I hate carrying all that stuff. Sadly, never found one in the budget.

 

I did the same conversion a few years ago. Getting routinely fired is kinda fun.

Joking aside, playing drums has made me a better bass player, and playing bass made drums easier to pick up. And, playing shows is a blast. Lugging the kit around is a whole lot easier once you have figured out a system. It takes a little while, but it's not too bad. Gig bags for the drums make life easier, too. There's always something to piddle money away on.

I originally started on a Ludwig Breakbeats kit, and it's an ideal gigging kit, because the entire kit fits into a bag that was intended to hold three big toms. Since the Breakbeats kit has a 16" bass drum, a 14" floor tom and 10" rack tom, it fits right in. Unfortunately, I wanted two rack toms, which means I now schlep around the full sized kit. It's actually lighter than the bass rig I use, just more parts and pieces.

 

My wife bought me a cocktail kit for Christmas many years ago. I really dug it, and got into drumming. The GAS was pretty bad at the time, and I was buying and selling to get the sound I wanted. I practiced on the kit and had a blast, with the goal of playing drums in a gigging band. Then one day my wife said, "You don't even like carrying a bass amp to gigs. What makes you think you're going to lug all this around?" She was absolutely right, and the dream ended right there.

 

A drum kit is bulky, but it's no worse than the upright and a big amp.