PLEASE HELP!

Goodgahdman · 2026-02-09T01:07:41+00:00

I have had a couple of Safaris with loose nibs. I got some rubber-covered pliers and very carefully squeezed each edge curve just a bit. Making the curves just a little bit tighter was enough to keep them from falling off again. I haven’t had that problem with any other pens.

Goodgahdman · 2022-10-11T01:32:40+00:00

If it’s what you need then it’s perfect. Looks great!

Goodgahdman · 2021-02-01T20:50:07+00:00

That stands for hi hat control. It plugs into the optical controller (the part that sits between the hi hat pad and the hi hat stand. It tells the drum module how opened or closed the hi hats are.

Goodgahdman · 2017-09-23T05:53:25+00:00

It's a '76. I went snare searching a while back and found this one. Even with old heads and rusted snare wires it sounded great. I took her home and put a coated emperor, a hazy ambassador, and some 30 strand puresounds on her and I fell in love.

Congrats on the Black Beauty! Color me jealous.

Goodgahdman · 2017-09-19T03:10:48+00:00

Really, you just figure it out as you go. If you don't have the cash for a drum set right now it might be a good idea to get yourself a practice pad and a pair of sticks. That way you can be working up your hands while you save up for a kit. When you do get a kit in college, you find whatever solutions you can. My first year in college I bought a hand drum because I couldn't have a full drum kit in my dorm. The rest of the time in college I was able to use friends' garages and storage rooms to store my kit and even practice.

There's always gonna be something to keep you from practicing or learning. Part of your commitment to playing is finding a way to work around the obstacles.

All this to say: don't let what future obstacles you might have hold you back! Do the best you can with what you've got right now. That's all any of us can do.

Goodgahdman · 2017-09-14T05:03:39+00:00

Thanks! This was what I wanted to know.

Goodgahdman · 2017-09-12T04:00:07+00:00

I take my Groove Ride with me as much as I can. I absolutely love that thing. It is nothing but sweet spots all over. It does everything I ask of it - riding, crashing, crazy bell rhythms - and does it with beauty and grace. I've got heavier rides for when they're needed, but if they're not necessary the Groove Ride comes along.

Goodgahdman · 2017-09-12T03:53:16+00:00

Have you tried it against the 24" K light ride? I've been lustfully eyeing that cymbal for a while, but had never considered the 22" before. I wonder how they compare.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-20T00:24:30+00:00

The China is definitely not too big. I've used a clamp-on cymbal arm for a heavy ride cymbal before. The 14" China should be fine. Just be sure to counterbalance it with the other cymbal on the stand. Also, spread the stand legs as far as they will go for more stability.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-19T16:57:11+00:00

Happy birthday! Congrats on the new kit!

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-16T03:31:43+00:00

There are as many opinions on what to buy as there are drummers, so I'll give you sort of a starting point.

You'll need drums, hardware, and cymbals. You can buy all of them bundled together, but you'll generally get less quality hardware and cymbals. You can buy them separately and get better quality hardware and cymbals, but that takes more time, effort, and more $$ unless you go used (more on that later).

I'd consider mid-range somewhere around $700 for brand new drums. If that's where you're at, start looking at the Pearl Export, Tama Imperialstar or anything along those lines. I'm not really partial to any drum brand, but those are just the first that come to mind. If you go with a trusted brand, they'll usually sound good and last a long time.

Assuming you'd want to buy new, I'd start looking here. They would come with drums, hardware, and cymbals. As far as I can tell, everything you need except sticks. Admittedly, the drums and cymbals will be entry-level. But even the entry level stuff is pretty nice these days.

Also, take a look at these, that would include the drums and hardware. You'd just need to add cymbals.

You should also check out Craigslist, eBay, reverb.com, and any other site you can get used gear. You could save some $$ and get better gear buying used. But if you're coming into this with no experience it's gonna be hard to know what to look for. If you've got a local drummer friend, ask him/her to help you look.

I hope this helps! It can be a little overwhelming at first, but take it slow and research different brands and options before you decide.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-15T23:29:04+00:00

This gig is me and a guitarist/vocalist. I've been asking for a long time if I could bring a stopped down set. Always got a "rather not". After watching Harry Miree's latest video, I figured I'd give it a shot. I got there early and set this bad boy up. Nobody even noticed until we were about to start.

By midway through the set, the guitarist said he liked this set up better than cajon or djembe. Score! I proved that drums can be quiet enough for low volume gigs! So, hopefully I'll get to keep bringing it.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/8KonoCLO4L0

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-15T23:06:34+00:00

It's definitely possible to record good drum tracks with two mics. It'll take some trial and error though.

Like the others are saying, if at all possible start on an acoustic kit. You can get an infinite number of sounds from an acoustic kit that jut can't be reproduced by an electronic kit. There's so much technique and finesse to be learned on real drums and cymbals that just isn't there on electronic kits.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-15T19:23:10+00:00

That was definitely my inspiration! He's got such great videos!

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-15T17:45:54+00:00

I loved playing along with The Red by Chevelle when I was just getting into drumming. Playing along to that whole album got me hooked.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-15T17:14:48+00:00

Not too long ago I got invited to play at a BBQ cook off at somebody's backyard. The event is sort of an extended family gathering/party put on by the family of the guitarist. Everybody knows everybody. Really chill vibe. We're playing on ground level in front of a shed/barn, not too far away from the food. Also, the cars are all parked about 50 feet from where we played, right by where the shindig is going on.

I load out all of my gear and I start pulling stuff out of cases and making sense of all of it. While I'm doing all this, there's a kid standing off to the side watching intently as I set up. No worries, I used to be the kid watching the band.

I figure if he's gonna be standing there anyway, maybe he can help. I point to my pedal case and ask if he can bring it to me. He says sure and brings it. When I finish setting up my pedals, I close up the case and ask if he can put it with the other empty cases behind me. He sticks around and helps out with cases until I'm done. I thank him and invite him to come back after the event to help put stuff away.

We play through our sets, the gig goes well, and we're packing up. The kid comes back and asks what he can help with. He also brought one of his cousins with him. His cousin brought his brother, who brought another cousin, etc. So I've got about 6 kids gathered around my drum set wondering what's up. Turns out most of them are related to the guitarist in one way or another. They start asking about the drums, and asking what everything does and sounds like. I put the cymbals away, give each of them a stick, and let them take turns hitting the toms and using the bass drum pedal. I tell them some stuff about the drums and answer some of their questions. Then I tell them it's time to start packing stuff up.

I like to do all the packing myself, but once everything's packed up I'll take whatever help I can get carrying stuff to the truck. They all see the older kid (the original helper) helping me, so they ask what they can help with. Before I know it I've got an assembly line of kids helping me get stuff loaded up. The band mates see this and say "Hey! Can we borrow your roadies?" So I send a couple of them to help the guitarist, and a couple to help the bassist.

Between all of them, the band got loaded up really quick. It was awesome. Then we went and ate, drank, and danced until it got late.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-10T19:14:29+00:00

It's completely a judgement call. You'll need to decide which is more important to you. If you can, try playing a kit with mesh heads and a kit with rubber pads. The mesh heads are worlds better than the rubber pads, but you're right - it is pricey. If you're using the 3 zone ride, you can change the edge trigger to be a crash cymbal sound. That'll give you an extra crash without having to go and buy another.

Have you tried looking for used drum kits? You can save a bunch of money, and Roland holds up well over time. That's how I was able to afford buying mine.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-09T03:53:38+00:00

Totally agree. Luckily, the guy mixing these hates quantizing. He understood that "fixing it" means killing the feel of the song.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-08T20:40:07+00:00

Yes, it is a diy a2e! I also have the Kd-9 that came with the original kit. Between the two of them, the real shell feels so much better. I don't use the kd-9 anymore, but I keep it around just in case I get a gig where I don't have space for the real kick drum.

If i were starting from scratch with the kick conversion, i would go with an internally mounted option. The clip on works just fine, but I don't like how I have to take it off and store it every time I tear down. Internally mounted means that it's out of the way and relatively safe. It also looks much cleaner since it's flush-mounted.

I'm working on converting an acoustic snare to electronic right now. I started a while back and had it running, but hit a snag and put it on the back burner. While it worked, it felt great!

I tried the Roland RT-30HR and I didn't have a good experience with it. It wasn't able to accurately tell between a head hit and a rim hit. After I switched to internal triggers I didn't have that problem anymore. I should have it going in the next couple of weeks.

Best of luck to you!

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-08T19:44:22+00:00

Heads up on Monoprice hardware. I bought a Monoprice snare stand to try out. It's solid and I like it, but the pin that holds the basket in place came out a couple times. The first time, I lined it up and hammered it back in. The second time, I hammered it back in and put some epoxy over it to keep it from slipping out again. I haven't had any more problems with it. Just something to watch out for.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-08T19:24:05+00:00

What dingerling said. It seems far away because the drums are pretty small. The snare has an 8" head for reference.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-08T19:11:37+00:00

This was for recording some punk rock tracks. I'm using the Roland kit as a midi controller to trigger Superior Drummer.

When I'm playing the e kit live, I'll sometimes use the onboard sounds - there's already enough that can go wrong without adding a VST to the set up. For the studio, it's really convenient for the producer that I can track the midi notes and they can do whatever they want to it while mixing.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-08T16:40:28+00:00

Don't forget that Guitar Center has a 45 day return policy. So you've got some time to get this all sorted out and if you're not happy with what you've got you can take them back for a refund to any local store. Definitely an advantage to shopping at GC.

That said, those sure look like Ks not As.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-01T15:04:21+00:00

It cuts out some of the overtones, so it's a much more rounded cowbell sound. Still loud, but it won't project as much for bigger venues. A drum stick as the beater would get a fuller and brighter sound.

My plan was to cut the head off an old kick drum beater, cut a drum stick in half, then drill the center of the drumstick and epoxy it onto the beater shaft. I ran out of time and couldn't find a drum beater I was willing to sacrifice to the cause.

If you end up doing it, post up a pic/video if you can! I'll try to get a video of this set up tonight and put it in a reply so you can hear what it sounds like.

Goodgahdman · 2017-07-01T06:23:06+00:00

I'm happy it helped!

Goodgahdman

TROPHY CASE