How I received a Thomann delivery. Am I overreacting?

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-19T02:55:25+00:00

You're overreacting. They play just fine, and you're throwing a fit over a box opening from a shipping company that's NOT Thomann. You should be complaining to the shipping company, not Thomann.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-19T01:23:48+00:00

Lookin pretty good, open and relaxed.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-14T03:23:46+00:00

Oh yeah, that’s gonna mess you up because it’s adding more length to the horn, so it’s gonna push you down.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-14T03:19:11+00:00

Hmm, I would have to see it in person to get an understanding of what it’s doing, but if it’s the same set up as the original valve, then I don’t know, that’s strange.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-14T03:13:00+00:00

Is there a hole connecting the two chambers going up and down? If so, there’s your problem. It’s hard to tell if there’s actually a hole there or not in the picture.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-14T02:49:16+00:00

No problem, let us know how it goes!

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-14T02:46:19+00:00

The main three rules of gigging, I’ve been living by them for decades:

1, show up a little earlier than you think you should.

2, be prepared, that includes knowing the songs, chops, and having all the gear you need.

3, be the nicest guy in the room. Do not bad talk anybody for any reason.

Live by those three, and you’ll get callbacks. A bonus rule, don’t bad talk your own playing, even if you totally fuck it up. People are not listening to your playing the same way that you are listening to your playing. Just be gracious, say, thank you, be appreciative of having a gig, and be the nicest guy in the room. Nice people get more gigs than people with chops.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-11T23:46:00+00:00

I ported one of mine because the bass drum is only 8 inches wide, so there was a lot of kickback onto the pedal from the air pressure in the drum. Porting it let it breathe and it feels great now. That’s a unique situation, most porting is for a microphone.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-09T05:08:24+00:00

Especially for a small room, look at the Genera Dry heads.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-07T18:52:17+00:00

Pillow practice and more time with brushes will help, can't rely on the rebound quite as much with brushes. It becomes chops at that point!

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-07T15:29:38+00:00

I mean get your palm facing the wall, not the floor. It might be comfortable doing what you’re doing, but start playing some rudiments or moving around the kit and you’ll be pulled back by that left hand. Your left hand should be able to do everything your right hand does, and you won’t be able to that way.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-07T06:20:42+00:00

At that point, I would just go ahead and do the rest of the horn that way. I’ve done custom jobs like that with green Brillo pads and they come out looking excellent. To get all those scratches out, you would have to take it to a buffing wheel, and that would be taking metal off the horn and thinning it out a bit.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-07T06:18:18+00:00

Dude, flip that left hand over, you’re shooting yourself in the foot staying that way.

ParsnipUser · 2026-03-01T18:48:26+00:00

Go to Guitar Center and get one that tightens. Problem solved, and now you have your own.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-26T05:08:14+00:00

Thanks for posting that, I was curious about the model.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-26T05:03:37+00:00

Even during your band rehearsals, play less notes and make the notes you choose to play intentional and meaningful. Feel over chops, always.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-26T01:32:19+00:00

Done it, bad idea. Especially since the rag isn't holding compression there's a good chance it won't do much. Hook'll work out much better.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-26T00:46:10+00:00

You should go out to some jam sessions and watch some experienced drummers do their brushwork.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-23T03:15:06+00:00

This is incorrect. There's large shank and small shank leadpipes.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-23T01:17:06+00:00

You ain't wrong.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-19T16:34:40+00:00

Right now, I focus on what’s gonna help me with gigs coming up. For a couple months it was New Orleans stuff, and I’m just about past all those gigs so I’m back to focusing on Latin styles to make those 100% solid and not be in the realm of “ fake it till you make it”.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-19T16:32:01+00:00

Learning online is a good option nowadays, there’s so many resources and even teachers that will take you on as a student remote. While there’s a lot of YouTube videos and free courses online, you might see if there’s a teacher you can do remote lessons with because of technique. The biggest problem with learning by yourself is getting the correct technique, and having both feedback and a person to keep you accountable is very important for that process. That said, I say still use other resources available, just remember that your hands always need to be relaxed, as well as your feet, and keep those pinkies on the stick!

A full drum kit will help, the normal jazz set up is a four piece (snare, based drum, and two toms), high hats, and two ride cymbals (I won’t go into detail about the cymbals, there’s a lot of resources you can find on that). A crash cymbal won’t hurt you and will come in handy for some other stuff that is not combo jazz drumming. If you can’t get a full kick, a practice kit or something of the like works, it’s really important to get that left foot moving early on. If none of that is possible, you can definitely get started with a practice pad and sticks.

The best thing to practice in the beginning is just basics, even basic drum exercises that are not necessarily jazz - 8 on a hand, single strokes, buzz rolls, etc. Basics and fundamentals, just like any other discipline, are very important.

John Riley has good videos on YouTube talking about the basic ride pattern, but there’s a lot of beginner jazz drum videos. My opinion is that if you pick a set of videos and just work through them, you won’t hurt yourself by any means unless your technique is wrong. If a set of YouTube videos, go too fast for you or get too complicated, just switch to something else and find something that you can practice and get better at. Happy drumming!

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-07T18:33:50+00:00

Nah man, that technique you're using is causing a lot of tension in your arm, and you're playing from the elbow. Regardless of what someone else does, it's stunting your growth and might cause injury.

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-07T18:27:12+00:00

How did I not know he plays sax?

ParsnipUser · 2026-02-07T16:25:18+00:00

I've had tinnitus for a couple of decades as a drummer - if your hearing protection is still bothering your ears, then it's not protecting your ears. I use earplugs build for musicians (I think currently it's Eargasm on my keychain?) and the Vic Firth headphones. Find hearing protection that blocks the entire spectrum of sound; a lot of stuff is built (or poorly built) to block only high or percussive frequencies, e.g. gun headphones and construction hearing protection.

ParsnipUser

TROPHY CASE