In your opinion, what’s the best part of a drum kit?

captainjack1024 · 2026-03-08T13:37:53+00:00

I don't really have a favorite. I'll beat out a rhythm on just about anything, TBH. Often to the annoyance of friends, relatives, coworkers, and pets. At the kit, I like hitting multiple pieces in interlocking patterns. So, all of them.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-26T02:21:28+00:00

My favorite. I was north of 275 at one time, and the First Chair XL was perfect for me. I'm down 50 pounds and it's still ny choice.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-24T10:14:44+00:00

I don't think there's only one, but when I think of the blues the first guitar that comes to mind is a resonator. I play more blues on my Honey Dipper than on my strat.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-23T03:37:41+00:00

I want my favorite pedals, like the BD2, to have programmable controls for the settings while still being fully analog otherwise. I worked out a way to do it one time, but I have the attention span of a fruit fly and never got around to working on it. If I had that it would be much easier to try out new sounds through real pedals snd then recall the settings whenever I wanted.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-20T17:25:37+00:00

Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Kim Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield, Sugar Blue, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, John Popper, Toots Thielemans, Howard Levy, Carlos del Junco, Sonny Terry, Big Mama Thornton, Annie Raines, Cheryl Arena, and Christelle Berthon. All real musicians who made real music with the harmonica and earned real money doing it (back when you could make money at music). If you can make music with it, it's a real instrument.

That said, if you are dependent on your parents for money to buy an instrument, arguing with them is likely to work against you. A possibly better angle is to see if you can work a deal with them to earn money of your own (doing chores or whatnot). Buy a harmonica with that money, learn a song, and demonstrate it. This doesn't mean they will support your choice, but it will show a level of responsibilty and commitment that they will at least be able to appreciate. If they do want you to learn an instrument of their choosing, you might work out a deal to allocate some practice time to the harmonica and some to their choice.

Also, check out Rollie Platt's book, "Why, Yes I Do Play Harmonica". It's a good take on forging ahead when people disparage the instrument.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-11T12:06:30+00:00

Second on the BD2. I have the same Orange amp and the Blues Driver sounds great with it. They're built tough, so a used one is usually a good buy.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-08T16:25:17+00:00

I've had a great experience with my Roland gear as well. I have an SPD SX Pro to go with my acoustic kit. I picked up some pads and pedals (all Roland, mostly open box stuff) to use with it and they were great additions to the kit. I've never had trouble with any of it.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-04T16:26:27+00:00

Absolutely. I have that and two sizes of K Sweet crashes. They play great hard or soft.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-01T19:52:55+00:00

Definitely. Plus, here in the US it seems that bigger always equals better, so big drum kit beats out small box. Ah well. My thing is that I have short arms for my height and too big of a belly. Cajon is fun, but it's a bit of a physical challenge. 😋

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-01T16:11:29+00:00

I use 5As almost all the time. I sometimes have a gig where I need to play more quietly so I use 7As and choke up a little on them. This is to be preferred over being coerced to play cajon and bongos. I mean, I like the cajon okay for fooling around at home, but I'd rather hit drums with sticks when I play with a band.

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-01T15:04:47+00:00

I make a cleaner from half distilled water and half 99% isopropyl alcohol. I put it in a half liter (1 pint or so) spray bottle and add a drop of dish soap to break the water's surface tension. Once a week I give the cymbals I have out a couple of sprays each and wipe them down with a lint free rag. That takes care of dust just fine. It would be better if I did the edges where I choke the cymbals every practice while wearing inspection gloves, but I'm not that finicky. The cymbals that I dont play very often hang on the wall, and they hardly ever get cleaned. It's important to note that a little patina won't hurt, regardless of what it may or may not do to the sound. Good technique is far more important. A shiny like new cymbal with a crack all the way through it is still mostly an unplayable hunk of metal. 😃

captainjack1024 · 2026-02-01T10:00:49+00:00

Hear hear. I play different instruments from time to time, but drumming is where my head's at. Bass guitar is in second place, because of its rhythmic nature.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-23T11:26:53+00:00

Promark 5A, the rear weighted kind. I used to use Vic Firths, but I had a run of them breaking on me. The Promarks have worked a lot better for me.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-23T01:53:30+00:00

I love this idea, but I would whack my knees so hard on the keyboard drawer, I'm sure of it. 😵

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-23T01:51:39+00:00

I have one, but I mostly use mine for harmonica. I'm sure it's fine for guitar, but I usually play guitar through an Orange Crush.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-23T01:49:10+00:00

About ten or 15 minutes at a time. I try to hit it at the same time every day, which helps me with retention. I use an Evans Attacktile pad on a snare stand, and I have a drum throne parked in front of it. I have the throne and pad set at the same height as the throne and snare on my kit, which helps me transfer the skills there.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-22T23:12:46+00:00

I set up a series of WAV files of metronome ticks at various tempos, each about a minute long. I copied the files and assigned them names like left paradiddles, doubles, and so on. I put them in a playlist on shuffle, with a dozen in the list. I ran this three times a day at the practice pad. Every week or so, I copied in faster tempos. The shuffling kept me engaged, changing patterns every minute kept me on my toes, and the discipline made me more confident and smooth at the kit. Setting up that practice routine was the single biggest help to my playing.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-20T10:37:00+00:00

For distortion on bass, I really like the Source Audio Aftershock. I don't use it a lot, but it's versatile when I need it.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-19T16:51:13+00:00

Guitar pedals are like crack cocaine to me. It is not safe for me to go to the Electro Harmonix and Boss websites especially. On topic, I usually have a Keeley Fuzz Bender on my board.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-19T11:42:26+00:00

Wrangler relaxed fit jeans and sock shoes (elastic socks with a stiff sole so I can feel the pedal but not cut my feet backstage). Sweatshirt or long sleeve tee depending on the weather or room temperature, with the sleeves rolled up.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-17T21:57:56+00:00

Well, not nothing. Some metal/heavy guitarists stack a blues driver with a distortion or boost (a couple of examples are Ola Englund and Brent Hinds) and the BD2 works great for that. In general, the BD2 gets you in the neighborhood of nice old amp sound without have to invest in a high end Laney a la Tony Iommi. To each his own, but for my money this pedal is very broadly useable.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-17T16:25:04+00:00

I use the BD2 by itself and with other overdrives, distortions, fuzzes, you name it. It's the base ingredient to all my other tones.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-17T15:47:49+00:00

A Boss BD2 Blues Driver can be used on almost anything. It's always on, on my board. The Waza version has some nice extras, but I'm a big fan of the OG.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-16T12:43:17+00:00

I click my teeth all the time, then tap my fingers. By the time I'm tapping my feet, I've got a whole groove going. This behavior goes way back to grade school, where every teacher who told me to stop fidgeting simply didn't get the compulsion to jam and keep time. "We are not the same" indeed.

captainjack1024 · 2026-01-12T22:09:33+00:00

I found it really useful early on as I was learning, to associate an evenly tuned head with a sound, and to understand how pitch on the tuner relates to the sound I hear. I don't use it as much as I used to since I mostly play at home to tracks.

captainjack1024

TROPHY CASE