I suppose it depends on how you master them. Levon Helm mastered playing drums in "the Band", but he couldn't have replaced Tony Williams. How difficult the drums are to master depends on the challenges you give yourself.

I think that's part of my point of a guitar being easier. You can play a guitar anywhere, practice anywhere and just the ease of transporting it can make it more attractive.

The cult of the guitar hero is a dominant one in regard to the blues and 1960s-1980s, more or less, popular music. Drum heros? VERY few of those and usually because of a drum solo or a timely and tasteful fill. And, yeah, sure, the well-laid groove players on the drums have become sort of known by name. But really, lead guitarists ruled and still do to a large extent in the minds and ears of a lot of listeners in the 40-80 year old range. Isn't that why some people thought Robbie R. was the leader of The Band? ("Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?" sort of; imagine if "Pink" had turned out to be the drummer?!)

Guitar player myths abound. So I don't think it's strange that gear lore has also made its way into the popular imagination. Martin, Les Paul, Gibson, Fender. Pretty common names out there. But Gretsch DRUMS, Ludwig (maybe, because of Ringo), Rogers (who, what???), Slingerland (Gene who?), and, well, maybe Leedy (You're kidding, right?). My family might recognize vintage/classic drum brands, but I'm not counting on it. But all the local wanna-be guitar heros know of or own the big brands (O.K., this is Vermont, so maybe there are some secret boutique guitars around). Honestly though, I can't hear the difference. But what do I know? I just play a 1964/65 set (12, 14, 20) of Rogers with wrap stripped off and a vague rough clear finish over maple with no script logos or vent grommets. And a mix of quality cymbals. (Imagine the value of a comparable Strat or Tele.) And don't get me started on my vintage snare collection (because it'll bore you to tears).

Most non-musicians wouldn't know a Les Paul from a guitar bought at Sears or even have heard of them unless they're dating or married to a guitarist. The same goes with drums or any musical instrument. That being said, I know plenty of non-musicians who know the name Ludwig, but had never heard of a Hofner bass.

I've been watching these guitar guys on YouTube, who actually do blindfold tests with old vs new guitars....and they can't tell the differences between an old Tele and a new copy or anything else when the blindfold is on. So there goes the theory that guitarists are more tuned-in to their instruments than are drummers!

It's not the quality of the old craftsmen who made the vintage drums we all know. In fact, we know that the old craftsmanship related to commercially-available drums wasn't that great. New drums are made much more accurately now and all the drum science has been tried and applied...but we still want the lumpy Ludwigs, anyway. Very few people who don't spend the money on a new set, themselves, brag about or covet new drums.

The shells are probably rounder on new drums. Most of the new hardware is more reliable....meh....don't care! I don't care if a '58 Tele COPY can be made under a microscope to be just like the real one, either. I still want the real one more...

Ever see the movie "Invasion of the Bodysnatchers"? or "The Stepford Wives"? Well, much the same....even with all their inherent flaws, the real thing will always be better.

I think modern drums have gone way overboard. All the new hardware is fine and dandy if you don't mind adding another 20 lbs to your kit. I traded a 2016 Ludwig Classic Maple kit after playing it at one gig. The kit looked and sounded great and some may find the new Atlas mounts as an improvement, I found them to be heavy and bulky, especially the floor tom mounts. I traded that kit for a vintage Ludwig. I didn't sacrifice sound, but I got rid of a lot of un-needed extra weight. I also use Ludwig flat based cymbal stands to gig with, very light and I've never had any issues.

But during the jazz age, drummers ruled and were the household names. They even led some of the big bands. Guitarist's were for the most part, unknown. Heck, I don't even know what they were doing in the big band/bop era, you couldn't even hear them!

But yeah, guitarists came into their own during the rock & roll age for sure. Lead guitar was directed right to the audience and he was out front and able to be a real showman for the first time. Rock drummers in the meanwhile, went in the opposite direction and started to hide themselves behind a mountain of drums, cymbals, gongs, bells, you name it, and were unseen for most of the show. I think some of them liked it that way, kind of mysterious, kind of like being a Dr. of Percussion and somehow it seemed cool not to be seen. But they lost the show to the guitarist because of it. Rich and Krupa and those guys played small kits and were almost always out-front and seen. Everyone knew what they looked like.

That phenomenon didn't start until the 70's, Ringo and many early r&r drummers were plenty visible and playing small kits.

Let's face it, drums are a pain in the a$$ to transport, set up and take far more energy than plucking a guitar string.

Relic guitars are a big thing today. A lot of guys like the feel and look of a guitar that has various stages of wear and tear; a few dings and scratches here and there, or beat to hell, looking like it's played two thousand funky bar gigs and then been dragged for miles behind a pickup truck. Then, there are the purists who think relic guitars are for poseurs and you should put "honest wear" on an instrument by playing it a lot. I also know a few guitar snobs who buy expensive collectible instruments and display them in cases.

However, there are probably no such thing as relic drumsets. The closest I can see is the aged white marine pearl so many companies are now using. Drummers generally want their gear looking as nice as possible.

Except for John Mellencamp's drummer, Dane Clark, who plays a set with what appears to be purposely rusted hardware. Maybe Mellencamp wants it that way?

I'm thankful I don't know any drum snobs these days. Those would be guys who think you have to spend $10,000 to have a great drumset. It's just not necessary. People who talk drums with me at gigs are usually hobbyist drummers commenting on how good my various sets look. That's fine.

One incident sticks out though. I was doing a gig in 2001 out in the Stroudsburg, PA area and had just gotten my DW set, of which I was very proud. A guy came up to me in the men's room and said, "What does that DW stand for? Dishwater?"

I looked at him in amazement and said, "No, Drum Workshop."

This a$$hole, who must have been fifty years old, then said, "They're no good. I have the best drums in the world-Orange County Drums!"

I stared at him and said, "If you want to get into a pi$$ing match with someone, do it with another drummer. I'm not interested in your juvenile bullsh**. Why don't you grow up."

I steeled myself for a confrontation, but he just turned and walked out and quickly disappeared with his wife. Good riddance to bad trash.

Although I agree with your post about playing different genres of music, I don't think that Tony Williams could sing while playing drums or mandolin for T-h-e B-a-n-d. (I detest the effing emoji that replaced the name of the group that I typed. That's why I inserted all of the hyphens.)