Hello all - I am also a newbie here, so here's my quick introduction:
I'm 37 years old, have been playing drums for about 23 years in and around the SF Bay Area my whole career. My first kit was a hodge-podge of Premier and Gretsch drums, of which I still have the 12" Premier tom. Unfortunately, the round badge Gretsch snare was weaseled away from me by a former teacher who knew better about what I had than I did. I traded him for a more modern Gretsch snare and a month of free lessons. What I wouldn't do to have that bad boy back, I loved that thing. But since it was my first snare, I just figured they must all sound this good. This was back in the early-to-mid-90s. But I digress.
Anyhoo, I used to play any old drums (my main kit was a Yamaha Rec Custom fusion kit), up until I made the cardinal sin of leaving my drums in my car oevrnight, and you guessed it - getting them all stolen. I lost a nice 20" MIJ aqua satin-flame kick drum that was a favorite, two snares (both Pearl), a coupla Premier Cabria toms, bag of cymbals, all my hardware.... it was devastating to me.
But I took it as an opportunity to start on a new sound for myself. I bought a 6-pc Ludwig kit (24/13/14/16/18/14x5.5 supra snr), blue/olive badges, 3ply with re-rings and a natural finish. It's a players kit, with lotsa knicks in the finish, some of the toms have dents in the bearing edge, and some of the hardware is ... not right. But I bought a 2nd matching kick off ebay (6ply no re-rings) for a double bass rig a la Ginger Baker or later Hendrix-period Mitch Mitchell. The kit lives in my rehearsal space, and I usually only gig with a 4-pc or Bonham-style configuration.
I presume the kit is from the 70's - I've yet to find any stamps. I wonder if it ever had a wrap. The seams overlap on the shells, not diagonally cut and butted together the way the 2nd kick is. But I love the open sound they have. I've also since purchased a 6.5" deep Super-Sensitive snare that seems to fit the bigness of this setup.
[IMG]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs082.snc3/15030_930788285663_1232130_50933471_4137625_n.jpg[/IMG]
I also own three different Premier kits; one is a jazz configuration Resonator kit, the other I forget what it may have been called - but it looks like mahogany shells with birch re-rings. It sounds fantastic. Then I have a mix-n-match kit with an 18" Cabria kick and matching snare, plus two Premier toms, 10" and 14", in a similar finish. Finally, my gigging set is a refurb job I picked up off craigslist: a lower-end Yamaha kit re-cut/-wrapped by Thumper Custom. Here's the pics:
jazzy Resonators in-studio (extra flr tom in back is an old Pearl):
[IMG]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs027.snc3/11434_860913659973_1232130_48410291_2649896_n.jpg[/IMG]
rockin' Premiers, blk cordia wrap, also note 18" deep 16" flr tom:
[IMG]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs122.snc4/36463_983552700353_1232130_52936535_3315893_n.jpg[/IMG]
the Premier Frankenstein kit:
[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DLwkDxAOaR4/SlGVdlDbdBI/AAAAAAAABUk/PNI__nzlseg/s576/DSC02883.JPG[/IMG]
Thumper Customs (or, my "Poor Man's Gretsch kit"). Also, I should note I have an 18" and 20" kick to go with the toms:
[IMG]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v373/21/109/1232130/n1232130_42397733_597.jpg[/IMG]
.... and that's all I got, folks. Hope to be able to contribute and learn from this place. Cheers!