The best sound guy I ever had was a drummer.

without a doubt, always mic the kick. then depending on your surroundings, add to accordingly. imo, the kick is the heart of the music. when sound checking, i always start with the drums. then vocals, then blend everything else in with them.

my uncle taught me how to run sound, he was a drummer.

and yes...there is such a thing as too many mics.

I rarely mic my drums, even the bass, simply because most of the places I play don't require it. I know how to tune it & I've got a heavy foot.

A problem with mic'ing the bass is unless you're running subs you're not going to get the low end, I've seen people try it with 12" speakers & frankly it sounds like crap, even 15s won't cut it most of the time.

I do have a complete set of mics for when I need them (like I did last weekend, played outside), 57s for the snare & toms, PD-52 for the bass & CAD-50s for overhead, my own mixer too if I need it.

Here is how a sound company mic'ed my set for a recent concert.

I gig every weekend, so i prefer to not have too many drums to lug around and set up, even having some gear stored in some of the pubs i play at, making it much easier for me. My pub/club gigging set up for the past 18 years has been a kick, snare, crash ride, crash, and hi hats. Being the lead vocalist in my band, i already have a mic set up in front of me, so my SM58 already catches hi-hat, crash, and snare, so no reason to mic those. I use a PG52 on the kick, and that's it.

Just as frantic freddie mentioned, I know how to tune my 20" kick to get a huge sound, and keep my kick wide open, with no porthole. Sounds great. I keep the volume pretty low, just enough to hear it through the speakers.. That's all i need for my situation, and i think it's all any drummer needs when gigging smaller venues. I also think it makes a drummer more creative when you're limited in gear, having to compensate for the missing drums/cymbals, etc.

cheers,

Rob