I´ve always liked the look of a big bass drum. Anyone who plays a 26" or so?

radontherock wrote:

I do wonder about the older vintage kits and how they stand up to today's. Do the older shells really deliver a true "surf" tone? On a lot of the old recordings you really can't pull to much from the tracks. We don't have any other surf bands around here to compare to and I've only seen one live show (4 bands) and that was a couple years ago. Aloha

Of the mass produced stuff, there are a few modern drum lines that come fairly close to the vintage sound (the Ludwig Legacy line, for example). And when you talk about drums on old surf/garage recordings from the 60's, that's pretty much what you are talking about: old Ludwigs.(*) The problem is, those shells were 3ply mahogany/poplar/mahogany, which none of the major drum companies produce any longer. The nice thing is you can get an old Ludwig kit right now - in a common color and in decent shape - for way, way less than what a Ludwig Legacy kit will cost you.

Personally, I have absolutely nothing against modern drums. But I have been restoring/collecting/playing vintage kits now for over 20 years, and I just prefer their overall vibe to modern stuff.

(*) There are always exceptions. Mel Taylor of The Ventures was a Gretsch endorser in the '60's. There is a bunch of live footage of him out there beating the tar out of Gretsch drums.

I actually just took the wrap off my kit. sanded and stained it! I will post before and after pictures soon!

The Astronauts have a badass drum sound. They do some crazy stuff I can't even really describe properly. Best examples are Movin', Baja, Banzai Pipeline and Batman.

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Music!!!
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surferjoemusic wrote:

hoagiebait wrote:

The Astronauts have a badass drum sound. They do some crazy stuff I can't even really describe properly. Best examples are Movin', Baja, Banzai Pipeline and Batman.

The Astronauts have basically one drum tempo which is not exactly a surf beat. Bass drum is in 4/4 and on the snare they play a sort of triplet constant for all the songs that MAKES the Astronauts sound, not only their drum sound. It creates an anticipated beat that in songs like Surf Party does the difference, in facts playing Astronauts in surf beat tempo is wrong. Also you never hear the rimshot, it is always a full skin touch on the snare. 1 cymbal you can hear and it is not a hi-hat. This is trad surf: you can throw away the hi-hat and keep the ride only

I have studied a lot the Astronauts sound and what I have written above really works

For the recording if you want to emulate that do not put a bass drum mic, not a snare, nothing. use a dynamic mic overhead (not a condenser) or a single mic positioned in the middle of the drumkit, between bass drum and the toms, something like a shure 545. Then make it all trashy with a little compression. But remember before to but a good drumkit from mid 60s...

yes.

I'm looking to rejoin the drummers. I've been bored since I got rid of my crappy gargantuan kit that took up half of my room, and need a kit that will be smaller and more versatile.

Maybe this post beongs in the gear section, but for versatility, including a lot of surf rock, would you all recommend the Gretsch Catalina series?

http://www.gretschdrums.com/?fa=drums&sid=575#features

What about cymbals? I think I'll simply buy a crash ride for now, but which one? I'm a fan of more natural sounding and looking cymbals, the dream bliss crash ride has been looking good.

http://www.dreamcymbals.com/bliss-19q-crash-ride

I love meinl Byzance, but can't afford anything of that capacity right now. GC used has one of these dream crash rides for $100, which is really why I asked.

I'm excited to get back into this. Member Rich has needed some drum tracks for a while, so perhaps I can finally help him out. Looking forward to it!

IMO.

What did you get?

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Sounds like a bargain

He who dies with the most tubes... wins

Surf Daddies

Congrats on your kit.
My cheap little Sonor kit continues to impress me, it's amazing what you can get these days at such a great price point.
I still need cymbals as well, better cymbals that is. My ride and crash are horrible but by being patient I was able to get a fantastic deal on some 70's era New Beat hi-hats that sound really good and I'm doing the same for cymbals, used, patience etc. so that I can get something worth recording.

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Thanks guys! She's a blast.

IMO.