I’ve been upgrading my gear a bit lately. It started with the idea of converting my rack tom into a snare (which ended up not happening), and has gone from there:
- My drum kit, a ’60s vintage Slingerland, gold sparkle wrap, didn’t come with a matching snare when I got it. The first idea for how to gin one up was to convert the 13″ rack tom to a snare, and use the floor tom (mounted up in the rack space!). Before actually doing that, I started watching eBay for gold sparkle snares and marching snares, and found out that marching snare shells and whole drums can sometimes be picked up for a reasonable price. I picked up a good matching shell (14″), and then a regular snare to strip the hardware from, and then, won an auction on a whole drum (15″, from 1958, to boot)! So I’ve been playing with the 15″, and am still putting together the 14″; just waiting for the tension rods to come in. Not sure which one I’ll use, or if I’ll send one on its merry way via Matt or craigslist once I’ve compared them.
- I’ve needed a little powered PA for solo gigs for a while, and with the wedding coming up, it’s probably time to do it. The KC area craigslist hasn’t yielded any results yet, and in case I need to go new, I think the Alto TS series (10″, 12″, and 15″ – 12″ linked here) looks good. If you have any experience with these, please leave a comment!
- In the course of searching for PAs, I happened on a Sunn Concert Bass amp for sale, cheap. It matches my 2×15″ Sunn cabinet, looks cool, sounds great, and I got a deal due to a broken distortion channel (I hope it’s just a matter of a quick solder or new pot). I will definitely be unloading my Peavey bass amp – tube pre, lots of power – so if you’re interested, get in touch, before it goes on craigslist.
- I picked up an EV RE320 mic in preparation for the Ventura drum sessions. Similar to a Shure SM-7, it’s a broadcast vocal mic that also works well for kick drum and acoustic instruments, and with a slightly better frequency response, reputation for point-and-shoot application (vs. the SM-7’s fussiness re; positioning), and lower price tag, I’m pretty excited about it as a workhorse mic. It’s still in the box, though; I’m hoping to set up drums this coming weekend for recording.
- CA’s buying me a guitar for an engagement present – I’ve still never had a new electric, almost 10 years after plugging howie&scott in! – and Saturday I spent a long time with an Epiphone Sheraton, the closest thing the store had to what I think I want, an Epi ES 345. It felt great; I’m about two inches from ordering one.