Josh Vibert's Formerly-owned kits thread

[joshvibert]

I thought it might be nice to document the kits I've owned through the years and show pics of them all in one place. This thread is that place.


To start, my first kit at age 11, a Percussion Plus in black wrap. Sizes were 12/13/16/22 with a horrible little 14" metal snare. It came with some horrible cymbals initially, but my mom worked with a drummer selling a set of Sabian B8 Pro's and I was able to snag those pretty quickly (fortunately) (Please excuse the goofy expression):

[joshvibert]

After playing that kit for 2 or 3 years and when it became evident to my mom that drums was something I was probably going to stick with, I was able to upgrade to a Pearl Export Select in Amber Mist, 12/13/16/22. It counted as Christmas, Birthday, and every other holiday for that year, but I didn't care and was absolutely thrilled to have them. I played this kit for 5-6 years, all through high-school and gigged almost every weekend with it. During this time, I also upgraded to my first Zildjian cymbals, the first was the 18" A Custom Projection crash that I'm hitting in the picture. As I was playing punk rock at the time, my main snare was not the beaded steel shell 5.5x14 that came with the Export kit, but instead was a 3x13 Pearl Maple Piccolo in matching Amber Mist:

[joshvibert]

In the first 2 years of college, I was still playing quite a bit and decided that since I was such a "pro" level player, I needed a "pro" level kit. I sold the Pearls along with all the hardware and the B8pro cymbals and went all-in with DW and Zildjian. It was a used Collector's kit in Black Velvet Finishply with chrome hardware. I must've bought them during the summer when I was working full-time and had money. It really was a beautiful kit, but I didn't have it that long. I sold it the following spring to pay tuition and never took them out of the house that I can recall. I was still playing a lot at the time, but most of it was at churches that had house kits. The cymbals I bought at the time were good choices and I still have some of the same models (the exact ones were all stolen). 20" K Custom Dark Ride, 16" and 18" K Custom Session Crash, 13" K/Z hats and 12" Avedis Special Recording hats, 8" Avedis thin splash and 10" K splash:

[joshvibert]

In between the Black Velvet DW's and the PDP's mentioned below, there was another set of used DW Collectors, 12/14/20/14s in Burnt Toast Fade with black hardware. Man, those things were ugly and in rough shape. I bought them used from Guitar Center for like $800 and should have known better. They didn't last more than a couple weeks.

When my birthday came around in May, I had sold the DW's a month or two prior and my Pops took pity on me, and gave me $500 to go buy some new drums. I drove down to the local Guitar Center and bought a set of PDP FXR Birch drums, 12/16/22 in Tobacco Fade. These were some really great sounding drums, but I never really enjoyed the finish. I had these drums up until 2011 when I bought my Pearl Sessions. I got married in 2007 and we lived in a townhouse, so my drums lived in cases under the stairs and I didn't play for about 3 or 4 years. Then, in 2010 our church asked me to begin playing a full kit (I had been playing a djembe) on Sunday mornings, so I got the PDP's out and set them up at church:




along with my DW 4x14 Collector's maple snare that I didn't sell when I sold the kit:

[joshvibert]

In 2011 after playing a full kit at church again for awhile, I began to have a renewed interest in playing the drums. In October of 2011, we bought a house and thus, I could have a kit at home again. I began shopping for kits to have at home and discovered by shopping the Guitar Center used gear site that the all-maple Pearl Sessions could be had pretty cheap. So, my wonderful wife agreed that I could pick one out and it would be my birthday gift that year. The PDP's stayed at church and the Sessions were my personal at-home/gig kit. I scored a beautiful set of all-maple Sessions 10/12/14/16/22 in a beautiful Carbon Mist finish. The kit included a set of Protection Racket soft cases. The 14" and 16" toms were originally hanging, but I drilled them and installed Pearl brackets and legs. A member here was kind enough to trade my Superhoops for his Mastercast, so I upgraded the kit that way too. Wow, those babies really sang! Here are several pics and a video at the end to show how they sounded. I played these out quite a bit including some studio session work and a TV gig.











http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i853TLT4B8

[joshvibert]

For whatever reason, despite how good they sounded, I just wanted an upgrade from the Sessions to a true Masters kit. I found a good deal on a used kit in Wine Red on the Guitar Center used site (notice a trend there?) and picked up a set of 10/12/14/16/20/14s. The drums were in really good shape. I upgraded the Optimounts to the aluminum/chrome type, which I felt gave the kit a much cleaner look. Having my first child and my wife staying home full-time put a little crunch on our finances so I began a Saturday part-time job. That led to me not playing drums as much. I did still get out once with this kit. It was beautiful to look at, but the one time I did take it out, I had some real issues with the bass drum just not being enough. I liked the idea of a 20" bass for jazz and smaller venues, but the truth is/was that I always take my little MIJ kit to those gigs anyway. I toyed with the notion of getting a matching 22" bass drum for this set and did, in fact, buy a used one (birthday gift for this year) but through a series of circumstances, I heard several DW Collector's kits in a row and began to look at them again. I found several good deals (Guitar Center used/clearance) and began to scheme of how to get one. Ever since I'd had my Black Velvet DW's, I had always wanted another one. The warm, full, low-end sound is fantastic, and the DW brand is just something I really like. It's well known among drummers and engineers and commands a level of respect. It might be shallow, but I dig it. So, away went the Pearl Masters in beautiful #100 Red Wine (I literally shipped them a few hours ago) and sitting in my cozy little drum room at home is my dream kit, a New/old stock DW Collector's Kit in Broken Glass Finishply, 10/12/14/16/22. Here's a final pic tribute to the Masters:



Untitled by ASH556, on Flickr
Untitled by ASH556, on Flickr
Untitled by ASH556, on Flickr
IMG_6184 by ASH556, on Flickr
IMG_6187 by ASH556, on Flickr
IMG_6190 by ASH556, on Flickr
IMG_6204 by ASH556, on Flickr
IMG_6209 by ASH556, on Flickr

[bentobox]

A great story, and a nice progression of drums, the Pearls look great, as does the interior of your house!

[dudewuttheheck]

Great stories and nice kits. Even with the deedubs included, that masters kit was by far my favorite! Still, if you prefer DW then I'm glad you were finally get a new kit from them. We do need pics asap of course!

[steadypocket]

I enjoyed your walk down memory lane. The red wine Masters was gorgeous. Must have been hard to part with it. Thanks for sharing.

[drumsforharvest]

Fun thread to follow! I've certainly spent my share of hard earned dollars in the drum stores....lol

[The Kurgan]

Thanks for sharing... Good story.

[phips]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo, not the Masters kit. Tell us it ain't so.

All kidding aside, thanks for the kit history. Very nice story, and some really nice kits. How come the new DW's aren't listed ?

[nik12]

How come the new DW's aren't listed ?

My thoughts.

[joshvibert]

How come the new DW's aren't listed ?

My thoughts.

Because this is the formerly-owned kits thread. The DW's are currently-owned as are the BSF Masters in my sig and also my little MIJ kit.

[nik12]

Because this is the formerly-owned kits thread. The DW's are currently-owned as are the BSF Masters in my sig and also my little MIJ kit.

Why not just a chronology... or kitography?