Cymbals and Snare Upgrade

The Hoodoo Hounds have three gigs coming up, starting with a private party this Saturday (Apr. 26). Our last rehearsal for this gig is tonight. We then play at 356 May 2 (semester end, yeah!) and then The Spot on May 16. With all this activity, and me joining a second band, Klaxon, a rock/metal band this time, I thought it a good time to consider upgrading a few items. I just ordered a set of Zildjian Custom A cymbals off ebay (20" ride, 16" crash, 14" hi-hats, an 18" fast crash). I saved about $130, shipping included, so not too bad. And I got this set for a lower price than what I was going to pay for a set of newer but lower-grade cymbals. I just found a really informative web page: DrumJunction.com where they rank the cymbal models made by the BIG 3 (Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste) that helped me decide. Currently on my road kit I use a set of Sabian B8s, pretty much the cheapest cymbals out there.

Some of my research dates back to the Hounds' time in the studio (see the "Sound Check" blog entry), where I played Zildjian A hats, a Zildjian K 16" fast crash, and an 8" Sabian AAX splash as well as a decent Pearl snare. I'd actually forgotten what type of snare it was, but as it happens I just got a very similar Pearl snare, again off ebay. You have to look closely at both pictures to see that they're both the free-floating 14×3.5" snare, but instead of the 6-ply maple floating shell in it, mine has a floating African mahogany stave shell. It sounds pretty good for a Pearl. Pearl isn't usually considered a great name in drums—kinda entry-level in my opinion—but this snare has a nice crack to it. It borders on being a bit too loud actually. The idea is to use this better Pearl snare to replace the crappy Pearl snare I have on my Pearly Rhythm Traveller kit—the practice kit I use with the Hounds. I've tried numerous things to get that snare to sound good (changed heads, tuned and re-tuned it), but it just won't. So my plan is to use it for parts, if possible. It's an odd-sized 13" snare so I won't be able to salvage too much. Meanwhile, once my new cymbals get here, I'll spread out my old cymbals around to the different kits I use: both the Klaxon and Hounds practice kits need more than just their single crappy crash cymbals.