Combining the $75 with my entire earnings from the summer of '89, I
purchased a 7-piece Remo Encore kit (Fire Red) from The
Long Island Drum Center in Nyack, NY. I played this kit while in the band,
"303" before putting it on consignment in the same drum shop six
years later. The Encore sounded remarkably good considering it was designed
around Remo's synthetic Acousticon
shell, but I decided to sell the kit when my snare drum warped from simple
tightening. The kit may have sounded nice, but the shells did not have the
durability of a genuine wood.
Taking the money I made from the sale of the Remo, I upgraded (as all
drummers do) and bought a 6-piece Pearl Session Elite (Piano Black) from Victor's
House of Music (when it was located in Ridgewood, NJ) in the Fall of '95.
This was a kit made of Birch/Mahogany shells which really had a nice,
professional sound for the money. It was at this time that I joined the band, "Doogs."
Additionally, I purchased a 5-piece Pearl Export (Wine Red) from Sam
Ash in Paramus, NJ on Route 4 East. This kit was for gigging purposes so I
wouldn't risk damaging the lacquered finish of the Session Elite. At the time,
it seemed like a sound idea, but in retrospect, the Pearl Export did not have
the projection and tonal warmth of the Session Elite. In 1999, I sold the
Export and Session drumkits before leaving for Florida on a consulting
assignment.
Getting that itch to
play while in Florida, I purchased Pearl Masters Series Birch from MARS
Music in Tampa, and I can say with great certainty that this kit will be
with me for a long time. This kit sounds great! It originally started out as a
small, jazz-style kit consisting of a 10x10 mounted tom, a 10x13 floor tom,
16x20 bass and a 3x13 Piccolo snare. But if you know drummers, it's never enough. Today, the kit is a 7-piece setup which includes
8x8, 10x12, 12x14
and 14x16 toms.
Returning to Jersey in 2000, I started acquiring drums via Ebay to make a small practice kit. Additionally, I also purchased a Black Pearl Export Select from Victor's House of Music for gigging with a band called, Funch.
In 2001, I purchased a 60's Tempro Blue Sparkle 4-piece Japanese kit from Ebay, as well as a 5-piece set of shells to make a custom kit.
