Set-Up

I play mostly vintage gear, including Gretsch and Rogers drums, and K Istanbul Zildjian cymbals. I also have a Craviotto 6″ walnut solid-shell snare that is amazing, and quickly becoming my favorite.

Drums

Like the sound of old wood? So do I! There’s just something about the way vintage drums sound and feel that can bring the organic aspects of drumming into focus. After playing a variety of kits over the years, I have kept the following in my rotation for a while now:

Gretsch Round Badge Aqua Satin Flame 5.5/12/14/18:

I usually play these with the Gretsch Name Band 6.5×14 WMP Snare as pictured above.

Rogers Holiday Silver Sparkle 12/14/18:

Rogers Holiday Red Wine Ripple 5/12/14/20:

Here is a great close-up of that candy-cane finish!

Cymbals

For those of you with a keen interest in vintage cymbals, I have some pics below along with sound files dedicated to the instruments that I often play. All three of the Zildjian K Istanbul rides are old-stamps, I think from the ’40′s to ’50′s. The hats are a mix of a newer Istanbul K’s and a very old one. The crash is an interesting very old “trans-stamp” A. I also have a few other vintage Zildjian A’s that are not up here, but I don’t hoard them – everything I own I play!

18″ Zildjian K Istanbul

20″ Zildjian K Istanbul

20″ Zildjian K Istanbul

14″ Zildjian K Istanbul Hi-Hats

16″ Zildjian A Trans-Stamp