Hello everyone!
  I am now drumming at a church and not to sound narcissistic, but everyone there loves me. They did not have a drummer here before, so everyone really relies on me.
  The equipment they have there was actually pretty good. My guess is there used to be some guy there, but he left. They have a Tama Starclassic set with Zildjian Avedis cymbals. A Medium-Thin Crash, Ping Ride, and New Beat Hats. I was thankful at first, I didn’t want to drain the church’s finances. I became a bit more restless, it’s hard to make a Medium-Thin crash sound right when your in a quiet church setting with quiet church people, and I’m not AT ALL a fan of the infamous Ping Ride. I’ll admit I was losing some hope, but then I start hearing of how they’re giving $10,000 to build the new youth program. The youth leader said he would use some of the money on buying new drums! I was very excited, I even did some of my own research. But then once I tell the youth leader of a drum set on sale for $500 (which was a GREAT price I will add) he starts laughing then calmly tells me that he’s only planning on spending $300 on the new drum set. You may ask, “The WHOLE drum set?” I tell you, “The WHOLE drum set.”
  Well this was not my first experience with this. I’ve had my own parents laugh at me when I utter a price out of my lips. I still even now have those times, but whenever they happen I just think of that wonderful day when I’ll have as many drums as I want!
 
(P.S. Has anyone else had an experience like this?)

I can remember trying to explain what was wrong with a percussion plus kit that a church garbage picked! I play at a few different churches & experience many levels of quality. Once I’ve asked for everything to be up graded & was lucky to come away with new heads! I told one place about a cracked cymbal 4 months ago & it’s still there.

If they offer $300, take it & get a cymbal(s) you like. Sometimes you have to take one piece at a time. Most non-musicians don’t understand quality. They’re happy to have drums.

I’m kinda waiting for “A Christmas Carol” type miracle hear… are there any drummers of Christmas past, present and future that we can send his way?

Hahaha! My first drum set I bought used. It came with cymbals, and they were just terrible. So i waited, and waited. (Six Years to be exact.) I am glad to say I FINALLY have the makings of a dream cymbal set-up. Thanks to craigslist, I got a 21” AAX ride and 14” HH hats. Also they were onyl $300 dollars. It took a LONG time and the only upgrade a got in between was new drumheads. But let my testify to you all. IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, EVERY SECOND OF IT!

Bigbeat is right — invest in cymbals, but also rehead the kit. I believe that virtually any drum can sound decent with a fresh set of heads tuned correctly.

Hunter00, First of all, everyone really likes you and relies on you because drummers(especially good ones) are hard to come by, and if you are faithful with your attendance and do a good job, they will hold on to you for as long as possible.  I have been on both sides of the spectrum, the drummer, and the Pastor, and for a few years I was both at the same time. As a Pastor, I know exactly what it is like to need new equipment but not have the money for it, or have other things that are a bigger priority than new drum equipment, and as a drummer, I know what it is like to tell someone that new cymbals or drum heads are needed and have them look back at me with a look of amusement on their faces. For a drummer, there is nothing more important than keeping your drums in top shape, but unfortunately, sometimes people who are not drummers don’t understand how important maintaining drums is, so they neglect the drums, but sometimes, there really isn’t any money in the budget, so new equipment has to wait, and the drums are usually the last things on the list of things to upgrade. I agree with Andy, a good drummer will sound good on anything. I also like what bigbeat said, take what you can get and be patient, use what you have and play it with excellence. And make sure to take care of your(or the churches) gear so that it lasts as long as possible.

Thank you for the advice, thought I have to say they DO have the money. They spend it in different ways, not that there ways are not productive.

I remember my first set of cymbals when I was a kid. I saved for so long, but forgot that they needed to have stands so I drilled a hole in two blocks of flat 4x8 wood ran dowel rods through that then nails through the tops of the dowels two make two stands. I wasn’t cool, but I was jamming!

rdphoto - 03 February 2011 05:38 PM

I remember my first set of cymbals when I was a kid. I saved for so long, but forgot that they needed to have stands so I drilled a hole in two blocks of flat 4x8 wood ran dowel rods through that then nails through the tops of the dowels two make two stands. I wasn’t cool, but I was jamming!

THUMBS UP!!!