So I finally got my kit put back together with a slightly different layout, and I figured I'd share what I have so far. The band is off most of this month, as one of our guys goes out of town for a festival every September. This is when I do major changes to the kit, since I don't have to cart it back and forth to practice and gigs.
My kit is a DM10 Studio Kit that I bought in February. It's pretty much in stock form, except I took a cymbal and extra pad from my old kit, a Roland TD-6 kit. My Roland was still going pretty strong after having it for 8 years, but I was ready for an upgrade. I haven't changed much around with my DM10, just a slight raise of the toms and hi-hat, and I'm trying a different position, slightly raised and angled a bit, for the snare.
My next goal is to work on trigger settings, then finally take some time to learn how to build some good kits. I've had the kit for 7 months, but with two practices a week and the hopes of more frequent gigs, I haven't really taken much time to try to learn the advanced features of the module. I've built a few kits in a hurry that have gotten the job done, but I want to explore all of the possibilities now. We're competing in a Blues Challenge in early October, so I want to get the best sound out of it that I can.
I'm also going to be able to really break in the Chester Thompson signature RegalTips that I fell in love with a few weeks ago. I learned the value of having backup sticks at a gig. I typically kept two pair in my stick bag, one that I play with primarily, and a heavier set that I had switched from about a year ago. During the encore at our last gig, I lost one, and after grabbing one from the backup pair, I realized that, not only were these heavier, but they were larger in diameter, so it felt like I was swinging a tree trunk in my right hand. Should have just ditched the other one and grabbed both of the backup sticks! So after realizing that I like my new ones, I've added two more pairs to my stick bag. Not gonna get caught like that again! Luckily we were on what was supposed to be the last song of the night. We got coerced into two more songs by the crowd at the party, but I had enough time to retrieve my lost stick.
Once I get everything connected and some kits built, I'll try to share the end result. We're also trying to enlist someone to get some decent video of the 15-minute set we're playing for our Blues Challenge, so I'll hopefully have that to share soon!