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Going on 2 years gigging!!!

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Dartanbeck:
Two weeks from now will mark my two year anniversary with my previous edition Alesis DM10X Mesh

I've had a good run of gigs this whole time and have yet to break or even blemish anything!

Granted, I pack them up nicely in cases and handle with care. I try not to "beat" on them like a monster smashing things. I use Armor-All cleaning wipes to keep them looking nice, which seems to not only remove any stick blemishes, but also keep the latex portions soft and pliable (cymbals) - and I have a Swiffer duster in my stick bag. Stuff cleans up so much nicer if one doesn't let it 'bake' onto the finish! LOL

I don't consider myself a light-hitter when the adrenaline's pumping and I'm gigging our 4 hour shows. I have made a conscious effort to 'try' to play a bit lighter on these - knowing that hitting them a lot harder isn't going to make them any louder - and I have a strong urge to keep these nice.

Man... my kit is still looking new! It plays great, sounds great with the stock module... I just Love this thing!

Dartanbeck:
We play a lot of gigs during the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons, and slow down to about one or two per month in Winter. Quite a bit of gigging.

I absolutely love how portable this kit is.

The way I case up my pads makes any tear down or set up almost exactly a half hour. I recently bought two strips of industrial strength velcro to hold my rack in the folded position for transport - works like a freaking Charm!

AlanK:
That is incredibly awesome and congratulations on the successful use of the DM10X gigging and taking such good care of it! I totally get the not smashing them to bits thing, I'm a fairly light player myself and even when we're pounding out a song in my jams I only ever get up to maybe 80% force (and we don't play anything too heavy.. maybe Surrender/Cheap Trick is the hardest hitting).

I'm sure people here would agree, it's been interesting reading about your exploits with your kit, making it transportable and all.. I'm sure you've shared all sorts of pics along the way but my memory fades with time.. you should post a couple more pics of this kit (and you) in action at some gig, or at least a pic or two of how it looks pre or post show for us all to admire again! (do you have a youtube channel, FB group or website for your band??)

Great hearing how happy you are with it all! May you have years and years more of satisfied drumming with it :)

Dartanbeck:
Thanks!
Yeah, I absolutely love this kit! I've borrowed my Singer's Alesis Sample Pad Pro and midi'd it In to my DM10 module and used it for extra cymbal sounds, effects, and other fun stuff. After a while I was fine without it, so right now I'm just back to the full DM10X Mesh kit, pumping through a lot of watts! :)

My goal now is to retire this kit to my home for practice, and get a new Strike Pro kit. Afterwards I'd love to add the new Strike Multipad to that! Oh Yeah!!! Really loving the capabilities of the Strike module that I'm seeing online!

I really need to get some new photos. The girl that took this one comes to most of our shows and takes a lot of pictures. I'll have to see if she can send me more. But I like this one. This place has Christmas lights all over the place year-round - just a fun party spot with excellent food!

Dartanbeck:
One of my guitarists is amazing at manufacturing custom... anything, and is quite worldly at finding things.

When I first bought my DM10X Mesh kit, he asked me to try out a pair of cases that he had laying around for years. He and his company only used them for hauling folding chairs to and from product shows and such.

They're perfect!

I didn't have any foam to work with, but corrugated cardboard is used a lot in keeping things g-force safe, so I used that (doubled in thickness) to make the dividers, and glued black fabric over them. The Bass drum tower and Hi Hat pedal each have their own black pillow case.




I made partitions with some foam in place to both hold down the pads under them, and to hold the bells of the cymbals on top.




The DM10 module box has a hole cut in the bottom to accept the rack mount, then two pieces of foam hold the box high enough in the case to accommodate the mount peg that pokes out the bottom.



The cases are awesome! They each have two casters and molded in handles on the opposite end, so they can be pulled along like a dolly. But one thing I noticed when going through tight spots, while the case is upright, it easily travels perfectly sideways! If I can fit through, the case will follow, no problem, no hassle!



I still plan to revisit the cases a little. That same guitarist has found a whole bunch of flight-case foam, so I may make them more like guitar cases for my drums. These cases also allow for adaptable depth, so when I add another kit, I'll be able to add another partition to each case to hold the added pads and cymbals.

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