I have a Tama StarClassic Performer kit. It is a great kit but after getting my Ludwigs, I am going to sell it. I prefer the modern hardware over the older hardware - to me, it really isnt comparable. The professional line of Tama is top notch stuff from shell construction, lugs, rim design, etc. However, the sound is too "clean" for my liking. Maybe its the sharp/perfect bearing edges. Maybe it is because I was a teenager in the mid 80's, and I have a presupposition of what a drum set "should" sound like. I could never get that sound out of my StarClassics. The drums sounded great, but not my kind of great. I have that sound I was looking for with my Ludwigs. I will never get rid of my "new to me" 1976 3ply Luddies. I have added suspension mounts to the Ludwigs and have them on a rack. It really doesnt get any better in my book. I have that round bearing edge tubby sound with solid, versatile hardware.

I've got an early 2000 Ayotte kit and a similar year maple Fibes that would be considered modern compared to all the 60's kits I have but even they are 60's style shell construction with re-rings. Even the Fibes are suppose to have Jasper shells. So they really sound more 60's than a kit with double 45s but different if you know what I mean. Not 60's Ludwig or Rogers but 60-ish. So I didn't buy modern drums to get a modern sound I bought modern drums because they are well built and they are just beautiful drums.

I have a modern kit...let's just say a well known brand...but once I got my 60s Ludwigs, it's what my ears want to hear. I've got a few of these sets now, and it's been since about a year ago. Not to dismiss the modern kit I have, but I've never been so excited to play and hear drums than since I've had my 60s Ludwigs. I promise that I'm not making this up, and it's even hard to explain this great feeling. Of course, most of my favorite drummers from back then were playing Ludwig (I mean non-jazz styles here), and maybe it's just that I love their playing and sound so much, that it's somehow "inside" of me now...

I have a DW set as well as a few vintage kits. The DW does give me that "modern" sound, and the vintage kits give off their sonic mojo as well. Being a stickler for particular sounds, I choose my kit for the gig/session accordingly...

I have some Yamaha RCs that I'm told are from the mid-1980s. I can't bring myself to sell them even though I haven't used them since I acquired my Slingerlands in 2010.

I use the stock tom mounts for each of my kits. Other than a Slingerland Dynamo HH, the rest of my hardware is Yamaha.

At the end of the day, I guess it's cool to have both options (modern and vintage) available if you can. Of course, we all know that vintage drums can differ a great deal from one another, just like modern drums. But I think for purposes of this discussion, you all get my drift. I mean, my modern Yamaha kit sounds great in it's own right. I've stongly contemplated going straight vintage lately, but leaning on keeping the big Y in the mix.

I owned a 1995 set of Ayotte Custom drums from 2001 - 2011..... they were great drums. I just could not abide that cheap sized 12x10. That is the only reason I finally sold them. Loved everything else about the drums.

I did keep the 14x7 snare.

Other than that, my "moderns" are limited to snares.

It seems to me that most of the studio jobs i have done in the pass.I like and so does everyone else the vintage sets i have also the vintage snares..When it comes to modern sounding sets i only play the ones i have made at the old shop O.C.D.P.....Mikey

I see what you mean about having modern snares...that is legit.