I mainly record heavier rock and metal in my studio - the "house kit" I have is a Yamaha Oak Custom that sounds AWESOME for these genres, but I just picked up a late 60's Ludwig Classic that I'm hoping to use for the lighter rock stuff. The clients I tend to get in aren't really on the higher end of budget, so usually their kits are low-end Tamas or PDPs. I find it easier to set up my own drums for these bands and mic them up, as I know they'll sound great and I don't have to bother with finding perfect micing positions.

However - I will say that it's always a treat when a band comes in with a Tama Starclassic Birch/Bubinga kit. Those things are just amazing sounding under the mics!

Sadly I'm not using my vintage kit for recording.

Instead Im playing my Sonor 24,13,16 kit.

I've had it for 3 years now after trading a huge Slingerland COW concert tom kit for it.

If/when we go to record some of our slower more groove/feel oriented work then I will grab the Ludwigs.

I have been using my 1980 six ply Ludwig four piece in my studio most of the time with different snare drums. The toms and Bass drum sound really good and I don't have any problem throwing up the mics and getting a good sound. I usually try to dissuade drummers who come in with their band from using multi Tom kits with more than three cymbals. I can record with up to seven mics on a kit but I now use a four mic system. Kick, snare, L & R overheads with great results. I have found less is more and good drums tuned well sound the best. I record everything flat. No EQ . I do all that post recording. I have been thinking about changing up kits with a couple of my other vintage kits to see what kind of sound they get, just haven't had the time.

Why?

I'm sure we're recording different kinds of music, but I always find it to be a welcome challenge when a band comes in with a 7 piece set and 10 cymbals :P

It's easier and sounds better recording a 3 or 4 piece kit. Not all, but most folks who don't have a lot of studio experience who bring in big kits tend to overplay and usually sound like a train wreck.

+1 what Tim said. Good example of; less is more! If you can't say what you have to say on the drums with a basic kit, then all the extra drums and brass don't really matter anyway. Just headaches for the engineer and unnecessary clutter in the studio.

1-up, 1-down, grab yer sticks and go to town!

John

So diversity goes right out the window ? All numbers should sound the same so your band can be picked out of a crowd ?

That`s an awful long way to say lazy !i

Why ? That`s easy, .....so the solo sounds like boom, boom, t... boom boom, t,.... boom, boom, t, da da , da da, boom, boom, t (repeat) !i