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Flint · 02-26-2013, 10:57 AM

Now if you're just looking for a portable, acoustic kit, there are several options. They have the Hip Gig, the Jungle Kit, the Go Kit (Yamaha, Sonor, and Taye, respectively, I believe)--I have never played an off-the-shelf mini-kit, but I have built one:

Early-80's Tama 18" floor tom with Remo Emperor heads and a Rem-O muffler, on top of a Pearl floor-tom-to-bass-drum conversion kit (which requires a Pearl tom mount also); and with the right tuning this little bad boy is my favorite bass drum. An early-80's Tama "power" depth 12" tom makes a fine floor tom sound (on a suspension mount). The snare and cymbals don't need to be mini--although you could go with 13" hats and an 18" crash/ride and cover your basics. This would be bass, snare, and hats; with one tom and one cymbal--the basics. For portablility, you could get (at a garage sale, etc.) an airline travel case for a set of golf clubs. You can put all of your hardware inside.

I've played gigs with the 18" bass, 12" tom in the rack position and a matching 16" floor tom; 13" hats, an 18" crash, and an 18" ride. It's a pretty cool sounding kit for playing groove-oriented music, but it's not "mini" sounding--as long as you get the right heads, tuning, and muffling on the bass drum.

02-26-2013, 10:57 AM	#9
Flint Snowflake Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dystopia Posts: 13,136	Now if you're just looking for a portable, acoustic kit, there are several options. They have the Hip Gig, the Jungle Kit, the Go Kit (Yamaha, Sonor, and Taye, respectively, I believe)--I have never played an off-the-shelf mini-kit, but I have built one: Early-80's Tama 18" floor tom with Remo Emperor heads and a Rem-O muffler, on top of a Pearl floor-tom-to-bass-drum conversion kit (which requires a Pearl tom mount also); and with the right tuning this little bad boy is my favorite bass drum. An early-80's Tama "power" depth 12" tom makes a fine floor tom sound (on a suspension mount). The snare and cymbals don't need to be mini--although you could go with 13" hats and an 18" crash/ride and cover your basics. This would be bass, snare, and hats; with one tom and one cymbal--the basics. For portablility, you could get (at a garage sale, etc.) an airline travel case for a set of golf clubs. You can put all of your hardware inside. I've played gigs with the 18" bass, 12" tom in the rack position and a matching 16" floor tom; 13" hats, an 18" crash, and an 18" ride. It's a pretty cool sounding kit for playing groove-oriented music, but it's not "mini" sounding--as long as you get the right heads, tuning, and muffling on the bass drum. __________________ **************** There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio** Last edited by Flint; 02-26-2013 at 11:03 AM.