HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Looking at current drum manufacturers output it is clear that just like hifi the industry is full of buzz words new speak and general marketing bollocks. Owners of cheaper kits are made to feel inferior by people with more costly offerings. Gear snobbery is alive and well. As with hifi, cars etc etc image is everything. I know some less than average drummers who big themselves up, have multi thousand pound kits and leave me cold watching them play. Flip the coin and there is the guy who has cheap but good sounding equipment and actually knows how to play

I want to be one of the guys with the cheap kits who doesn't care about image but knows how to get the best out of them with good tuning and tasteful playing. I have heard cheap and expensive drums that all sounded rubbish to me (not through microphones). I have heard excellent sounding expensive and cheap drums.

Brands - yes fanboys are alive and well in the drumming fraternity. They are faithful to the last breath and will take your head off if you say something they dont like about those particular drums. The forum i go onis not so bad for this but the guys are mostly from the US and middle aged plus so they love the American vintage stuff like Ludwig (Bonham, Ringo), Slingerland (Buddy Rich) and Rodgers.

I am mainly a Premier man ( used to be made in uk) but that is a sad story. Now nothing more than a skeletal company with one or two people manning a small office. Financial problems have ruined this once mighty drum manufacturer. They have been bought and sold numerous times, production switched to the far east but eventhat could not save them. I hope they return some day although thankfully there is a healthy second hand market in the uk.

Japan started off in the 60's and 70's copying US drums with companies like Star (turned in to Tama) Yamaha and Pearl. By the end of the 70's they were all serious brands producing some excellent drums and bringing innovation. The best selling kit ever (Pearl Export) had sold a million kits by the late 1990's. Decent sounding drums with good reliability and a realistic price tag. I happen to have recently acquired some early 80's examples. Battered and a little rusty but still doing their thang.

There are others like Sonor (German), Meridian, Gretsch etc etc etc. Vintage gear has some very exotic price tags. Over inflated in my opinionbut it gives the oldies something to get obsessed about.

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2019 5:29 pm I worry about guitarists whose guitars just disappear from the mix, but its my fault, the kit is faulty (it isn't), anything except their guitar. I think I know what it might be but I'll know more on Sunday.

Sounds like a problem with the brain-to-guitar interface to me.

slinger wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2019 1:43 pm

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2019 5:29 pm I worry about guitarists whose guitars just disappear from the mix, but its my fault, the kit is faulty (it isn't), anything except their guitar. I think I know what it might be but I'll know more on Sunday.

Sounds like a problem with the brain-to-guitar interface to me.

I suspect the socket in the guitar isn't wired correctly! If I am right the same guy has repaired several that he'll have to correct but how to prove it?

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2019 6:12 pm

slinger wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2019 1:43 pm

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2019 5:29 pm I worry about guitarists whose guitars just disappear from the mix, but its my fault, the kit is faulty (it isn't), anything except their guitar. I think I know what it might be but I'll know more on Sunday.

Sounds like a problem with the brain-to-guitar interface to me.

I suspect the socket in the guitar isn't wired correctly! If I am right the same guy has repaired several that he'll have to correct but how to prove it?

I'll be interested to hear the resolution.

slinger wrote: ↑Fri May 24, 2019 1:17 pm

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2019 6:12 pm

slinger wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2019 1:43 pm

Sounds like a problem with the brain-to-guitar interface to me.

I suspect the socket in the guitar isn't wired correctly! If I am right the same guy has repaired several that he'll have to correct but how to prove it?

I'll be interested to hear the resolution.

I'll be happy to let you know once I have solved it.

Well had a storming gig last night, it was amazing. Crowd was full of lots of people i know and people i dont know too. About 700 all told including kids playing and not interested in music. Some good bands played and inthe true spirit of band rivalry they weren't as good as us and the drummer in the band on after us is a knob. Cant remember your name pal and your drumming was as bland as bland. Tight enough but bored me to death and no hint of the fonk. Played a feckiing Who medley with no ffing fills ffs.

Best feeling in the world to play music to people and they enjoy it. We even stuck a couple of originals in we were walking on air.

Good to hear it went well, nothing to beat the buzz from a live gig.

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Fri May 24, 2019 7:14 pm

slinger wrote: ↑Fri May 24, 2019 1:17 pm

Geoff.R.G wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2019 6:12 pm

I suspect the socket in the guitar isn't wired correctly! If I am right the same guy has repaired several that he'll have to correct but how to prove it?

I'll be interested to hear the resolution.

I'll be happy to let you know once I have solved it.

Some on-line research reveals something I suspected. Some guitars are wired to use the ring and sleeve of the three pole jack plug, the tip being used only to retain the plug in the guitar. Using a mono jack to jack cable means that the output is effectively short circuited by the sleeve of the mono plug, there is nothing on the tip. Use a balanced jack to jack cable and it seems to work but I suspect a specifically wired cable is the answer Why people can't just use standard wiring I don't know.

Not sure yet that this is the problem but a balanced jack to jack worked yesterday.

That's insane. I've been playing for 50 years and I've never come across that before. The only time I've ever heard of a stereo lead being used is on a guitar actually wired for stereo. i.e. two pickups are wired to the tip and the ring with the sleeve as common earth so you can output each pickup to a separate amp etc..

slinger wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 8:03 pm That's insane. I've been playing for 50 years and I've never come across that before. The only time I've ever heard of a stereo lead being used is on a guitar actually wired for stereo. i.e. two pickups are wired to the tip and the ring with the sleeve as common earth so you can output each pickup to a separate amp etc..

Unfortunately very few of the guitar wiring diagrams I found are more than hook-up diagrams so no proper symbols but I gathered that Les Paul wiring uses the ring and sleeve in the guitar. If some amateur guitar mender had started with one of those he/she might think that was "correct" and wire all instruments the same way. This is especially likely as the jack socket in the guitar is the most vulnerable part and likely to require replacement.

Fortunately I have a good supply of connectors so I can make up some cables to try to isolate the error.