Cases

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palacki808
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Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:50 am
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Cases

Post by palacki808 »

I finally got cases for my phattie cocktail set. If anyone out there is still looking for cases for their drums I suggest looking into this.

There's two bags, a padded gig bag for the main drum and a square bag that looks like a hardware case, but it has dividers for two small drums and a pedal. The dividers are held in place with velcro and can be removed if need be. The square bag also has a special zippered pocket on the outside that's long enough to hold the legs of the drum.

I throw my cymbal bag over my shoulder and I can go into the gig in one trip and set up in 5 minutes acoustic or 10 minutes if I have to attach mics to the drums.
mangorockfish
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Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:23 pm
Location: arkansas

Post by mangorockfish »

I just got a bag for my main drum last evening via UPS. A friend of mine ordered a bass drum bag for a customer: 22X18 and they sent an 18X22 so I got it for a song. Now my 14X24 fits nicely without having to take off the tom & cymbal arms. I just fold them in and stick it in the bag. I also use a hard trap case w/rollers and a built-in cymbal vault. Seems to me like a Cocktailer shouldn't have more than three, at the most, pieces of luggage. 8)
palacki808
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more cases

Post by palacki808 »

I really like the idea of only bringing two or 3 LIGHT cases. I have alot more energy before the gig even starts. Even if you're playing a cocktail set and you bring 5 or 6 cases of drums and stuff, those cases will be so small and light that you could probably still carry them all in one or two trips.
Its not only better for you the drummer, but its also better for the band. A small cramped stage that you're trying to fit 7 or 8 people on to play all night suddenly isn't as cramped when you're set consists of one standing drum and a cymbal stand.
jmettam
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Cases

Post by jmettam »

Yeah, I'm with all of you!

My setup fits in two bags OR one flight case! One conga bag and a bike messanger bag. The flight case is on casters and is about 8" taller than the drum so I can fit all the hardware and misc percussion on top!

The hardware bag does get heavy though just because I do carry a lot of extras with me and the drum is now heavier since I put the gibraltar rim on it for mounting additional brackets. But still, all in all a single trip is amazing and it's only a problem if I have to walk several blocks or take the subway but then I bring a small folding dolly cart!

Image

http://cocktaildrum.com/learn/setup/jmettam/jkm.html

If I do a gig with just the drum, cymbal and maybe a cowbell, it's a breeze!

And as joe mentioned, fitting on a tight stage is great but also if you travel it makes life really easy. I have spent a lot of time touring where we opt for a mini van just because we can! One tour was with Cocktail Drum, Electric Bass, Acoustic Guitar, and 2 ELectric Guitarists. All in a dodge caravan! It worked great 5 in the front and all the gear in the back.

Also touring witht he fllight case is amazing too. Only one thing to worry about, check it in at the curb side and your good to go. On the other end you can do the van trick once again. Another group I toured with was a trio but our gear was: Concert Pedal Harp! Cocktail Drum, Djembe, Accordian, 2 Acoustic Guitars, Luggage (can't forget that!) and misc electronics. Same trick with the mini van worked! Somehow a dodge caravan is just the right size to sqeeze a concert harp in and have space for all that other stuff!

You just can't beat a cocktail drum! (pun sort of intended)

- John
Keith Cronin
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Joined: Mon May 13, 2002 8:21 am

Post by Keith Cronin »

This is probably awful to admit, but my cocktail drum is the one instrument I own that I don't bother putting in a case. I simply collapse all the hardware to its most compact position, and carry it by one of the floor-tom legs. I use a cymbal case and a small suitcase that holds my pedal, bongos, and sticks, and just schlep the main cocktail drum around as-is - this REALLY speeds up my setup time.


kc
mangorockfish
Posts: 182
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:23 pm
Location: arkansas

Post by mangorockfish »

Now that I have the bag for my main drum, my band guys better watch out as I'm going to be using my Cocktail Kit more and more. No problem, as they all love it and think that it is really cool. :D
jmettam
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Slingerland no. 286

Post by jmettam »

ONe thing I love about the old Slingerland no. 286 is that the bass drum (16x16) has a deco handle attached. I believe I heard that these drums had covers (unpadded cases) and that the BD case had a slit cut in it for the handle to poke through. I have one of these kits but I opt to carry it in a case since they are a bit rare!

If you look really close you can kind of see that there is a handle on top of the BD behind the snare stand mount!

Image

- John
Dinkus
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Location: Alberta, Canada
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Post by Dinkus »

I finally had time, here's some pics of what I used for my club Jordan for a case.

http://www.angelfire.com/music/dinkus/cocktailkit.html


Dinkus
palacki808
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set

Post by palacki808 »

I'm pretty anal when it comes to my drums. They have to be basically spotless, any little scratch bothers me. That's why I was so hopped up to get nice cases for it. I won't even take a set out to practice, let alone a gig without cases.

To get to the point of my post, the best thing about playing a cocktail set is being setup and ready to play before the guitar player is. I'm already at the bar looking over the girls and everyone else is still trying to get setup.

-Joe
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