Re: The Official JJ Johnson Thread

[Dave-the-drummer]

Its real high and boxy sounding on my floor tom matt, just what i wanted a real jazzy tone off that drum.

[Matt]

i'm in love.....

[Ali G]

That kit looks lovely matt. I saw it on the MDS channel, and I looooove the sound of 18" kicks on Yamaha MCA/MCANs

Haven't really done much with my kit, been really busy lately, but great news! Benny Greb is coming to Malaysia! He's doing a drum clinic here in July, so if all goes well, I can see him! Very excited for that.

[Connor.]

Damn, I could go for a kit like that.
In fact, Im 90% sure my next kit will be a Yamaha MCA in probably vintage natural finish. Sizes: 18x14, 14x14, 12x8,
Those drums just sound so good to me, and they arent too expensive in terms af drums.

[Taylor.]

Haven't checked in here in awhile now.
How have you guys been?

Everything's goin good on my end. My great friend and bass player Nathan is getting married in about 2 weeks, so next weekend we're surprising him and heading up to Chicago for his bachelor party. Should be a good time. We're stopping in St Louis on the way to see the John Patitucci Trio at a jazz club downtown. Some of you guys might be familiar with his work with Chick Korea. Fantastic player, so that will be a great show for sure.

The 15x6.5 Ludwig snare I told you guys about awhile back didn't work out, as I had to save some money for this trip. I'm hoping the seller still has it though. May pick it up in a few weeks if so.


Got a call last night from my cousin, who's also a drummer, and he now lives and works in Nashville with his own music promotion/management business. Before he moved to Nashville he lived in my area doing session work, and since he's moved, I've basically taken his place and he recommends me to people he knows, so I get most of my work from his previous contacts. Anyway, he contacted me last night, asking if I could record a drum track for a friend of his that lives out in LA. I agreed, and he sent me the studio files. Bluesy rock sort of tune, fairly simple. I asked him what it was for, and he responded saying that it's for a friend of his in the business who gave him a big break when he started out. Said that I'd be doing him a big favor by getting this done. That was really all the info I needed.

Why I'm telling you all this? The last time I did a favor for my cousin, he repayed me by getting me a paying gig in Kansas City to about 3,000 people, free trip to and from the gig in a private jet with all the equipment provided by a production company. So, when he asks me to do him a favor... it usually leads to something pretty awesome. haha. I'm excited.


That's pretty much the recent news on my end.
What's happening with you dudes lately ?

[Taylor.]

Now to catch up on previous posts I've missed...


Yes, that Yellow Sparkle Fade Yamaha is absolutely STUNNING. Haven't paid much attention to that finish before, but I think I might like it even more than the Apple Sparkle Fade. Sounds great too. I've become such a huge sucker for vintage drums in the last couple years, that most newer, modern style kits don't even appeal to me much anymore. One of the few exceptions to that idea would be the Yamaha MCA kits though. They're just all sooooo classy. Real shame they've been discontinued.

Do you guys dig George Sluppick's playing as much as I do? I get really excited any time I see him in the videos on the MDS or MyCymbal site. That video is no exception. Seems like every time I see him, he plays a new lick that leaves my jaw on the floor. haha.


Dave... Fiberskyn heads as tom resos? BRILLIANT idea. Can't say that's ever crossed my mind before. Considering how great they sound on kicks, it only makes sense that they could have great potential on toms as well. I'm definitely trying that on my Slingerlands soon.

Ali... that's awesome that Greb is coming to your area soon!
That's gotta be super exciting. I'd love the opportunity to see him live sometime.

Matt... any update on those job interviews you mentioned ?
You must be getting super close to graduating now, right ?

[Matt]

- graduation is may 15th, super pumped.
- looks like i'm going to be accepting a position in Nashville and moving there in august or late july.

totally stoked for the opportunities that are coming my way, just ready to start saving for a new kit.

[Taylor.]

That's awesome, bro. Congrats!

[Taylor.]

You guys still alive ?


What's happening ?

[Matt]

im still alive & well. graduated. job hunting while im still working at old navy. also truck shopping. thats about all thats goin on right now.

[Taylor.]

Yeah man, I saw the truck thread on PDF. You find anything lately ?

And congrats again on graduating. That's awesome bro.

[Taylor.]

Drum related...

After owning my Slingerland kit for over a year, I finally got them out last Saturday and gave them my best efforts on a restoration job.

Disassembled all the hardware and polished all the chrome. The insides of the tom shells were painted purple and the inside of the kick was a nasty white, so I sanded those down the best I could back to the natural maple interiors. Cleaned and polished everything again, reassembled, put some new heads on and was ready to use them for an outdoor gig last Sunday.

They sounded perfect. I was able to get the exact tones I wanted from the kit. Very fat and punchy and vintage. And now they look better than they have for decades, most likely.

I wasn't able to get any pics at the gig, but I think I'll take em outside in the next couple days and get some good pics. I'm really happy to finally have them looking and sounding the way I want them to. Or at least as close to that as my budget will allow for the time being.

I've been giving some very serious though to selling all of my DW 9000 series hardware and replacing it all with the Gibraltar flat bases and a couple more Tama Roadpro stands. After using them at some gigs lately, I'm finally realizing that the DW stands are waaaayyyyyy too heavy for what I need with my simple setup, and just a pain to carry around.

You guys think a full swap for the flat base hardware would be worth it ?

[Matt]

yeah, i've got a toyota tacoma i'm trying to lockdown right now, trying to find the best financing option right now, really hope it works out for me, it's a solid truck.

Honestly, I just have the one gibraltar flat base stand, but i love it. super light weight. sturdy, doesn't wobble. I'd totally recommend them. not 100% sure about if i'd get a flat snare stand, but they are nice stands.

[Connor.]

Alright, here we go guys. This could be a while.
First of all I've been pretty busy for the past month of so, both musically and not.

Firstly, on a musical note.
About a month ago I had the privaledge of performing at the Canadian Rocky Mountain Music Festival. I played with my school's jazz band, symphonic bands, and grade level concert bands. It was a great experience, and I recieved alot of beneficial advice from guest clinicians and the like. About a week ago, I also performed for my final school band conert at an outdoor amphateatre event. That was alot of fun. This monday I was asked to sit in with a jazz band, performing at for this years grade 12 graduation ceremonies. I played one tune, a vocal feature, for an audience of about 5,000 people.

I also, about 3 weeks ago, started a job in the drum department of a local music store. Im working two evenings a week there, and loving it. There's quite a big learning curve associated, but Im learning alot too. I hoping now that I have some steady income to buy a new kit in the future (probably a mapex saturn in 18x14,12x8,14x14).

Anyways,
thats whats going on with me.

by the way, the traffic needs to start picking up more on here.

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