I think it's hoarding when your kits or snares are just piled up. It's a collection if they are well maintained and displayed.

I am at 8 sets now with a few collectible snares and cymbals. 3 modern sets and 5 vintage sets and have a use for each one. Very small stage or small jazz lounge. My Sonor Safari's or Gretsch jazz set. My Premiers for larger open stages when I play in the blue's rock band. My Gold vintage Ludwigs or Frankenkit at medium size gigs. My PDP's for outside day gigs or if the weather is iffy. I keep my Classic Hollywood set in the studio. My vintage Slingerlands in larger jazz settings. I think I am done for now, maybe. Every time I say that I find something good for a rediculous price and want to restore it or add to it to sell, that's what the wife hears anyway. and then I fix the stuff up and never sell anything.

Cool. You make a good point that you are USING them. So long as you can find a need, I think it's okay to have a bunch of stuff...at least for me. Granted, I have a few 60s Ludwig kits of the same sizes, but each will get used. And life would be boring looking at the same drum finish. Heck, who cares what other people think!!!!

I have too much stuff. I don't have as many drums as a lot of you guys. I have 4 Slingerland kits, some extra toms, snares, and bass drums, maybe 20 cymbals, and a cheap cocktail kit.

But I also have 10,000 records, 30 keyboards, a handful of guitars and basses, 5000 cd's, 2 Triumph Spitfires, a Miata, and a Subaru Forester. It can be heavenly or a pain in the butt. It's a fine line between collecting and hoarding. I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder. I just like cool old stuff that's musical.

Most of the drums get used in one way or another. Two of the kits are gigged, one is kept at work in the basement for practicing, another is set up at my folks house for when I visit and bang around. I don't buy drums just to have them. I have only Slingerlands for the most part.

I like the comment about making sure they all get used. I now have 3 vintage kits/no modern kits. Two of my kits are similar sizes, but different sound - due in large part to different head selection and tuning.

Vibes mentioned - and I've been thinking the same - using a decent modern kit for outdoor gigs. The problem is, I can't afford to just go buy another kit...and I'm not letting go of any of 3 I have.

Oh, and the only person whose opinions of the number of kits I have that I care about is my wife...and she's supportive. She wants her dining room back, ;) but she understands. I may have said this before, but: Apartment life sucks!

Right, even though I have a few duplicate Ludwigs (all 60s era) as far as sizes, I'll rotate them in and out. For those particular drums, there really isn't a need for me to duplicate...it's just that I like a few different finishes to mix it up...more of a look thing in those cases. I mean, I actually set them up all the same too. Sound is king, but it's also nice to give the audience some hip vintage eye candy like champange sparkle or BOP. And it also gets me excited to play them. I'm giddy over black or blue oyster pearl, champagne, and even BDP.

I can understand that. I'd love to have champagne, OBP, BOP, etc... All in different configurations would be ideal, but I'd take what I could get and use different types of heads and tuning...that way I'd be telling the truth when I told my wife, "but they're different aesthetically and tonally." But that's just me dreaming of having a few more kits.

There's nothing wrong with this vintage drum hobby...some people just don't understand the hobby and some simply disagree with the concept of owning a bunch of drums...our collecting lives still go on...happy hunting!

Mike Curotto

550 snare drums

Many catalogs and a butt load of vintage parts and calf heads....and proud of it!

Different drums = different sounds. Ask her why she keeps so many spices in the rack.

...or so many shades/colors of eye shadow, nail polish, etc...