All my vintage kits are 4pc, except for my 1970 Ludwig, which is a 5pc (dual floor toms.

However, I do have a newer PDP X7, with 5 toms, that is fun to play. All those toms make it almost impossible not to hit SOMETHING when you're just flailing around the kit! LoLoLoLo

All my kits are also 4 pc except for my 8 pc Rogers set which no longer gets any use. Gigging or carting around a big set is just too much on my 56 year-old back and also too time consuming. Plus, I'm getting to the mindset that if the greatest jazz drummers in history didn't need more than one mounted tom, why would I? In fact, I recently played with a jazz quartet (piano, flute, bass, & drums) with just a cocktail set up consisting of a floor tom (with cocktail pedal), piccolo snare, 18" ride and 13" high hat. Brought everything into the hall in one trip!

As time passes, I'm learning that so many of my possessions which I thought were indispensable, I hardly miss when they're gone.

I have a 7 peice that never leaves the house.Fun to play,and is really appropriate for somes styles of music,I have a Luddy S/L 1983 5pc 22 16 13 12 peice that I gig,and a Rogers 20 14 12 that I gig.

Unless you are playing prog rock or Metal I don't see a lot of big kits anymore.

A lot of the younger drummers are using one up two down,with a big kick,and a big ole ride bteween the ride tom and floor.

I think you're going to hear the same story over and over here.

You know the bop kits came about partly because guys had to carry those kits into little clubs in NY in cabs or on the subway.

Monster kits all made sense back in the 70s and 80s with stadium rock, roadies and drum techs.

I think the smaller kit trend started over again with punk, groups like NY dolls, Ramones, the Clash, were the Anti- big production rock and so out went the big kits. Little by little the smaller kits became trendy and people copied the trend.

So when so many guys had to truck their own gear, set up, tear down, and do it for not a lot more $ than we made 20 yrs. ago well then smaller kits made sense!

I have 2 big kits, one with 12 toms etc. but it stays home unless I get a couple roadies. So I mostly play with 4 pc. 2 crashes and a ride and sometimes even just a floor tom, bass, snare, cymbals. etc.

I can do the job with a smaller kit so why do the extra work?

The kits have gotten smaller but the cymbals have gotten bigger. I see lots of 16" hats and even an 18" pair. Lots of 20" crashes and occasionally even 22" crashes. I do see some of the contemporary gospel drummers using four toms. Of course the progressive rock guys still play big kits.

One of my Sonor kits wound up with 3 racks and 2 floors.

Another wound up with 4 racks and 2 floors.

Do you know, I've never set up either of them with everything up at the same time? I only got a bunch of different size toms so I could have 2 or 3 of the right sizes for whatever gig or session I'd need 'em for.

My preferred setup is 1 rack (usually a 13 live, 12 in the studio, generally but not always) and 2 floors (14 and 16 in the studio and 16 and 18 live, again usually but not always.)

If you can't get it done with a little kit, a big one won't help.

All I ever played was a one up one down! I get behind a big kit and I feel like a beginner!!

I have an enormous Yamaha maple custom in sea blue. It has 12 toms, 3 bass drums, and it's set up with about 35 cymbals, percussion, etc. etc.

Ok it didn't start out that way. It started with a 6 pc. kit, (10,12,13,14,16,22) then I added an 8, and started to play jazz. So I ordered a 20 bass drum to use for jazz gigs etc. Then I picked up another 10 & 12 short depth on Ebay. Any way the idea was to have a variety of sizes so I could have different set-ups for different gigs. I play traditional jazz, blues, classic rock, and fusion. I kept buying drums when they were for sale on Ebay, and then finally bought an entire Bop kit when Yamaha discontinued the color Sea Blue!!

So sometimes I set the whole kit up for fun and it's like being behind the console of the Starship Enterprise!!! I can get really creative, and if you miss something you hit something else and end up with a really cool ostinato.

Most of my kits are one up one down. I do have huge Ludwig Rocker set that I built from orpans collected from all over the country. Its a double bass with 8,10,12,13,14,15,16,18" toms. Its fun to play but currently I have half of it set up as a one up two down and I really like that.

I does seem as though you see small kits being used much more often. John Hiatts drummer has a one up, one down kit and so do many others, allthough you see two floor toms often enough also.

Jeff C