Some thoughts...

[Elton Bear]

It's not really about drums or drumming, more about drummers.
I've noticed on this forum, reading both the Drums and Guitar/Bass threads, we seem to be much more helpful here!

Thoughts?

[drummerboy_04AP]

drummers are cool like that

[Rimshot]

It's because, despite what the other musicians say, we drummers do get laid more regularly (and with attractive members of the opposite sex) and don't have all of the pent up frustration and bitchy attitudes. And we know a lot more about gear since half the time we do the set-ups and we have more gear to carry with us anyway.
And yeah............. drummers ARE cool like that.

[Elton Bear]

Lol, true true.

I was having a heated debate with a guitarist friend of mine a while back about the merits of different guitars, amps etc., and he eventually got into depths of techno-babble that left me in the dust. Just as he was patting himself on the back and smugly chuckling at me, I asked him where you'd find the lugs on a drum kit.

That threw him!

[mikeh]

Over the years I've found that drummers seem to be more supportive and actually less competitive than say guitarists.

I think a lot of it comes from the mentality - by nature, a drummer supports the music, is not in the spotlight as much and does not perform a "solo" - unless it is a featured spot (even then, I find many drummers don't actually like to solo - they simply want to groove). I think the point about drummers hauling and setting up more gear (making us more willing to be understanding and helpful) is very valid.

I think that is why drummers tend to be more supportive and helpful to other drummers than most other players tend to be.

[Rimshot]

................ but I really think that there is something to my answer too.

Regarding guitarists and technobabble. I think most guitarists know well enough how to use the equipment associated with their own instrument, but I have found that they are sadly lacking in the understanding of the gear that the other musicians use. Drummers on the other hand tend to have a fairly good (not necessarily expert, but good) knowledge of other musician's gear because we tend to be asked to attend to such things a lot.