How do you haul your hardware?

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coloradojay

coloradojay

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I am about to start gigging again for the first time since high school. Back then my gear was all crappy and I just threw it in the car without cases. Now I have nicer stuff, and want to do it the pro way, so I recently bought cases for my drums, and soon a cymbal case.

But, what about hardware (cymbal stands/tom stands/snare stand)?

Do you:

-Put it all in one of those big hardware chests made by the drum case people? Does it take two people to carry that bulky heavy thing?

-Use a rack, and leave all cymbal stands set how you want them (I've seen guys do this and if you've got a big truck or van it seems like a really nice way to go)

-Throw it all in the vehicle? Bungee cord it into a bundle?

I am looking into large wheeled luggage, and that seems like a cool alternative to carrying all that heavy gear too.

So what do you do to haul your hardware?
 
6 views and nobody's haulin hardware!? C'mon guys, help me out here...
 
I don't really gig much these days but when moving from place to place I put most but not certainly all of my hardware in just a very large duffle bag. It totally sucks and sometimes downright hurts to carry, but the cut down of extra trips is worth it.

If I was giging extensively, I would definitely invest in some sort of hardware case or bag with wheels as my canvas bag also offers pretty much no protection to the hardware inside.

Good luck....


:)
 
When I was playing drums I used light duty hardware for gigging, so what I would do is use a milk crate and a dolly (two wheeler/hand truck). I would take the piece of drum carpet (I always brought) and roll it into a tube, then put it into the milk crate and put my hardware into the carpet tube and was good to go. The dolly was used for the PA cabs as well.
Wasn't a perfect solution, but it worked without buying anything.


:)
 
I use soft carrying cases for my drums for short runs. I put my hardware into several different duffel bags wrapped in a blanket and bungie chorded so they don't slide around and get scratched. I carry my cymbals in three different Zildjian zippered cymalbags.The kick drum, a large tom go in the back seat with my mics and board case, my cymbal bags and my stick bag. The cymbal hardware,the throne, and repair kit and tools go in the
trunk. And I have a hard closed roof carrier for the rest of my drums.My clothing and other necessaries and a djembe and doumbek go in the passenger seat in the front or elsewhere they'll fit. I have an old 1993
Toyota Corolla and it serves me well (heavy duty shocks installed).I can travel with my
7 piece kit with the 12 cymbals that I play and I have, but recently, I've been limiting myself to a 5 piece kit for travel with about 5-6 cymbals. For long haul gigs where your gear is going in a truck or van that you're not driving, the hard cases or crates is the way to go. I always bring a flat
small wheeled dollie with me to help move the heavy stuff.
 
I use a case I got off ebay for around 100 bucks. Seems to work well enough, though it's getting awfully crowded in there.

Use a dolly I got from Home Depot to move it around. The big wheels on the dolly make it a lot easier to move, and it's also good moving my drums in their SKB cases.

Anything you can do to save wear and tear on *you* has my vote.

-bruce
 

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I tell you,
I have what I think is a perfect solution.
I gig every week sometimes 3 to 4 times. I even have weekends like this last one where I have played 2 festivals just hours apart.
Believe me when I say I have tried them all.

For my hardware I went to Academy Sports (you plug in your favorite discount sports shop) and bought a travellers soft rolling golf club bag cover for $40.
It is made of really sturdy materials with the big luggage type whells on one end. when you place all your stands in it (and it holds a bunch) you strap them in with belt straps the rigidizes the whole mess then zip it up (it is totally enclosed), grab the strap handle and roll away! It has extra pockets for other small gear as well.

When empty it rolls up to a small wad that you can put in your bass drum case.It is a lot cheaper than those rolling hard cases you buy at Guitar center and the like.
 
Thanks for all of the detailed replies guys.

theletterq- I've though about just using a big soccer ball duffle, and I've seen it done, but my kit has become too damn big for that at this point, I've got about 4 big cymbal stands, an HH, snare, and double tom stand. It certainly works though.

BillyFurnett- I like your solution a lot- utilitarian, and low cost. I love it when I come up with stuff like that. I've got a couple of bucks allocated for a bag, but this one still might be the winner. It's always nice to have a dolly anyway, and it seems like most clubs have one available. I've been looking at the dolly's that are upright, but have castor wheels up by the handles, so you can lay them down and roll them too.

Rimshot- your kit sounds similar sized to mine. It sounds like your drums probably wiegh almost as much as your Corolla! A 4 wheel dolly isn't a bad idea either. I learned just how great they are the last time I moved my hot tub. The first time it was 5 big guys working hard not to drop it; the second time, my roommate who is a mover, just brought a tactical strap a 4 wheeler and a bunch of plywood, and we rolled it right on and off the truck with only me and him, and one girl to move plywood as we went- go 4 wheeler!

boose44- I've looked at these types of cases and $100 seems like a good deal compared to many I've seen. The only thing I'm not sure about besides the cost, is how heavy that thing will be by itself much less how heavy it will get once it's loaded with stands.

tmix- That sounds like we might have a winner! I've been looking at wheeled softside footlockers/luggage that are made for airline travel, and they are light with pretty rugged wheels, but also expenisve. I'll have to make a trip to my local sportinggoods/golf stores and check for a bag carrier. I bet I can find a smokin deal on one especially because it's about to be snow season here and golf stuff is likely to be on clearance.

Any other cool ideas anyone has to share are appricated. Thanks again for the responses.

Keep layin down the solid beats brothers.
 
tmix said:


For my hardware I went to Academy Sports (you plug in your favorite discount sports shop) and bought a travellers soft rolling golf club bag cover for $40.
It is made of really sturdy materials with the big luggage type whells on one end. when you place all your stands in it (and it holds a bunch) you strap them in with belt straps the rigidizes the whole mess then zip it up (it is totally enclosed), grab the strap handle and roll away! It has extra pockets for other small gear as well.
Click to expand...

dude! thanks so much for writing that. i've been gigging a lot lately and i have this one huge bag for all the hardware and it weighs at least a hundred pounds. i'm going to the sports store immediately.
 
I'm a guitar player, but, our drummer uses a small foot locker with cut up pieces of blanket between the layers of hardware. After he is all set up he then sets it on one end and uses it like a table to set a drink or whatever on. If you have room for an extra box when you load up your gear you might want to consider this also.
 
I use to use a single hardshell case, but the weight got to be too much (I use a 5 piece kit - but use several cymbals, chimes and other mounted percussion = lots of stands).

Then I went to using a couple of golf bags (purchased at rummage sales for like $1.00 each) which worked great - except for the repeated lame jokes from drunks at bars ("this ain't a golf course, etc.)

Then about 4 years ago I started working in a drum shop (which provided a great discount) and I went to a rack system - which didn't fit in the golf bags - so I purchased several soft cases (ie: tuxedo) - this way all my hardware and cymbal bags match. Naturally, whenever possible, I use a two wheel dolly, rather than carry all the weight over my shoulder).

Yeah I know matched hardware bags ain't a high priority - but I play at a lot of country club and up scale private events - and the matched bags just look sooo much better than my ratty golf bags.

In any case, I recommend more cases than less - to disperse the weight (when I used a single hard case the damn thing weighed almost as much as me - which sucked going up stairs).

And always - use hard shell cases for drum shells!!!
 
Dani- a footlocker would be cool, but definitly needs wheels for all the stands I'm currently using to not be backbreaking labor. I'm still looking around at those for sure.

Mikeh- can you tell me more about how your rack goes into the cases? Are you able to keep things adjusted pretty much the way you play them (like with memory locks), or do you have to tear it all down and re-set it back up.

I saw a guy who pulled a whole giant rack out of his van that was all set up complete with boom-stands, tomarms, and everything pre-positioned. Basically he just stood it up in front of the bass drum snare and hihat, and mounted up toms/cymbals and he was ready to play- that was slick, but I don't have a van.

The cool thing, which I really like about the crate/rug/dolly or golf bag carrier luggage idea, is that I could probably get away with leaving stands semi-intact (or just pull the tops off), and load them into my 4runner longways to save some of the tweaking time during setup.

P.S. my drums just got brand new Nomad Fiber cases all the way around, which fit nice and snug with the RIMS mounts. I've also got a Humes and Berg Enduro/foam snare case too for extra protection of my irreplacible matching birdeye maple snare. When I bother bringing it (maybe for funk/fusion/reggae projects), my 12" Gretsch snare will probably occupy the 14" fiber case with a towel to fill in the gap. I think the Nomads will last pretty well, and they were an excellent deal at $180 for 6 pieces.
 
I'm another of the duffle bag guys. I have one of these:
http://www.eaglecreek.com/20014.html

I manage to fit inside this bag (all stands double braced):
throne base, snare stand, hi hat stand, double tom stand, single boom, single straight, tom holder w/extension arm (for splash), another double tom stand (not for toms though) with 2 boom type stands and stick bag.

It works real well...is pretty heavy but I can manage to carry myself. The real nice thing about this duffle is that 1.) it's super heavy duty and 2.) it has handles on each end so, if I manage to get someone to help me carry my shit, we can each grab a handle.

Keep in mind that I don't gig too much....if I did gig alot more I'd probably get a hard-shelled equipment case with wheels.

all of my drums (6 piece yamaha beech custom) are in tuxedo soft bags. good for limited gigging but wouldn't want to use them for extensive gigging.
 
I went to wal mart and got a cargo case in the sporting goods section....i use it to haul all my stands and cords...and it was under 20 bucks :D!!
 
coloradojay said:
Mikeh- can you tell me more about how your rack goes into the cases? Are you able to keep things adjusted pretty much the way you play them (like with memory locks), or do you have to tear it all down and re-set it back up.
Click to expand...

A great and much cheaper alternative to memory locks (if your hardware didn't come with them) that allows you to collapse stands into themselves is simply draw a ring around the tube at each memory point with a permanent marker. If you're sliding the tubes in and out alot you occasionally need to redraw but that takes all of 30 seconds...
 
theletterq said:
A great and much cheaper alternative to memory locks (if your hardware didn't come with them) that allows you to collapse stands into themselves is simply draw a ring around the tube at each memory point with a permanent marker. If you're sliding the tubes in and out alot you occasionally need to redraw but that takes all of 30 seconds...
Click to expand...

That's a good idea. Most of my stands do have the memory locks, but that's a cool way to do it for the ones that don't. Reminds me of guys I've seen who also put tape on their rug to show where the bass/snare/hh/stands all go in relation to each other for quick setup, or as a guide for their "drum tech".
 
I struggled with blankets and rope/belts and then cordura bags for years (Humes & Berg Tuxedo, Midwest Percussion) and always hated it. I hurt myself carrying my stands that way. I finally went with the SKB Trap X1. It's big (38 X 16 X 15), but it has great wheels and everything but the drums & cymbals (SKB Cymbal Vault - awesome) fit in it (6 cymbal stands, snare stand, tom legs, hihat, throne, pedal, splash cymbals, blah blah). I *can* get it up stairs and into the van by myself if I have to, but we usually have a bit of help loading and un. I have not regretted this purchase once in the 1.5 years I've had it.

Larry
 

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I built my own cases, much like bruce showed up there. They are made of 3/4" plywood. Got wheels, handles, and padlock latch. I designed them in mind to hold the drums and the hardware. The bottom has padded and carpeted compartments for my 10, 12 and 13 rack tom. Then a piece of plywood fits down over that (supported by the compartment sides, not the toms), and I store the hardware on that. The other case holds the snare, floor tom, and kick drum. They are both 4" long 2" wide, and 2" deep. Easy to store, easy to move, easy to get a running start, jump on it, and surf it across the gym floor.(btw the last comment is fun until you plow into a row of chairs and fall face first off)
 
Coloradojay, Sorry I did not reply sooner.

In answer to your question, I do have to break my rack down. I am able to keep most of the boom arms in there extended position (when I put them in the bags), but the arms do come off the rack.

I use the method letterq suggested (magic markers on the tubes).
Memory locks are great if you have them, but I use 12 booms, and didn't want to buy that many locks - but the markers do the job (I have to remark after a couple of gigs - but that is not a big problem).
 
Jblount- That sounds very cool, two big ole' trap cases huh? I'd bet they are pretty heavy just by themselves considering that they are plywood. I like the idea of do it yourself though. I just built a 180 ft long cedar fence around my yard, and I'm glad to be able to say that I did it rather than paying someone else to. Post pics if you ever get a chance, the design sounds super-slick, with the upper shelf, and padding and all.

Mikeh- That's cool. That's kind of what I was picturing. Luckily most of my hardware came with memory locks, at least my toms, and main cymbal stands. If I had a van, I think I'd go right out and get a rack, how cool would it be to just have a helper carry the whole rack back in, and unfold it, all positioned and ready to play- ya know? It's nice that your bags are big enough to keep your booms positioned though, I want to shoot for keeping things as "preset" as possible.

We are playing our first gig tomorrow night (I've been on stage singing in the last couple of years but first time behind the kit on stage in about 10 years). I'm going to hit up Gart Sports and a local golf shop at lunch to look for one of those golf bag carriers. I think out of all the great suggestions offered here, that one sounds the slickest/most cost effective for my situation right now. I also saw on the Target.com site that they've got one for like 40 bucks that looks fairly decent.

Thanks again, to everyone who has shared their techniques with me.

J

"Power to the people and the beats" - PE
 
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