Away from the mall

Okay, so I broke my rule of not going shopping on Black Friday … but it wasn’t so bad.

Suzan and I finally ventured out about noon, after showering & shooing the last relatives from the guest room. Suzan needed some horse supplies, I needed to drop some NetFlix DVDs in the mail, and we both needed a lunch that contained no turkey.

During the drive we somehow got on the topic of my drumset. Since putting the full acoustic drumset back together, my old shopping/upgrade list got dusted off as well (2nd hi-hat sounds like crap, main hi-hat is getting a bit worn, new bass drum heads, possible new bass drum pedal, splash cymbal is craked, never liked my snare drum, etc.). Suzan is encouraging me to play, and on occasion indulging my desire to upgrade the drumset.

I’ve replaced all of the tom heads, tuned the kit, and replaced the cracked splash cymbal. Suzan is asking questions about the snare drum (partially to keep me thinking about playing, partially to figure out the difference between different types in case she goes Christmas shopping ).

After lunch we take the plunge & drive to the music store … locating two that are nowhere near major shopping centers. The frst has some nice toys, but a small selection. The second has a sale on demo cymbals (one cymbal is 50% off, the second is free). This gets me the hi-hat set I need (they come in pairs, so this makes it really cheap).

One set of 14″ Paiste Sound Effects Medium Hi-Hats later, we’re out of the store … passing up some digital mic pre-amps, several nice maple snare drums & a lovely wooden “box” (you sit on it & play the sides, a cross between a African drum & a camp chair … nifty but I don;t know if I really need it).

So I have some new toys, which means I need to spend a bit more time in the basement playing.