Eric Wiegmann - Gear
Tools of the trade- what a joy!
Great sounding gear is not always the most expensive brand. Actually, the best sounding gear is sometimes the gear we pay the most attention to in detailing, tuning and refining. I often find used equipment and restore, modify or improve on it's original design.
I always use the best REMO drumheads (especially FiberSkyn models) on all my drums. I often have gear that falls into two catagories- "super-light weight" for ease of traveling on buses, bikes and subways here in Japan, and "heavy weight" for large concert halls and full on pro gigs.
Although you see alot of cymbals here, I have been known for using only one or two a night, depending on how much I can carry and need that night.
Living and playing in Japan without a car requires alot of ingenuity in getting your gear to gigs without hurting your back or spending all your money on a taxi!
Istanbul Mehemet
Istanbul Mehemet is one of my favorite brands of Turkish cymbals. They play pretty stiff and generally come mid to heavy weight compared to others in the industry. They aren't too expensive and really stand up to daily use. A reliable and beautiful cymbal for the money.
Sonor Giant Step
Twin effects double pedal
Istanbul Mehemet Legend RIde 21" w/ 2 rivets- soft, warm and beautiful- very reliable.Great for acoustic and low volume gigs.This one sees alot of playing time!
This pedal is very challenging to play musically and I practice with it all the time. It has great potential. I often use on my left foot when playing double bass drums!
Sabian HHX 16" Ozone Crash
Istanbul Mehemet 22" Original ride, Medium- strong, musical and warm - dark overtones- requires a light touchg!
Fast, trashy and professional quailty- I can't begin to tell you how useful the Ozone crash is! I can use it in jazz and rock equally. I use it almost all the time. A set up of just the Ozone crash and the Ozone ride is powerful indeed!
Tama Rockstar modified and customized - Jazz Bop Kit!
Zildjian K Custom High Definition Ride 22". A little dry with an amazing shank/smack sound on the bridge area. Really a classic, but too dry for classic rock, and a little dry for traditional Be-bop. It's really perfect for 1960s hard bop like Tony and Elvin. I do love it, but I can't use it on every gig!
Tama Rockstar model drums 10",12",13", 16x16" FT,16x16" BD, 22x14" BD
Mapex QR Series drums - modified into Bop Kit: 16x16BD, 13x11FT.
Sabian HH Sound Control Ride. Very dark and golden sounds emerge from this beast. It was love at first sound with this one. I didn`t know how amazing this "Sound Control" line of cymbals actually was until I encountered one in the sale bin of the local Pro Shop. Very EAK like and it crashes beautifully. Not very loud- "controlled"
