Which rack is best for gigging? Any complaints on the MDS-10?

[KapperDog]

I am starting to play out more and I don't want to tear down my main kit every time I go out so I'm putting together a mobile kit.

I have plenty of extra triggers. I mostly need a new rack.

The kit will be 3 PD-85's as toms, a CY-12H as the hat and only 2 or 3 cymbals. The snare might be a 10" or 12". I could use a stand for that.

Point is, I don't need a giant rack. I prefer not to spend the big bucks for a new MDS-12 or MDS-20. The MDS-10 is discontinued and no longer available new.

However, I like the "4 legged" design like the MDS-10, MDS-12, MDS-20 and the new MDS-9.

I have the rack that came with my TD-3KV and I have an MDS-6. However, those are both the "2 legged" design. I don't like the look OR the feel of that design.

I'm also limited to what will fit in the back of my Jeep Wrangler. About 36" x 36" x 36"

So, all this considered, my choices seem to be eBay for a used 10, 12 or 20 or a new MDS-9.

My only complaint about the MDS-10 is the color availability. Mostly blue and purple (yuk). They made a white but it's virtually impossible to find. I could do white but... purple? LOL

I looked at the new MDS-9 but it comes with all the clamps and mounts and I don't really need more mounts. My price on that would probably be about 175 - 200 bux. Street price looks like about $225

I see the MDS-10's on eBay all day at about $150 to $175.

There are a couple 10's and 12's on eBay right now.

The MDS-10 looks like the most solid. An important consideration for a gig set. Lots of bars and braces.

If I sound confused...... LOL

Any comments or experiences would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I also looked at other brands. Chrome? Maybe. The Gibralter clamps are way better looking (from a quality standpoint) than the Roland. I'm not married to Roland but, I'm happy with their products, so far. Still, I'm an open minded kind of guy. LOL I did notice one thing about other racks. Mostly, they are much bigger. More like acoustic racks.

Thanks again.

[Greenbutmean]

I would say get whatever rack you like and do yourself a favor and bite the bullet on the cost of Gibraltar clamps or other high quality clamps. Myself and many others have had big problems with the roland plastic clamps. 2 of mine broke in a year's time and I never moved my kit. Just re-arranged it once.

[Drumzilla]

Gigging Rack

For some gigs where I just need a 5-piece set I'm leaving the MDS-20 at home and putting everything on stands and some odd rack pieces from my old TD-6 rack (the one like the current TD-3 rack).

The MDS-20 can take awhile to set up (although I do have a boat load of triggers on it).

[KapperDog]

I agree that it would take forever to tear down and setup my main kit. That's why I'm doing this. Gotta be easy to pop this into the Jeep and run with it.

Also, maybe I'm missing something from lack of experience but, I plan to leave the mounts on the rack. I'm even going to leave the module attached and plugged in. It's only a TD-3 for now so, it's pretty light.

My plan was to unplug the 4 drum triggers and put them in a hard case with the KD-8 and the FD-8 and a couple cables.

Then, fold up the rack, without moving any of the mounts and toss it in the back of my Jeep.

Is there some reason why I would need to remove or even move the mounts?

My hope is to have 1 hard case and the rack. Nothing more. My hard case will be about 15" x 17" x 36" (but... that's another thread. LOL)

Am I missing something?

[gostviper]

you could buy another td-3 rack and join the too, having the right and left arm join together in the middle.
just an idea...
there's also an mds-10 on ebay that is listed at 160 i think.

[Michael Render]

For a quick gig, I like to use individual stands. I have two double tom stands and 3 cymbal stands. I have used a variety of methods to mount the module, depending on the circumstances. If I am using the SPD-S, I mount it to the same stand. If not, I use the SPD-S stand just for the module. I once mounted it to the hi-hat stand, but that was weird.

[Drumzilla]

Transporting the Module

I agree that it would take forever to tear down and setup my main kit. That's why I'm doing this. Gotta be easy to pop this into the Jeep and run with it.

Also, maybe I'm missing something from lack of experience but, I plan to leave the mounts on the rack. I'm even going to leave the module attached and plugged in. It's only a TD-3 for now so, it's pretty light.

My plan was to unplug the 4 drum triggers and put them in a hard case with the KD-8 and the FD-8 and a couple cables.

Then, fold up the rack, without moving any of the mounts and toss it in the back of my Jeep.

Is there some reason why I would need to remove or even move the mounts?

My hope is to have 1 hard case and the rack. Nothing more. My hard case will be about 15" x 17" x 36" (but... that's another thread. LOL)

Am I missing something?

I leave the mounts on the rack when I transport to a gig. That's not a big deal but you usually have to tweak them a little.

You'll want to disconnect the module for transport. If it gets banged up and doesn't work, you're done. For quick module setup I put colored electrical tape around the straight tip that goes into the module and then number it. My TD-3 is numbered 1-10 (top is 1-5 and bottom is 6-10). Makes setting up the module fast. My dream is someday to switch to the Planet Waves modular snake system but they need to bring the price down before I consider it (or I need to actually be gigging a lot more to make it worth it).