The Duff McKagan thread has got me thinking…
What are some tell tale signs whether a drummer has chops or not? 
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(in Yoda voice)
Chops not important…
Only groove important…
(end Yoda voice)
You’ll know because it feels like this:
When you lay down on the perfect mattress, vs. Super 8 Motel mattress.
Driving in your grandfathers Lincoln Continental vs. your Jeep Cherokee where the transmission is shot.
Floating across the water in a safe and sea-worthy ship, rather than swimming against a harsh tide and pounding waves.
Trusting the drummer to nail the song - to know the song - to keep the time, to lead the band - those are the signs of a good drummer. And it should feel absolutely lovely to play bass to their parts.
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As usual, Gio said all the things I would say. I can tell a good drummer from a bad one after about a bar. Maybe 3 beats. 
But also, other stuff that takes more time to learn about someone - do they make eye contact? Do they have humility when something goes funky with the time, or do they assume that they have a perfect internal clock and somebody else must be messing up?
And can they play with DYNAMICS??? If your snare drum is making me cringe, and it’s not a rock gig on a big stage… something is wrong.
And does 87 milliseconds magically disappear from the end of the bar every time they play a fill? 
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