[slingerland59]

For me the trick to getting "better and faster" and to learning new techniques is to practice, plain and simple. A lot of that improvement can happen on a practice pad or telephone book or when you're sitting on a curb waiting for someone with no sticks or drums around. And challenging fills and beats can be played on two toms or twenty toms -- it doesn't much matter if you've got killer feel and lay down a killer groove.

Anything you can do to motivate yourself to practice is good. If that means building a bigger set so you can't wait to play it, go for it. I played a 4-piece kit with a single bass pedal for many years and it served me well. Now that I'm older and jealous of the rockers playing monster kits with two or more bass drums -- I never did become the rock star I wanted to be -- I'm trying to build my kit up.

I think the huge learning curve is double bass and open playing (left hand ride patterns played as fluently as right hand ride patterns). If you've already got a double bass pedal then I'd save up for two rides, one on each side of your kit.

Rock on!