A few years ago, I got to sit in on a session recording of a major star and major studio side men and a major engineer and producer. They spent close to 90 minutes "tuning" the drums and a couple other instruments before recording a single lick. Rather than go to the EQ, they changed microphones and caps.
This is extremely common. In fact, it's quite common to see engineers/producers/drummers collaborating for hours prior to a session getting exactly the right combination dialed in. It might seem counterintuitive, but recording percussion might just be the biggest challenge in the recording process. It's a lot more involved than just swapping one mike out for another.
yeah, eq-ing means there's a problem. we once missed a g-ish ringing on a tom after the drummer, who was in a rush, left. fortunately, the song was in g.