Definitely true about trying to get heard over guitars.
I was doing some roughs for a band last night and on one particular chorus the drummer was displeased with how his open high hat bashing was overriding everything else in the mix.He kept looking for ways to bring down the high hats but they were in all the mic,etc.We managed to get it better but I think/hope it reinforced that the big problem was the way he was bashing,not the mics,room,setup,etc.
I also have a theory that most drummers don't really have a great idea of what their kit sounds like 10 feet away in a room...probably the only time they've heard it was on a recording or through some jacked up live monitor mix,
One more reason a little preproduction can be a good thing,I guess.