Author Topic: What to look for in a drum set? (Read 215 times)

Bradley Young · « **on:** September 17, 2010, 08:55:37 PM »

My son, bless him, is looking to play the drums.

I would like to buy him a set of drums that might, conceivably, last a while. I am attracted to the sonic advantages of an electronic set, but not wedded to it.

I would say that what I'm looking for isn't cheap, but good value.

Bradley

sonicus · « **Reply #1 on:** September 17, 2010, 09:06:54 PM »

I have been checking them out as well. A few drummers that I have played with over the years tell me that Roland is the one to get .
I am thinking of getting this one with multi-zone cymbals as substitutions.
http://www.roland.com/products/en/TD-4KX/

richbass939 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 17, 2010, 09:17:14 PM »

6 weeks ago we bought a set of drums for our 13 year old. He's been talking about drums for a year and a half. We looked for awhile and saw a lot of expensive toy sets. We saw some good sets at high prices. Then......
My guitar player had a set belonging to his brother. It's a set full set of Pearls with Zildjians all the way around. They are about 10 years old and have been gigged with. But they were well cared for and are in great shape.
Long story short -- The brother and I worked out a really good deal for my son. He couldn't be happier. Metallica on the iPod and he's in metal heaven.
I know we got really lucky but deals can be found. Good luck to you in your search.
Rich

Bradley Young · « **Reply #3 on:** September 17, 2010, 09:26:14 PM »

Yeah, I've heard that the Roland drums are the ticket.

Anyone care to comment on acoustic drums? Any hints gratefully accepted.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #4 on:** September 17, 2010, 11:37:15 PM »

When my youngest decided he wanted to be a drummer, I got him a Pearl Export kit w/Zildgians (this was in 4th grade, & a few years after his Strat - damn I wish my dad was as cool as his!) If you don't want to drop the coin for Sonar, you can't do better than Pearl. He's several years out of college now & still plays all of them.

Peter (who thinks the best part of it all was learning 1 1/2 hours of drummer jokes to abuse him with)

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #5 on:** September 17, 2010, 11:37:24 PM »

When my youngest decided he wanted to be a drummer, I got him a Pearl Export kit w/Zildgians (this was in 4th grade, & a few years after his Strat - damn I wish my dad was as cool as his!) If you don't want to drop the coin for Sonar, you can't do better than Pearl. He's several years out of college now & still plays all of them.

Peter (who thinks the best part of it all was learning 1 1/2 hours of drummer jokes to abuse him with)

edwin · « **Reply #6 on:** September 18, 2010, 12:48:21 AM »

I'd say look into a used kit. I found a Tama 6 piece kit minus cymbals and stands for $250. Getting the rest wasn't too bad, although these days I have my great aunt's old kit. It's a hodge-podge of early 60s Ludwig, Kent and Slingerland. It's fine for basement jams and rehearsals. She was pretty awesome. She lived in New York, her husband was Leon Russianoff, the clarinet teacher (who she towered over, being 6'3 to his 5'2) and she got invited to play gigs at CBGBs with punk bands but I don't think she ever made it down there. But I digress, it's wonderful to have her kit.

mike1762 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 18, 2010, 03:15:29 AM »

I have a set of Yamaha DTXtreme electronic drums that have acoustic heads, thus they feel like acoustic drums. If you want to hear them, click my profile and hit the link for my Homepage/Ilike profile. I would stay away from an electronic kit with rubber pads. My acoustic kit is also the Pearl Export. Although the Export is Pearl's economy line, EVERY drummer who has ever played them has commented on how good they sound (and most say they sound BETTER than their much more expensive set)... that's because I spent the money on good heads and took the time to tune them properly. What you CAN'T skimp on is cymbals... cheap cymbals sound AWFUL.

mario_farufyno · « **Reply #8 on:** September 18, 2010, 05:27:17 AM »

I have a Pearl Session and, IMHO, they sound as they were more expensive drum set than it really is. Very good cost/benefit rating...

mario_farufyno · « **Reply #9 on:** September 18, 2010, 05:45:44 AM »

Wow, I went into Guitar Center's site and they sell some used stuff really cheap...

edwin · « **Reply #10 on:** September 18, 2010, 08:01:02 AM »

What Mike says is true: cheap cymbals do sound wretched. Drums can be tuned and tweaked to sound at least funky in a good way, but bad cymbals can make the whole kit sound wrong.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #11 on:** September 18, 2010, 08:10:17 AM »

+1 on the heads and tuning - & there is a reason the t-shirt says Zildjian: the Only Serious Choice.

Peter

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #12 on:** September 18, 2010, 08:51:04 AM »

We had a drummer for a while who played a cheap pawn shop Rogers set. It sounded darn right decent, because he replaced the heads with quality parts, and tuned them well. And of course, he played with Ziljians.

lbpesq · « **Reply #13 on:** September 18, 2010, 09:02:12 AM »

Bradley:

You might want to check out the Pearl Rhythm Traveler kit. It's compact and stores easily. Comes with both regular heads and silent mesh heads that still feel like the real thing. Also comes with rubber pad to place on the cymbals for silent practice. The kick and toms are only about 6 wide. For actual use, the set would be fine for a jazz trio or smaller venue, but probably wouldn't be sufficient for a full on rock band. Great learning set. Less than $500.

Bill, tgo

crobbins · « **Reply #14 on:** September 18, 2010, 09:39:09 AM »

I put a drumset together for my studio.
The shells are 1968 Ludwigs(which were given to me)blue sparkle, the hardware is DW, and cymbals are Zildjian A Customs.....Between the cymbals, and the hardware I ended up spending around $1,500.00
But they sound real nice...