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Geek Culture / Drum Kits

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Tom J
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Joined: 4th Aug 2005
Location: Essex, England
Posted: 19th Jul 2008 12:48
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I know for a fact that there are quite a few drummers on here. I'm thinking of buying a drum kit and I'm just asking to see if any of the drummers on here have any reccomendations/bargains and such, because I'm pretty clueless of which brands are the best, and also what is a good price for a beginners kit.

Thanks

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Mr Makealotofsmoke
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Posted: 19th Jul 2008 14:21
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Pearl EX or wateva it is. EXL? LEX? something like that. What price range are u thinking?


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Kevin Picone
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Posted: 19th Jul 2008 14:52
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Tom,

If you think you're in it more than just having the odd bash then avoid the 'no name' budget kits like the plague. The entry level/budget kit from a brand name manufactures will not only sound better, but they have the superior build quality hands down. It's temping to gravitate towards the big names in drums like Pearl & Tama immediately. However, you'll get more for your $$$ from a lesser known brands in this market. For example, here (I'm in Australia) mobs like Yamaha / Premier / Sonor & Remo to name few, produce great value ( $900 -> $1200 ) entry level solutions that are generation (and more) above the entry levels of Pearl & Tama.

For cymbals, buying a pack is about the best value. Some manufactures throw in some cast hi hats & crash with a entry level kits. These are good to practice on initially, but they do sound awful and tend to bend and pop. So if you've heavy handed then these might actually be a good starting place.


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Matt Rock
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Location: Binghamton NY USA
Posted: 20th Jul 2008 04:47
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As always, Kevin has great advice

Drums are possibly the most expensive popular instrument to play. You can buy a cheap guitar or keyboard anywhere, but with drums you have tons of hardware, some of which (heads and sticks) need regular replacing. I'm not saying this to deter you... just giving you a friendly heads up (no pun intended).

Personally I'm a huge Ludwig fan, and I also like Premier and Sonor. Without knowing how much you're looking to spend on your starter kit, I can only recommend exactly what Kevin already said: if you're serious, don't waste your money on a no-name kit or no-name cymbals. My favorite website for music equipment across the board is Musician's Friend, they have tons of great deals and excellent customer service in my experiences.

To get you started, here's a few items worth looking at:

$499.99 - Sonor 507 Force Combo 5-Piece Drum Set
A great starter kit at a very reasonable price. What's great about this kit is that after you learn how to play and get into a band, you can gig with it and even record with it... it's a very high-quality set of drums aimed at both beginner and intermediary drummers

$329.00 - Sabian Limited Edition B8 Performance Cymbal Pack with Free 18" Thin Crash & Free 10" Splash
There are four major cymbal producers: Paiste, Sabian, Zildjian (no one ever spells it correctly lol), and Meinl. This package deal is great; the cymbals are high quality and very affordable. In my experience, it's hard to crack the B8's, so they last forever, and they sound good as well.

You'll also need the following gear:
* New Heads: Whether you're buying a brand new kit or picking up a used one, ALWAYS buy new drum heads. Every manufacturer puts cheap heads on new kits. They're meant for you to see what the kit sounds like, and they won't last very long. If you're on a budget, only replace the snare head and the bass drum head, but I recommend replacing all of them. Aquarian makes the best heads imo. Other popular companies include Remo and Evans.

* A throne, also called a drum stool. Don't use a normal chair, trust me on this. You can get thrones pretty cheap, and some kits even come with one.

* Sticks: go to your local music store and try holding different sizes of drumsticks to get a feel for how big they are. If you're stubborn and want to buy everything online, try 5A sticks, they seem to be the most popular amongst the drummers I know. I'm a fan of Pro Mark drum sticks, but there's a ton of other brands out there

* Cymbal Stands: The kit I showed you comes with a high hat stand and a cymbal stand, but if you get the pack I linked to, you'll need a cymbal stand for each of the other cymbals

Every drummer replaces hardware over time... it's an inevitability. After you learn to play a bit, you'll end up replacing your bass drum pedal, your high hat stand, and you'll go through heads like crazy. You'll also replace cymbals and the kit itself as you start to develop an ear for quality. Hopefully the stuff I listed will last you a long time, though .

Feel free to email me if you need advice in the future. Make sure you say that you're from TGC in the subject, else I might assume my great uncle in Nigeria left me an inheritance and you're writing to ask for my bank account info, lol.

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Punk13
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Location: In EpikLand!
Posted: 20th Jul 2008 10:18
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Well, i Drum on a Garman they Are pretty good sets, i love my satfire blue blue set its great for playing the heavy metal classics like sad but true,cum on feel the noise, iron man and all the other greats

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Tom J
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Location: Essex, England
Posted: 20th Jul 2008 18:09 Edited at: 20th Jul 2008 18:13
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Cool Thanks for all the suggestions I'm justing wondering what you guys think of second hand kits, seeing as this will be my first kit and I'm looking fairly low budget wise (no more than Matt's $500 kit)... was just having a quick look on eBay and found a Tama kit for currently £62... and then I could buy the Sticks, Stool (or throne) and drum skins etc. separately.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tama-Swingstar-Drum-Kit_W0QQitemZ110270454958QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110270454958&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318#ebayphotohosting

Shame the auction will probs be over by the time someone reads this.

edit: "href" wont work.

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 20th Jul 2008 23:10 Edited at: 20th Jul 2008 23:14
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Tama's are decent. They have good hardware, but I can't stand how they sound, all washy and thuddy. But that can be remedied through head selection and fine tuning. But be weary of second-hand kits... £60 is outrageously cheap. Make sure it comes with hardware, there's no internal shell damage, the rims aren't warped or rusty, etc. Otherwise, that's a steal

edit: oh, it had a £100 reserve price lol. The cymbals are rubbish, use those while learning but ditch them before you get into a band or anything . That is, if the auction is still going on, I was looking at images and not really looking at the bidding info much, lol.

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Tom J
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Posted: 20th Jul 2008 23:49
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Well the bidding price escalated to £100 in the last hour and I'm not impulisive enough to just go for it at the last minute. From your advice, maybe it wasnt such a great deal.

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 21st Jul 2008 01:48
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It might be, it might not be. I'd contact the buyer to ask if there's any hardware missing

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Benji
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Posted: 21st Jul 2008 04:40
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You should check out some of the electric kits, if you've got good amps in your home.

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SageTech
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Location: Orlando, Florida
Posted: 21st Jul 2008 06:19
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You know, Ive been playing drums now for over 11 Years, and I still use the set I was given as a little kid. In fact, at the moment, I don't even know the brand of my set, But I believe its some no name special, anyway. I have however played on multiple other sets, and my favorite is probably my churches. The Drums themselves are Pearl, and sound awesome. The Cymbals though....well grab a stick and hit a metal garbage can a few times, because that's about what it sounds like. I believe they are Sabian.

Ive also played on electronic sets, and while I can understand the logistics of them (neighbors cant hear, can tweak sound, etc.) Nothing really beats the real thing, the feeling of hitting a drum is something great in itself.

So, If I had to recommend anything, buy something cheap (not dirt cheap, but not expensive either), and then upgrade as you go. Its a system that's served me well for 11 years. But seriously...once you get a set, make sure the only cymbals you use or Zildjian. The sound from them is just amazing.


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 21st Jul 2008 09:30 Edited at: 21st Jul 2008 09:37
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I was agreeing with Sage until he said Zildjian

CYMBAL WAR!

Paiste. For reals. Best cymbals ever. Nothing sounds quite as mushy and gorgeous as a 2002 lol. I like Sabians as well, but I'd replace my entire outfit with Paiste 2002's if I could. Right now I'm using Sabian B8 Pro 14" hats, a Sabian B8 Pro 18" medium crash, a 15" Sabian AA sound control crash (absolutely gorgeous sound), and a big fat 20" Paiste 3000 ride (sounds like a gong when you pound it, lol). Here's a video of my cymbals in action if you care to know what they sound like (audio quality is a bit crap, but you can get the idea of what those B8's sound like). Best use of the hats is at 3:12-ish and onward, they really wash out beautifully.

PS.- don't take anything from my video, I'm not the world's greatest drummer, and to make matters worse, I'm left-handed lol. Most drummers lead with their right hand, crossing over to the hats. I guess it's a matter of comfort, but "proper" drummers have told me it's the wrong way to do it. But I always say "if it works, don't fix it"

edit: cheap kits work for some people, for others they don't. I had a "Pulse" kit at one point. I bought it brand new, and it lasted exactly 13 days. The bass shell cracked while mounting a tom! Absolutely the most rubbish kit I've ever seen in my life. Luckily for me it was a gift and the shop owner was cool about refunding it. I didn't need a second kit anyway lol. Otherwise, the only kits I've ever owned were Ludwigs (as shown in the video) and a Slingerland. I've played other kits but I've only ever liked a few brands. If you're getting a cheapo kit, don't buy it online... you'll want to really examine it carefully, and come to TGC and ask us about anything you aren't sure about

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sp3ng
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2008 11:04
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the kit i have is a Pearl Forum Series (6 piece) which i got for only $990 AUD and while it only came with hi-hats and a crash-ride, i am planning on adding to that with either a Zildjian or Paiste cymbal pack (adding to the "Cymbal War" what would u guys recommend)


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SageTech
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2008 11:22
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@Matt

Left handed!? Your kidding? I myself have always drummed left handed, and until today Ive never met any one else who plays that way. I was only about 5 when I started, so by now I think its pretty hopeless Ill learn the "proper" way. But anyway, I just thought that was cool, good to know I'm not the only one out there.


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2008 19:21
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Rock on! I'm not alone!

For years and years everyone's been telling me it's the "wrong way" to do it. But it seems more logical to me personally. I mean, your hats are on the left, yeah? Why not keep time on the hats with your left hand and use your right for other stuff? I've met left-handed drummers who move their entire kit around, so the hats are on the right and the ride is on the left. But to me, it makes more sense to lead with my left . The only drawback is that I have to crossover to reach my ride, and the floor tom forces me to reach 16" longer. But as you can see in my youtube videos, I almost always use my crash cymbals as rides anyway. I have that big nasty Paiste 3000 because it's almost like an effect cymbal for me, like a splash or a china. I think the only song on youtube where I use my ride as a ride is Harbours & Criminals, near the end of the song.

The moral of the story Tom: if you play like me and Sage play, be prepared for nitpicky drummers telling you it's the wrong way to do it. But shy of the minor inconvenience related to the ride, it seems more logical. It's the rest of the world that's crazy! rofl

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Kevin Picone
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2008 20:55
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You're playing Open handed, not left handed.


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2008 23:04
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Oh... I didn't even know there was a phrase for that style, lol.

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Peter H
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Posted: 23rd Jul 2008 07:09
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I own a Mapex Pro M in a rock configuration and love it (paiste cymbals). I got that on double clearance (marked down twice) for $1000. I got the cymbals for $300. Just be warned that the rock configuration is huge and not easily moved.

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Benji
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Posted: 23rd Jul 2008 20:25 Edited at: 23rd Jul 2008 20:25
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Quote: "Rock on! I'm not alone! "


I play open handed as well.

Tryin' to stop though.

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 24th Jul 2008 00:51
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Bah, why? There's nothing wrong with it as far as I can tell. I guess it depends on how much you use your ride properly, lol. But I've gotten decent on drums having never gotten a formal lesson, so doing things "by the book" make things unnecessarily difficult for me

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