Not exactly a recording question....

[OneRoomStudios]

So I've been playing drums on and off for almost ten years now (not that I'm as good as I should be after that amount of time but that's another story). At the moment I'm "in between" drumsets. I sold my old one three years ago and have been using the one my college has (can't exactly have a drumset in a dorm room). Anyways, I graduate at the end of the year and I'm looking to get a new set. The trouble is, since I'm just graduating, I'm going to have to worry about rent and insurance and utilities and all sorts of other expenses (not to mention my lust for recording gear), so my drum budget is pathetically small. I want to get a decent set in good condition for as little as possible. I've noticed recently there have been a plethora of cheap-as-hell sets for sale by various online retailers; sets by Pulse, Groove Percussion, and Ludwig's new cheap one to name a few. My question is this: are these kits any good, or are they as terrible as I would expect at this price point. Would it be worth it to buy one of these to have something to practice on, or should I just wait a little longer, put off practicing for a while and save up for something decent? I'm not expecting anything amazing, especially in the cymbal and hardware department, but are the shells at least usable. I can always go out and get new cymbals and hardware later (in fact I think I still have a Zildjian A Custom crash and maybe a splash at home).

Thanks for reading all this, and thanks ahead of time for any responses.

-Peter

[mikeh]

I'm sure you've heard the old saying "buy cheap, buy twice" - with very rare exceptions this holds true.

I sold drums for several years (and have been a gear slut for a few decades) and I can think of very few times that someone (including myself) didn't buy a better instrument after having bought a cheap instrument.

If you simply want something to beat on, find a used "name brand" mid line kit (you can find used Pearl Exports all the time) which will likely be less costly, and would probably hold value better than some of the new "off brand names". Not that I'm saying Exports are all that great, but they are consistantly decent.

Only you know what you want and need out of a kit, but few serious musicians can enjoy playing a poor instrument for any sustained period of time.

[triple-zero]

yeh i think your best looking for a used export.... The 2002/2003/2004 series are very very good for the price. You can probably pick up a full kit with the great pearl heavy duty hardware for around £400/£500.

A later series Pearl export aint bad at all. If you tune it well and stick some decent heads on it it'll sound pretty good - good enough to record with. I did some very good demos with my old export.