Decent drum kit for Xmas gift.

[rpe]

I don't know much about drum kits but my daughter-in-law wants to buy my son a kit for Christmas. I see all kinds in MF starting at a couple of hundred bucks all the way up to >$1K. I imagine that as with guitars, buying cheap just isn't smart. Can you please give me some suggestions on what would be a minimum price and quality kit and cymbols to get? He is a guitarist with a local "alternative/punkish" band and wants drums primarily for recording in his home studio. He has some experience with drums, not a total nube.

thanks alot,

rpe

[rpe]

Would the Fender Squire 5 piece kit for $479.00 be a decent kit in these circumstances?

[DAS19]

For 500 do not buy a fender drum set those im sure are horrible becuase I didnt know fender made drums. I would get a Yamaha or I heard Sonars are a very good low costing set.

And yes these are for sure decent kits.

[timboZ]

Mapex M.
Whatever sub $1000 kit you get be prepared to buy new heads.

[SMX_Dizzy]

If he doesn't mind a 4-piece, MF has PDP FXR 4-piece shell packs for $400 (just shells though, no hardware). MassMusic.net (GREAT store) has demo PDP CX kits taht haven't been played for $500 for the shells plus $200 for the hardware pack. PDP makes decent quality drums, and those are bargains.

[rpe]

Thanks for the input!

[jaykeMURD]

Tama Stagestar


Yes, it's very small, almost kiddy. But for recording purposes, it suits the bill!
Slap some Evans Generas on all the drums, tune them correctly and you've got a decent sounding recording kit. Of course, it also depends upon the "engineers" knowledge of miking drums.

Here's a little secret:
Almost ANY drumset can be made to sound great, just comes down to these 3 factors:

1. The Bearing Edges on the shell. (the exposed wood that the drumhead is pulled against) Good edges means good tunability and good sound. A good edge will mean the shell sets be perfectly flat.

2. The heads themselves. Evans, Remo, whatever you prefer. Equivalent to putting the cheapest strings on a decent guitar.

3. Tuning. Easily the most difficult task at hand. Assuming the 2 latter factors are met, proper tuning of the batter and resonant heads are integral.

As you can see, drums can become a pretty complicated concept. Especially when you add recording into the equation. Most likely, this is all overkill in your situation. However, I'd still recommend the Stagestar kit. It's well under 500 and would allow you to add somewhat better cymbals and heads, etc.

Good Luck.

[ausrock]

While those 3 factors are important you can't polish a turd and that's what a lot of the cheap drums come close to being AND the type of timber used for the shells does contribute to the tone and character of the sound. Guess what "music type stuff" I do when I'm not playing guitar or stuffing around in the studio............make drum shells, etc,. .......the pic is a 5 ply Sapele snare I just finished setting up .

rpe,

Drums, like guitars can be a very personal thing and buying for someone else can be difficult. US made kits using US made Keller shells or Japanese made kits are usually at the top of the tree and for a number of companies drums from these countries are their upper level kits with their lower level kits being made in either China, Mexico or Indonesia which with the better known brands shouldn't be a problem as they normally have adequate QC, although some drums do come out of the same factories.

As a rough guide............:

Yamaha.......Japan and Indonesia
Tama..........Their own factories in Japan and China
Pearl...........Japan and Taiwan
Mapex.........Japan and China (Some Sonor models are made in the same Chinese factory)

Basix and Pacific........China and Mexico
D-Drum........China
Gretsch........Questionable but thought to be China (possibly some US made)
GMS............US and China

An alternative would be to speak to a custom builder in the US about making a kit using Keller shells, etc., as you will get good quality for less dollars..........if you're interested in this option, PM me and I'll give you some reliable guys to contact.

[ermghoti]

Would Santa mind shopping on eBay? Used drum kits are almost universally being offered by motivated sellers, and are huge bargains, perhaps, even mis-spelled, all-caps HEUg!!11!! bargains. Pro kits routinely show up for $500-$1000.

If the kit is largely to be used for recording, small sizes are a good idea. They do track well, and bigger drums cost more to make, and, ergo, sell at higher prices. A win-win for Santa. You could score something like a Gretsch Catalina Club for a song used.

[sirslurpee]

A word of advice with GC/MF.... "Cymbals and hardware not included"

expect to pay about twice what the "shell pack" costs so you have room to play with hardware and cymbal options...

Maybe get him a decent gretch catalina or a pacific cx series and all new heads and then maybe a zildjian or sabian cymbal pack.. (but NOT zbt or b8)

Really there are a lot of options out there and the best thing for you to do is to go out and listen to what they all sound like and compare features and prices and whatnot.
Good luck!

[rpe]

sirslurpee, ermghoti, ausrock, jaykeMURD;

Thank you all for your great comments. This is difficult because I told her (Santa) that buying a crappy instrument is not doing anyone any good (save for the manufacturer/retail outlet) but she is determined to find something <$500. I equate this situation to guitars. If I had to recommend an electric guitar to someone with these constraints I'd recommend an Epiphone knock-off for an electric or a Yamaha for a solid top acoustic. It'll get the job done, just not as high a quality (or price) that perhaps a more serious musician would be willing to pay for. I'M NOT SAYING THAT INEXPENSIVE GUITARS ARE CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! They are certainly appropriate for those who have limited resourses yet still want to enjoy this hobby we all love.

thanks again,

rpe

[SillyBee]

Originally Posted by rpe

I don't know much about drum kits but my daughter-in-law wants to buy my son a kit for Christmas. I see all kinds in MF starting at a couple of hundred bucks all the way up to >$1K. I imagine that as with guitars, buying cheap just isn't smart. Can you please give me some suggestions on what would be a minimum price and quality kit and cymbols to get? He is a guitarist with a local "alternative/punkish" band and wants drums primarily for recording in his home studio. He has some experience with drums, not a total nube.

thanks alot,

rpe

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