Recomend a decent studio kit in my budget.

Guitargodgt

Guitargodgt

New member
Fairly sick of having garbage kits walk through the door featuring heads from the 80s. :laughings:

So I'm interested in trying to get a decent kit for around 7-800 (shell pack). 8 is the max, actually I wouldn't even mind if it was just the kick and the toms.

Things that I like in a studio kit:

20" bass drum (way prefer this size to a 22).
Even numbers in the diameter of the toms (example: 12/14/16" toms in various depths)
Decent snare, but it doesn't have to be.

Most of what I record is metal/heavy rock. So not exactly sure what kind of shells I should be looking at material wise. I've recorded a hand full of kits and one of the ones I liked the most was the Mapex Saturn (except the stock snare, that thing had wierd overtones no matter what heads we tried). So I'm thinking something with maple. Any ideas?
 
As I was reading the title of the thread, in my head I was thinking "Mapex Saturns". In my opinion, one of the best sounding drum sets available, and for the money just incredible. I bought a set for use in the studio, 22" bass, 10" and 12" rack toms and 14" and 16" floor toms with matching 14" snare all for £1,300. The inner walnut plies give them and really nice, fat, deep tone which I love, great for rock and metal applications.

What configuartion kit were you thinking? Two toms (one rack, one floor), or three toms (two rack, one floor or one rack, two floor)? It's going to be more difficult getting a 4 piece Saturn shell pack for under 800 and even more so if you want two floor toms (although my guess would be, from the sounds of it you were thinking two racks (10" and 12") and a floor (14").

What size toms were you thinking? My big advice would be for the floor tom(s) to make sure they aren't square. By that I mean, if you go for 14" diameter, go for 12" depth.

As for the stock Mapex Saturn snare, I've had no problems with overtones on mine as long as it's tuned right. Just a coated Ambassador and make sure the pitch at each tuning rod is even and you're good to go.

As woods go, Maple is a safe bet. Nice even sound on all the drums. But as I said, the thing which I think sets the Saturn's apart is the inner Walnut plies. Walnut promotes low tones so you get a really fat sound. Pearl have done a similar thing on the Reference series with inner plies of Mahogany on their big drums, but you'd be looking to drop around £3,000 on one of those shell packs. I'm sure other companies have done similar things as well.

In conclusion, my opinion is try and get a deal on a Saturn shell pack and don't look back.
 
700-800 is a decent budget. Goes without saying, but the best thing for you to do would be to go and try out a lot of different kits before you make up your mind. The problem, though, is that a lot of stores don't tune the kits they have on display and they often sound pretty crappy. You can also narrow down your options by finding out what your favorite drummers play.
Choosing a drumkit is very personal, and opinions will vary a lot, but I've always loved the sound of a Tama (they're punchy and they sing at the same time) ; or all Japanese brands for that matter. Pearl, Yamaha etc. A Tama snare isn't exactly killer, but if you put on some nice heads, and know how to tune it, getting a nice sound out of it shouldn't be a problem. Tama Superstar may be a little out of your range, but the Rockstar and Imperialstar are options. Haven't had any experience with Mapex, but I've heard mostly good things about them. Ludwig, ddrum are also good options.
That said, any kit you get in that price range will probably sound good; the deciding factor will be the heads you use and how you tune them.
 
I've got a PDP FS series birch set. Perfect wood for studio settings, and I've got nothing but compliments from it studio or live. PDP is DW's budget line with their popular sound essence still noticeable in the drum sound. Though they have merged most of the PDP lines down to a single "platinum series" similar to DW's "collector's series", there are still a few outer lined drums. I think I may have seen a set of FS series drums for sale still at my local GC, but I almost constantly see someone on craigslist or ebay selling a set of PDP's, mostly because they've lost the inspiration for drumming I guess.

Though the only tama series I like is the Starclassic B/B or Bubingas, they're mid lines are fairly decent, I've seen the release some other variants of the swingstar and imperialstars, but haven't personally heard the sound.

Pearl Vision series drums I've fiddled around with. While the stock heads aren't that very close to "decent" per se, you can definetaly notice that they have the potential to sing and sound very sound enriched with the proper heads.

Yamahas, I think, are the perfect studio sounding drums I have ever heard. The kicks on them just have that perfect thump with a lot of lowend bass. Snares are usually pretty fat and snarey, but with the right heads again, you can achieve that "pop" sound if so desired.

Mapex, I've felt are very fit for rock/metal, but the only good sounding drums IMO, are their higher end Orion or Saturn series which go for around $1000+ just for the shells alone.

Hope this helps
 
saads said:
stores don't tune or put decent heads on the kits
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Yeah this is the biggest issue fallowed closely by the fact that most drummers (the exception being the drum tech from Staind who knows his shit on drums) I have encountered don't know a drum key from a fork and wouldn't know good drum ton if Bonham came and hit them with a bat.

Anyhow my drum tech acquaintance (who will be touring with Staind due to the "departure" of Jon) is a Pearl guy (despite the yamaha endorsement Jon has/had), but one of the things he likes is even tom diameter sizes, and in my experience I do as well for tuning purposes, the toms seem to sound more cohesive as a set. I would love a kit that went 10/12/14/16 or the like (doesn't have to be a 6 piece obviously).

I'm also fairly wanting a 20" kick, but I guess I would be willing to bend on that since most 20" kick kits seem to be 4 piece sets.

Another kit I liked recording was the Yamaha Birch custom, but to my knowledge this kit has been discontinued and was/probably still is out of my budget.
 
Yup, all the names that have been thrown in so far are good brands. I don't think finding a 5 piece with a 20 inch kick should be an issue, all 3 drumsets I've owned have been exactly that. If you do find a good 4 piece with a 20 kick, you can always buy an extra tom, most brands have toms for kits and expansion packs. Apart from the snare, you don't really have to get too caught up in brand names and what wood the shell is made of. At the end of the day, it'll depend mostly on the drumheads and tuning. An important issue, though, is cymbals. Those you'll need to be really anal about. What's your hi hat/cymbal situation ?
 
I'm gonna be piecing out the cymbals over time.

BTW, I'm not a drummer what so ever. I'm coming at this from the standpoint of what sounds good, not what plays good. haha
 
Guitargodgt said:
I'm gonna be piecing out the cymbals over time.

BTW, I'm not a drummer what so ever. I'm coming at this from the standpoint of what sounds good, not what plays good. haha
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You can't get cymbals randomly. Well, you can, but I don't think that's a smart thing to do. Cymbals vary a lot (and I mean a LOT) from brand to brand, series to series. Hell, two cymbals that are exactly the same often sound different. What cymbals you get are important not only from a playing pov, but also from a recording perspective.How much do you want them to cut, how much do you want them to ring, bright or dark, fast impact with rapid decay, or slower impact with a lot of ring ? Hi hats I'm not even gonna get into :D I might be making too much of a big deal out of it, but in my experience cymbals are extremely important.


Guitargodgt said:
You mentioned the tama rockstar. I found one for $425. The toms and kick aren't what I want, but if it sounds good and that's a decent deal...
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I've used the Rockstar a lot, and I love the sound. That doesn't mean it'll work for you though. It's not their top of the line kit, plus the specs are different from what you want. That said, the sound of the Rockstar is a lot better than other kits in that range, I think it's a really good buy. The one I play though is a 98,99. I'm not sure how the newer ones play. Try to see if you can find them on display in a store (remember to take a tuning key with you) and give it a whirl, see how you like em.
 
Cymbals are indeed fucking all over the place, that said this is generally what I like:

High end hats no larger than 14" in diameter (one of my favorite sets was the K custom session set, I used to own a set of these hats). Hats should be crisp when played closed and not overly washy when played open.

Small crashes should accent well and be in and out rather quick, but not like the fast crash quick, more like the projection crash quick I like that as a medium. I like the A and Z custom ziljian stuff a lot for crashes.

Larger crashes should be good for playing quarter note stuff on, having a nice attack that cuts through and compliments the kit.

Rides, rides are the weird guy out. There are times when a dryer ride is preferred and there are times when I prefer something with more overtones and decay to it. All I know in this category is I like diameters of 20-24".

Chinas: Nice and trashy, large ones should sound like rattling garbage cans and small ones should sound like bashing tin (I dunno how else to put it) surprisingly some of the coolest chinas I have encountered have been cheapo wohan ones.

Splashes: I won't be buying any, if the drummer wants this type of hit on his kit he needs to bring one along.

Bells/specialty: Again, don't plan on buying any. I think there are certain cases where the zibell is pretty cool but in itself it's not very versatile so another thing a drummer would need to bring.

Also:
I fucking loath anything labeled "rock". If a cymbal claims to be a "rock" cymbal it always seems like it's less musical, thicker, rings out and gets washy mushy, and just in general sucks.
 
What's so magical about even tom sizes? I'd think that the drums and/or acoustics would not care what unit you measured them in. Is it, perhaps that "even inches" ensures enough difference in the size of one drum from the next?
 
I'm not sure. I've played odd tom sizes, didn't have an issue tuning them. I think it's easier if you have a pattern going, doesn't matter if it's odd or even. For example, if your toms are 9,12,15; you've got even and odd.
 
Odd sizes or better for "big sound" environments, hence why they were so popular back in the 80's-90's craze with the hair metal and stadium rock bands.

Even sizes, also named "fusion" sizes mainly because they were used for jazz/bop/fusion purpose-have a more sweet tone.

The different tunings you can use also come into mind here, with even sizes, your probably gonna have a better chance at getting higher tunings.

As for the issue with cymbals, most studios just get a collection of different cymbals fit for various styles and sounds.

But of course, that requires a steady budget, so a good starting point is the Zildjian A Custom line, Sabian AA/AAX series, or Paiste 2002/Rude if you can afford it
 
Go figure I find a set of Pearl Session Custom Maple drums for $800 and I'm not ready to buy for at least a month.

22" kick
Toms: 10/12/14/16
Snare: 14.5

Damnit. haha

They are nice looking as well:

3n43p53l65O65V35R6b82116266589be017c0.jpg
 
I have 4 or 5 different snares on hand for that is where I find the major problems with the sets that come in that can't be fixed with proper tuning. ;)
 
I recorded a pearl ELX series drum set with a Hand made snare and the kit sounds fantastic! I love the way a pearl sound, a good pearl.
 
Guitargodgt said:
followed closely by the fact that most drummers (the exception being the drum tech from Staind who knows his shit on drums) I have encountered don't know a drum key from a fork and wouldn't know good drum tone if Bonham came and hit them with a bat
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I don't know which would have the greater shock impact ~ the whack of the bat or Bonham holding it !
 
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