Drum newb shopping for a first kit

Farview said:
Why the hell would you post a video of yourself playing untuned drums? What is the point?

Anyway, the smallest I would go for a kick would be a 20 inch. Small toms tuned low actually record really well. Even a 14 inch floor tom is fine. In recent years, it was hard to find kits at GC that had floor toms bigger than 14 inches. The racks were usually 10 and 12, with a 22 inch kick. They were also relatively shallow.

A far cry from the giant kits of the late 80's, where the toms were just as deep as they were around...
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This ^^^^

I prefer larger drums, but my kit does double duty live and in the studio and I just like "classic" sized rock drums. A 20" kick would be the minimum, but you can go small-ish on the toms. If you had 10", 12" 14" toms tuned low like Farview mentioned, you'd be in good shape. If you want fat snare sounds....get a Supraphonic. :)
 
I did have a project where the drummer brought in a Yamaha 'Hipgig' kit with a 16" kick drum. It actually sounded quite good, though I replaced the kick drum with SS Trigger. The snare included in the kit was not used but the toms were. Size does matter especially if you are not planning on replacing the kick. The toms sounded fine though.
 
The drummer in my guitar gig band has an oversized-everything 80s Pearl kit. 26" kick, massive rack and floor toms. 9" deep snare. Huge everything, and it sounds huge. We were sound checking at one gig and the place was empty. I was setting up my rockstar wireless pack that I don't need so I walked out to the middle of the club to hear my amp roar from far away. Instead I listened to this guy beat the shit out of his drum kit before it was mic'd up. I swear you'd think Bonham was back there bashing away. It sounded thunderous. I've heard tons of drums, and my own sound great to me, but this was something else.
 
Greg_L said:
That sounds about right. Cymbals unfortunately are usually the big ass-puckering expense of drums, but without good ones you sound like crap. The good thing is you only need a few. Hats, ride, and two crashes will go a very long way.
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Greg is correct, cymbals are expensive, but if you spend the money upfront and buy good ones, they will last a long time, My hats are Zildjian A series quick beats, they are 30 years old, my ride is a 20 inch rock ride, same age, 2 crashes that are 25 years old, my point is you make the investment and take care of them they will last a life time. :D
 
You guys are the bestest. I feel like I just need to print this thread and rehearse before I walk into a drum shop :)
 
Also, if you don't want to spend the money on a supraphonic, an Acrolite does nearly the same thing. The Acrolite is the same shell material, without the chrome and with 8 lugs instead of 10. These used to be a dime a dozen, I haven't been looking recently though.
 
Just to push the point home... you can get the best ride cymbal you can possibly afford, because it will never break. It will last the rest of your life and your children's lives.

Big drums sound big and thunderous, smaller drums sound punchy. Having a huge kick can be a blessing and a curse. You end up needing more dampening, just to keep the ringing short enough. With a smaller kick drum, you can tune the heads more slack without lowering the note so much that it doesn't have impact. 22's are punchy, 24's are deeper, 26's tend to floppy. I've had all three sizes, and I prefer 24's for the way I play and how I tune, but 22's were fine too. 26's were kind of silly, especially if you want to hang toms above them.
 
Farview said:
Just to push the point home... you can get the best ride cymbal you can possibly afford, because it will never break. It will last the rest of your life and your children's lives.

Big drums sound big and thunderous, smaller drums sound punchy. Having a huge kick can be a blessing and a curse. You end up needing more dampening, just to keep the ringing short enough. With a smaller kick drum, you can tune the heads more slack without lowering the note so much that it doesn't have impact. 22's are punchy, 24's are deeper, 26's tend to floppy. I've had all three sizes, and I prefer 24's for the way I play and how I tune, but 22's were fine too. 26's were kind of silly, especially if you want to hang toms above them.
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my favorite all time ride was a 22 inch small bell ping ride, some fucker stole it out of a club we were set up in, I loved that cymbal.
 
Tad, just remembered. The drummer in the band I was in last year had a really small Ludwig kit with a small kick, this always sounded good - but then she was a really fucking good drummer, she'd probably have sounded good on anything. I don't think she'd have bought a crap kit though - drumming is her full time job. But she was also always skint so I can't imagine it cost a fortune.

She could Tetris this thing into the boot (trunk to you lot) of her knackered old Rover (that's a shit British car). So if you're after something that won't take up too much space this could be ideal - I'll ask her what kit it is later on.
 
JDOD said:
Tad, just remembered. The drummer in the band I was in last year had a really small Ludwig kit with a small kick, this always sounded good - but then she was a really fucking good drummer, she'd probably have sounded good on anything. I don't think she'd have bought a crap kit though - drumming is her full time job. But she was also always skint so I can't imagine it cost a fortune.

She could Tetris this thing into the boot (trunk to you lot) of her knackered old Rover (that's a shit British car). So if you're after something that won't take up too much space this could be ideal - I'll ask her what kit it is later on.
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Thanks! I'd be interested to know which kit it is. These guys may have sold me on a 20" or bigger kick, but I don't really have an honest impression of what kind of footprint that imposes. The smaller, the better, within reason.
 
I've emailed her to ask her, she's crap at email and text though 'cos she's always out playing and doesn't check her emails on her phone and stuff. If I don't hear from her in a few days I'll just call her.
 
So, how much would you pay for a used Supraphonic? I've been a little obsessed with them. Brand new, they're like $500+ !!! Crom's balls, that's a lot of dough. I've seen them used, various vintages, for maybe $350. That's still a hefty chunk of change for a guy that plays drums at or below a Meg White skill level.

As far as shells, I'm kind of in love with the Gretsch Catalina Club with the 20" kick option. Compact mahogany 4-piece, but still a good-sized kick. The only thing that worries me is the "vintage" 30-degree bearing edges on them. Sounds like that limits their comfortable tuning range, and given their smaller diameters, I'm worried that I might not be able to get a good rock tuning out of them. But that said, the Gretsch round badge kits have been my favorites in every Superior Drummer sample pack that they pop up in.
 
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I am going to throw out the Mapex Saturn line as a solid budget kit. I use one for my gigging kit and every sound guys says they sound great. Now, I use new heads and know how to tune drums so that helps. I would steer clear of anything less than a 20" kick although I did record an 18" with a Subkick mic and it worked out well. And I second the replies that say buy good cymbals; shitty cymbals make vaginas dry up. Nobody likes that.
 
Hit ebay for supra phonics. They've been making them for 50 years, so there are millions of them out there.

If they are all too expensive, the acrolites are a good option. Same shell and shell material (minus the chrome) and with 8 lugs instead of 10. They sound 95% the same as a supra, but don't have the hype of the supras that keep the used prices up.
 
I've seen a few of the Acrolites around as well, I've been keeping my eye out for them. If my desire for a Supra dampens at all, I'll probably end up with an acrolite.

Mapex kits do catch my eye, but I just haven't found one at a price point that makes me want to pull the trigger.
 
Today's obsession has been with the Yamaha Stage Custom Birch. It seems to be a solid entry level kit, available in a few different configurations and colors, looks really nice, and sounds great. Plus I'm kind of a Yamaha fanboy, I've always had a lot of respect for their music gear. But, seeing the local Craigslist selection, I'd have to buy them new. And a brand new retail-priced drum set seems like one of the worst investments a person can make.

However, I think that I'm sold on Zildjian A series cymbals. They're also sold in a pack that has their 14" New Beat hats, a 16" medium-thin crash, 21" Sweet Ride, and a bonus 18" medium thin crash. Not sure I want to give up the floor space to accommodate 2 crashes and their stands, but at very least I can use either/or depending on my mood. But the demos I've watched have been impressive. Anything that sounds better is like 2-3 times the price!

So I may give up my pipe dream of a Supra for now, live with the not-too-bad Yamaha snare, and get a Supra when I no longer feel poor after buying drums, hardware, cymbals, throne, and a couple of boom stands for overhead mics. And maybe a clip for the snare mic, so I can avoid the awkward placement of another boom stand. And some isolation headphones. And a pony. I always wanted a pony.
 
I see you have pretty much nailed it down.

I was going to recommend trying to find a used Pearl VBL (vision birch lacquered) as they don't run that much even new.

I think A customs are a good choice. I recomend going used on the cymbal hardware as IMO you get better bang for the buck.

I hit up guitar centers used section. I got an old school 80s tama boom that's so heavy duty I could stick pretty much anything on it and it's solid for $40 shipped. I got some combo stands (holds toms and cymbal) for not much more as well.

Buying new IMO isn't always worth it if you are buying quality stuff.
 
Clipping a mic on the snare is fine for live, but can be problematic in the studio.

If you get a short stand (table top stand) with a boom arm, you can place the stand under the hat and sneak the 57 in like that. Sometimes you have to weight the stand with a sand bag, or something.

Clip mics for toms tend to work better. The sennheiser 604s work really well.
 
Tadpui said:
Today's obsession has been with the Yamaha Stage Custom Birch. It seems to be a solid entry level kit, available in a few different configurations and colors, looks really nice, and sounds great. Plus I'm kind of a Yamaha fanboy, I've always had a lot of respect for their music gear. But, seeing the local Craigslist selection, I'd have to buy them new. And a brand new retail-priced drum set seems like one of the worst investments a person can make.

However, I think that I'm sold on Zildjian A series cymbals. They're also sold in a pack that has their 14" New Beat hats, a 16" medium-thin crash, 21" Sweet Ride, and a bonus 18" medium thin crash. Not sure I want to give up the floor space to accommodate 2 crashes and their stands, but at very least I can use either/or depending on my mood. But the demos I've watched have been impressive. Anything that sounds better is like 2-3 times the price!

So I may give up my pipe dream of a Supra for now, live with the not-too-bad Yamaha snare, and get a Supra when I no longer feel poor after buying drums, hardware, cymbals, throne, and a couple of boom stands for overhead mics. And maybe a clip for the snare mic, so I can avoid the awkward placement of another boom stand. And some isolation headphones. And a pony. I always wanted a pony.
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There's a guy here that goes by "liv rong"....that dude built a track in his ceiling with adjustable boom arms sticking out of it for his overheads. It looks awesome as shit and seems to work. If I had any construction skills I'd do it myself.
 
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