Mid priced Drum Set Buying Question

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Fusion2

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let's call it mid/cheap priced ok, thanks, i called a drummer i know and he said maple is the shell of choice for pros, i play guitar/synth and know diddly about it, what am i looking for in way of a low priced workable drum set for my studio? i've did a little research and know hardware is a factor and am looking at DW drums in that respect but wish a lower price if possile but not $249 Pluse priced, i guess? am i? birch? maghoney? basswood? etc etc, different woods offer different tonal qualities i'm sure and of course hardware is always a factor, chime in and post your experences with cheap to good lower end drum sets, $4-500 range, i see brand name makers offering low end sets now like Ludwig, Tama, etc... your links please if you haven't the time to post, thanks...

also base size, what's good for recording? i see many are offering smaller base drums now, yes it's all new to me not being a drummer and i do have a smallish studio if that's relevent to kit size and good recording, thanks again...

any and all input is greatly appreciated, many thanks

i found this which helps alot but am still interested in your experences...
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html
 
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Maple is the preferred wood for drum shells. I prefer birch for recording (birch tends to have a more focused mid range - which provides a tight attack. However you will not find a good maple or birch set for $400-$500.

Most low price drums (I consider $500 low price) tend to be basswood or mahogany (or perhaps a combination). It is possible to find $500 drums that may have one ply of birch (combined with mahogany and/or basswood,etc.)

Everyone has different opinions, but I think the Yamaha Stage Customs are the best value in a low priced kit (you can get very good tone, the hardware is dependable and Yamaha maintains some fairly consitant quality).

Regarding size of a kick drum - I prefer a 20" kick for recording (I like a 20" x 16" - although the best sounding kick I have used was a 20" x 18" birch drum). In general I find smaller size drums (and smaller cymbals for that matter) record better, since they are easier to tame in the studio.

While good hardware is important - for studio use hardware is not as important (it doesn't need to be "road worthy"). Naturally, the hi-hat, kick pedal & throne need to be of decent quality, but cymbal stands, etc don't need to be heavy duty.

You don't mention cymbals - which can be anywhere from 25% to 50% of your budget. I've always felt that as a general rule of thumb you should budget $900 to $1200 for a decent kit and another $1,000 for decent cymbals (a good ride can be about $300 and decent hi-hats are also about $300).
 
thanks, i agree with the 20" kick for recording because i've read that statment a few times while researching the past 3 days, as far as cymbals most know you can't cut corners there and you may have as much wrapped up in them as the kit itself, agreed, good cymbals are expensive and there's not much that can be done about that from what i've seen, which hasn't been that much since i'm still into the kit research end of things, the cymbal end of this search should prove intresting and possibly painfuly expensive unless i hunt them down locally and use a want ad or such, i don't hold much faith in ebay though, i have the time but like most am compulsive about spending, if you can get good search results and hold back jumping into a purchase you should do well money wise which is my target along with quality in a kit...

many thanks for your input....
 
well, i missed a DW/CX 9ply maple shell kit on ebay that went for about 450, i see the same set at sam ash for 650 free ship and around the web for 899 plus ship, looks like maple shells are going to be a slightly expensive endevor in todays market, it all depends on where you look i guess, and don't get to compulsive waiting to find a deal, thanks again...
 
I bought a Tama Rockstar to fool around with in the studio. Sounds great by me and I've still got the stock drum heads on it from 2 years ago. 250 Hazy baby!
 
You don't mention cymbals - which can be anywhere from 25% to 50% of your budget. I've always felt that as a general rule of thumb you should budget $900 to $1200 for a decent kit and another $1,000 for decent cymbals (a good ride can be about $300 and decent hi-hats are also about $300).
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i agree with everything you've said, but i don't agree that cymbals need to have that big of an allotment of money. for instance, my china cost me 40 dollars new. my ride cost me 40 used. both cymbals sound great.

for the best quality stuff, yeah, 300 dollars definitely. but for "decent," anywhere from 50 - 150 should cover it. well, maybe 180 for a pair of new hats. but used stuff is good too.

Fusion, i know you said that ebay really isn't your thing, but there are plenty of good deals on used gear, as you no doubt know. it's a great place if you're looking for "decent" gear at a "decent" price.

i played a Pacific set at guitar center once. it was the line of drums that was around 550 or 600 dollars... it sounded great.
 
yeah, i've gotta get my mind and price set using ebay, the DW/CX kit held for 8 hours before it jumped from 250 to 400 in the last 2 minutes of the auction, there's a market for drums on ebay no question, i tried tonight for a pearl export 4 piece kit and again watched it go from 112 to 202 the last few minutes of auction time, the seller didn't sound all that happy with ebay as he complained openly about getting burnt 3 times but said his auction would not be like that, the kits reserve price was never met also, i may just go sam ash and get it over with, i'd really like to know what the differences in shell wood make up do for a kit, i've read across the web maple is the choice of pro's but that may be an old statment because of newer materals and building method's today, i expected at least a few good reviews but like everything on the web today, if you don't make money doing it, it's not being done unfortunetly, i'm having a rough time getting sniped on ebay buying kits, maybe i'll do better on drum hardware, cym, stands, hihat, etc etc...

thanks again for all the info that helps my research, patience, must have patiences and not be compulsive ;)
 
eraos said:
Fusion, i know you said that ebay really isn't your thing, but there are plenty of good deals on used gear, as you no doubt know. it's a great place if you're looking for "decent" gear at a "decent" price.


it's a great place to sell i'll give you that :) buying something good is trying at times, imho of course, i know people make a living just buying and selling ebay items back and forth, alot of people say ebay is rigged or a bunch of crooks run prices up, i don't see it that way now, i see alot of resellers pushing to buy items, i'll have to look for auctions ending at 3-5am or such and hope most buyers are sleeping :)
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eraos said:
i agree with everything you've said, but i don't agree that cymbals need to have that big of an allotment of money. for instance, my china cost me 40 dollars new. my ride cost me 40 used. both cymbals sound great.

for the best quality stuff, yeah, 300 dollars definitely. but for "decent," anywhere from 50 - 150 should cover it. well, maybe 180 for a pair of new hats. but used stuff is good too.

Fusion, i know you said that ebay really isn't your thing, but there are plenty of good deals on used gear, as you no doubt know. it's a great place if you're looking for "decent" gear at a "decent" price.

i played a Pacific set at guitar center once. it was the line of drums that was around 550 or 600 dollars... it sounded great.
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I'm sorry but, unless you're buying cymbals from someone who doesn't know what they have, you're gonna pay $300 for a "decent" ride or pair of hats. If you're talking best quality stuff, try closer to $500 or more.

And... Ebay has become a bogus place to buy popular gear most of the time. I emailed a guy about his Rickenbacker 650 one night and asked if it had it's case because he was asking $450 for it. After he replied and said it did, I went on the next evening to find the starting price at $500. People aren't dumb. But it's definitely a marketplace more than a auction. You'll find used SM57's at $80 a pop. Add $8 shipping and you're $11 from the new price. It's a helluva deal... IF YOU'RE BUYING 15 OF 'EM!

Also, I agree that the Yamaha Stage Custom is a great value. Try to find a used one.
 
InTheFire said:
I'm sorry but, unless you're buying cymbals from someone who doesn't know what they have, you're gonna pay $300 for a "decent" ride or pair of hats. If you're talking best quality stuff, try closer to $500 or more.
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A brand new 20" Zildjian A Ping Ride will run you about $200.. I consider this to be a nice ride, I LOVE mine.

A pair of 14" Zildjian New Beat Hi-hats will run you about $250-300. I like these too.

If you just get Zildjian A's, I think you'll be set. Very versatile cymbals.
 
geet73 said:
A brand new 20" Zildjian A Ping Ride will run you about $200.. I consider this to be a nice ride, I LOVE mine.

A pair of 14" Zildjian New Beat Hi-hats will run you about $250-300. I like these too.

If you just get Zildjian A's, I think you'll be set. Very versatile cymbals.
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The Ping Ride is a very sweet sound. The last time I worked in a shop(in the last year) the Ping Ride was at least $225.

We were also trying to get rid of a really nice Istanbul ride. It was 20", I think, and the clearance price was $330. It had a really jazzy sound.
 
I have to agree regarding the cymbals. I record music at home purely as a hobby, and I don't have a decent rig by any means, but I can make pretty much everything sound decent...except my shitty cymbals. I'll post an example where I'm playing all the instruments. I think the hats sound ok, and the bass drum is hard to hear because of bad micing, but all the other cymbals sound like trash to me. Bear in mind that I think it's due to the style of my music that I can get away with a crappy rig, if I was playing jazz I would probably have to be more meticulous. Anyway, here it is:

 
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