Need help deciding what kind of drumset to get

L

loldoaflip

New member
Hello everybody, I desperately need some help deciding what my next investment as a drummer should be. I've been playing drums for 7 (going on 8) years, and I'm completely self-taught. While I've managed to learn a lot from trial-and-error and the help of many kind musicians online, I'm still kind of a newbie overall. For as long as I've been a drummer, I've been relying solely on two drumkits: a cheap CB Drums 5-piece beginner's kit (my very first drumkit), and a Tama Rockstar 5-piece kit. Both are relatively cheap kits, meant for beginners, but now that I have been drumming for quite some time and finally have a job so I can invest my own money in a next-level drumkit, I need some help.

Now, I know there are a ton of options I could go with, but I just want to give some information that might help you guys lead me in the right direction:
  • I primarily play rock, punk, and alternative music, but I'm looking for a kit that could allow me to be versatile while also serving well within those genres
  • I am really fond of the sound of Matt Cameron's drums (especially on Down On The Upside and King Animal) - I realize his Yamaha kit probably cost thousands of dollars and is very high end, but anything that could get me closer to that territory than my CB/Tama kits would be lovely
  • This is probably the biggest limiting factor, but I hope to stay within a $400-600 budget. If I need to invest a little bit more to get a drumset that makes that much of a difference in quality, I'll be happy to do so
  • If it helps with the above bullet at all, I'm only looking for a shell pack, I'm not including cymbals in the budget (that will be a few more hundred dollars to lay down on another day... the costs of being a musician haha)
  • Speaking of cymbals, I am relying on the wonderfully cheapo Sabian B8's and B8 Pros at the moment, so any recommendation on good rock/alternative cymbals would be great as well

I hope I gave you all enough to work with, please feel free to ask questions if you need to. Thank you very much!
 
Used is gonna get you the most bang for your buck, Craigslist is always good and Guitar Center used department is a gold mine of cheap drums. Good heads and tuning are the key to any level drumset but I would still stay away from anything , OTHER THAN, maple , birch, sets, if you can help it, there is a reason why those two woods have been popular and used by drum makers, primarily, for a long time.
 
PDP makes some good products that might get you close to where you want to go. That's DW's entry-level kits, and should be good for an intermediate player like yourself. For sure get some good heads and do a LOT of research on tuning. Quality, well-tuned heads will make whatever drum set you have sound it's best, and could make what you already have sound like a whole new set.

For example, I used to gig with a vintage Ludwig vistalite clear 4 piece kit; unfortunately, I didn't have the matching Ludwig snare. I was using a CB 700 metal snare (may be the same snare you have on your beginner kit), but I had an Aquarian Studio X head on it and kept it tuned *just* right. It was not up to the quality of the rest of the kit by any means, but it did the job and fit in with the sound just fine. I even got some compliments on the snare sound.
 
So, what are the general opinions of the digital drum kits? or is that in another thread?
 
My opinion of ekits is they have their place (and I own one as well) but nothing beats a good old chunk of wood with a piece of Mylar film stretched over it.
 
IMO, you'll do better spending the money on re-heading the Tamas, strategically replacing a key cymbal or two or three (craiglist up some hats/ride/crash, any of the professional level offerings from the major players will be a great improvement), and some lessons than a new kit. The difference in sound among any properly round drums with well-cut edges in similar sizes is pretty esoteric. Could do with a snare, if what you're using is entry-level. Chad Smith, Musashi, Acrolite, or even the cheap Tama Metalworks steel are more than adequate.

Stretch the budget to $700, look used, you can easily get a new snare, hats/ride/crash, and new heads, you'll see the largest improvement you'll ever get, it's all diminishing returns from there on out.

Also, the sound of any drums on record are the product of the recording studio, not the drums. It's common enough for the original drum sounds to be completely replaced with samples. I'm sure you know this, just a reminder.
 
If you plan on buying cymbals, hats, a kit, and heads, $600 isn't a lot. I agree with ermghoti. I have a Rockstar with Sabian cymbals too, and I haven't felt the need to change it ever. Nice heads tuned properly should get you any sound you need. Your cymbals though, are another story. B8s are pretty sucky. If you're a Sabian fan, be on the lookout for used AA or AAXs. If you want to head over to the Zildjian party (you traitor you), avoid the zbts and be on the lookout for the A series. Of course, the best way to go about this would be to try a lot of different cymbals at your nearest music store. GC and Sam Ash have pretty decent collections of new and used cymbals you can try. Buying a cymbal off ebay without every hearing what it sounds like would be a mistake.
Happy shopping:thumbs up:
 
Like a couple of people have said, don't expect a new kit to magically sound that much better than what you have. New skins and good cymbals will make almost any half-decent kit sound good.

I wouldn't go down the path of buying a kit based on something you've heard on a record. As was mantioned, that has more to do with the recording environment, style of the drummer, processing, etc....Just because someone uses a Yamaha kit (for example) doesn't mean you're going to sound like them just becasue you buy the exact same kit as them.
 
If I were you I would invest in the following: Fresh heads if you don't have them. Learn how to tune well, there are apps that can help you with that btw. First thing I would upgrade if I were you is the snare drum. A nice snare will give a noticeable improvement, more so than other drums in my opinion.

Personally I find the B8 20 inch ride to be pretty solid sounding. My drummers B8 ride has gotten better sounding over the years. There was one B8 ride in my high school that was way older/better sounding than that. I agree on getting used cymbals. I would add XS20s to the list of cymbals to consider. They apparently are very similar to Sabian AAs but with less labor necessary, hence the lower cost.
 
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