Advice on getting a Bugdet drum kit.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nakatira
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Nakatira

Nakatira

That Norwegian Bastard
I`ve been recording music for a while, I`ve had the pleasure of recording a Tama kit and a premier kit.
Non of them were mine.

So now I think its time to step up and buy a kit for my studio, so There allways is a kit around.

I work at a music store so I can get good pricings,
The brands that I can Choose between are; Pearl, Tama, Mapex, Yamaha and Sonor.
The 12-13-16- 14 snare 22 kick, is what I need.
I was thinking about each brands entry kit, are they all the same???
Anyone got a fave?

Ps I dont know if it goes in my favor but I will be removing the bottom head on all the toms. and fronthead on the Kick.

any advice would be apreciated. :)
 
why are you gonna remove the bottom heads? i've tried drums with no bottom heads and thought they sounded like dirty ass.
 
Yeah, removing bottom heads usually sounds like cock and balls.
I'd say, if you stick with Pearl and Tama, their starter kits are pretty comparable to each other. I don't like Mapex or Sonor, and don't know much about Yamaha's low-end kits either. With proper tuning and setup, you can make these lower-end kits sound okey-dokey.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
why are you gonna remove the bottom heads? i've tried drums with no bottom heads and thought they sounded like dirty ass.
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Because I like the way it sounds :) is the simple answer.

A more thourough answer is I`m ona constand quest of making things sound 70`s.

And as far as I know and have been told most of the Drums on the records that I like were "Bottomles".

I`ve heard some good recordings with heads on, but my faves are done this way.

thanks for the recomandation jaykemurd :)
 
brandrum said:
tama, sonor...ok, but what series?
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I dont remeber, sorry about that, it was the cheapest models
arround 900 dollars, norwegian pricing offcourse :)
 
Sonor has one of the least expensive maple kits out there, also Pacific and Mapex, but I'm not a Mapex fan at all and Pacific isn't on the list. Not a big fan of Sonor hardware, but the drums are nice for the price (force 3000).
 
Honestly I got a used Pacific kit for 400 it's a 7-piece CX maple and I really really love it. But, it seems like most of the guys on here really like to use Pearl drums (especially for the low end models) I've played some low end Tama and didn't like them, and Mapex are incredibly cheap, which, if you really are going to go bottomless that might be the way to go. I don't know how well thier hardware will stand up and whatnot either though. As far as yahmaha and sonar, I don't really know anything about either. The best thing to do would be to ask your boss if you can stay late one day (off the clock of course) and play with the kits and see what you like best...
 
Rydeen is a philippine mahogany shell. Ok, if you like that sound, but there are birch and maple drums for the same price. Love that yamaha hardware tho.
 
It's very hard to recommend a specific kit. Also, I realize that budget is tight, especially considering you'd need cymbals (that's where they get'ya!)

I could never afford real (new) drums, but I've heard entry-level kits (and played in a band with one years ago). Maybe you could look for a used set? You could get better shells for your buck and it's not like getting a used car - if they're half-decent, they don't get worse with time, there's no "mileage".

I once bought a 40-year old Premier jazz set for $300, that looks much like a Ringo Starr Beatles kit (just saying for description, I'm not really a beatle-fan). It's a mahogany 4-piece set, wooden kick-drum rims, came with a nice kick-drum internal pillow (one of the modern ones that touches both heads), all toms and snare have an internal muffler (the little felt circle that you can raise to touch the top head to reduce overtones). It had hat and ride stands, bass pedal (crash cymbal stand protrudes out of the bass-drum, where rock-sets have 2nd tom) and I even got a nice sounding mahogany block with it.

With some new heads it sounds very good, I really like them all, but especially the snare. (and you're gonna have to buy new heads even if you buy new drums).

So that's just an example of how there are real bargains out there sometimes.

The "entry-level" musical instruments (in general, I'm sure there's exceptions) are either designed to turn people away from music or to get them to spend more money as soon as the money-back period expires.

I can vouch for that about drumkits, guitars, basses, amps, mics, etc.
 
I know I"ll probably get Razzed for Suggesting this But You can Get Fairly Good Sounding Kits in the $300 to $400 range Like a set of CB 700"s.....

My CB"s sound quite good, Just as Good or better than my Old Pearl Export Kit, You just need to put Good Skins on them and Tune them Properly and you get a Very Good Sound and with the Money you save you will have more money to Buy Good Cymbals and Stands and Maybe a Good set of Double Kick Pedals...These Kits are Very Sturdy so they can take a Lot of Abuse and the Memory Locks make them easy and Fast to take down and Set up .....

Sure If I had more Money I would have gotten a Better quality Kit but since I didn"t I am quite happy with it....

Cheers
 
Nakatira said:
Because I like the way it sounds :) is the simple answer.

A more thourough answer is I`m ona constand quest of making things sound 70`s.

And as far as I know and have been told most of the Drums on the records that I like were "Bottomles".

I`ve heard some good recordings with heads on, but my faves are done this way.

thanks for the recomandation jaykemurd :)
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If you're looking for that 70's sound get on ebay or the classifieds and find yourself a late 70's ludwig kit with single headed toms. I had one it was a great sounding kit. All single headed toms 10,12,13,18,& 20. BIG floor toms and a 14x24 kick all amber vistalite. If you look around you can find them and you can make them sound good.
 
elmerfunk said:
find yourself a late 70's ludwig kit with single headed toms.
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Search 'concert toms'. That's what the single-headed toms were called.
 
elmerfunk said:
If you're looking for that 70's sound get on ebay or the classifieds and find yourself a late 70's ludwig kit with single headed toms. I had one it was a great sounding kit. All single headed toms 10,12,13,18,& 20. BIG floor toms and a 14x24 kick all amber vistalite. If you look around you can find them and you can make them sound good.
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Would love to get my hands on a Ludwig kit, but freight costs would kill me.

I`m leaning towards Sonor 1005 series basswood. :)

Thanks for the input everyone :)
 
Mapex isn't terrible

I just wanted to jump in and say I have a 2005 Mapex Studio ProM (All Maple) kit and it is fantastic for loud rock. All the Mapex nay sayers on here may not have recent experiences with the brand, which has undergone serious changes in the past few years and were pure crap before that. The hardware now is especially good.

As for the 70's sound...best bet is to get a used kit from the 70's. ;)
 
For less money than you will spend on ANY of the big name brand beginner kits you can get an ALL Birch kit from HBdrums.comwww.hbdrums.com

I will be selling my Tama kit soon and going over to the HB birch kit.
 
Nakatira said:
I`m leaning towards Sonor 1005 series basswood. :)
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If you tried it and you like it, then obviously it's ok. But, if you are buying without hearing, I'd keep looking. Basswood is a fine filler material, but it's not resonant at all. It's also not a very bendable wood as a veneer and could easily go out of round over time. It's what they make venitian blinds out of. If you can, hold out for the sonor maple/basswood laminate. It will have a much more musical sound. In my opinion philippine mahogany (luan), which is in the same price range, is way more resonant than basswood.
 
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