In the market for a drumset... any advice?

SloppyJo

SloppyJo

New member
I feel that I have a need to learn drums on account of them just being awesome and fundamental to music, among other things.

That said, I am totally new to the world of banging things, and as of such, I am looking to buy a drumset. Preferably a one stop shop set that's got decent cymbals, drums, skins etc or anything else that I'm overlooking.

I'm looking for the best thing I can buy around the 1000 $ range [as a maximum let's say], and a versatile kit that can be tweaked to play several genres [anything really; but let's say the "heaviest" I'll go is hard rock and the lighter side of metal, whatever that means].

This kit is going to be exclusively used in the studio, if that's a consideration.

I hate to be THAT guy that's asking basic questions, but we all start somewhere I guess. Any advice that can point me in the right direction? :)
 
For studio use, any of the big name brands will be fine in your budget. Tama, Pearl, PDP, Mapex, etc they all make 4 and 5 pc kits that fall well within your price range and they all essentially sound the same at that price point. They heads you use and how you tune them will be the biggest factor in your overall sound. Cymbals are where the big money adds up. If you have a local Craigslist, look for complete kits with good cymbals. Post your findings in here and maybe we can help more.
 
Well, I see a Yamaha 5 piece stage-custom, with a Zidljean 16'' rock custom crash and every other cymbal being Paiste, going for 800 $ CAD.

As far as my limited knowledge of cymbals goes, Sabian and Zildjean are good bets. Not all too familiar with Paiste however...
 
Paistes are fantastic. But that doesn't matter. The model of the cymbals matter. All the companies make cheap models, good models, and great models. Zildjian makes good stuff and they also make shit. So do the others.
 
Hmm...

I found it in another thread here [how convenient] the crash on the Yamaha kit sounds like garbage...

Maybe I'll pass on that one.
 
The cymbals that come with a kit pretty much always suck. You need to look for a used kit that has already been upgraded with better cymbals
 
And remember, you can make a cheap drumset sound decent, but you can't make a cheap cymbal sound anything other than trash.
 
Craigslist. Used is far more bang for the buck and you can go pound on them before you buy (in most cases). You need to hear the drums and the cymbals to make an informed decision.
 
Gearing up for backline for several rock n roll summer camps, and finding gear for my son's recording/rehearsal studio, I have bought more drum sets that most non-drummers, and probably many drummers, too. From my experience:

$1000 gets you darn decent drums, even bought new. Two that I have bought that sell for under that, new, are Yamaha Stage Customs and Gretsch Catalina Maples. I prefer the Cats, but primarily because they look so much cooler. From what I can see, Yamaha seems to brag on their YESS mounting system, but it doesn't look like all that and a bag of chips to me. Still, the Yammies are good drums.

Agreed- buy used. Save yourself about 50%.

Not so sure about buying used cymbals. IMO, that's about the same as buying used heads. Anything that actually gets beat on, caveat emptor if buying used.

"Stencil brand" drums- all made at the same factory in china, just with different names "stenciled" on them- are, for the most part, playable but cheap, no frills. One thing to watch- do NOT buy drums with less than 4 tensioners per head (except 10" or smaller.) They will be VERY cheaply made, and the tensioner mounts will break when you tune them.

Jazz and bop kits often have only one mounted tom- probably all you really need (that, and a floor tom, kick drum, and snare.) Jazz and bop kits also often have a 20" kick drum- I have one kit that all the drums are about 1" or 2" smaller than usual- and it sounds just fine. Makes it lighter and smaller (think, load in/load out, and storage room.) I have had several drummers say they like that little kit.

DON'T TAKE THE RESONATOR HEADS AND HOOPS OFF. This just seems so sophomoric to me, and they WILL get lost. If you want whatever sound that gets you (I have yet to figure out what that sound might be,) cut holes in the reso heads and put 'em back on. A coffee can, heated on the stove top, makes a nifty tool to put holes in heads (drum heads, I mean- putting holes in people heads requires a .44) Greg doesn't like that method, and that's fine, but I've had good results with it.

If the drums are cheap enough, but the wraps are in bad shape, ignore the wraps. It's pricy to re-wrap a drum (like, $250 or more for a 4 or 5-piece kit,) but you can get decent results sanding, staining and clear coating the shells (polypro is quick and glossy, lacquer time consuming but easier for noobs,) or even painting them with an opaque paint. Or re-wrap them with vinyl bought from a quickie sign company (less than $50, I found.)

Don't cheese out on stands- no fun having cymbals fall over.
 
The only thing that can suck about craigslist is if someone is selling a decent kit, but wants to charge more because he has a set of cymbals that he can included, but said set sucks balls.

There is even a dude on my local CR that wanted to jack the price because he also had a set of mics to go along with it and WOULD NOT SEPARATE.

It's dumb, just stay away from that crap.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated :).

What I might just end up doing is go to a local music store and buy a decent kit brand new after A/B-ing some kits... I might lost out on great savings from buying used, but you can't beat the simplicity of the "get in and get out" way of doing things with a music store.

Also there is always something sketchy about buying stuff off Craigslist... my local one didn't exactly have anything I was looking for anyway.
 
mdainsd said:
Craigslist. Used is far more bang for the buck and you can go pound on them before you buy (in most cases). You need to hear the drums and the cymbals to make an informed decision.
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this.
around here it's a buyers market for sure. I've been trying to unload a good set w/ a lot of extras for a decent price & not even a bite.
 
It always kills me when I see a set of pearl exports with a B8 starter set and the person is asking like $800 bucks.

Mid-level instruments, while more than serviceable, just aren't worth anything.
 
Well... like anything else, go with your gut.

Like a guitar or bass, new strings and a set up go a long way to making a cheaper instrument sound pretty good. Drums are the same way. You can get a lower end kit, but with a set of new heads (less than $100) and proper tuning, they can sound really good.

Cymbals are a bit different story. Cheap cymbals sound cheap. Generally speaking this has to do with the alloy used to make them. The cheaper lines like Sabians B8's or Ziljians ZBT's use an alloy that makes their cymbals sound trashy with more of a "Tah" sound and less of a "ping". Visually speaking the cheaper ones are more orangish in color. Talk to your local shop folks and just start asking questions. They may have some used options available for a great deal.


Whatever you decide to get, just roll with it and have a blast playing your new drums. They are a great after work stress reliever. :thumbs up:
 
dreib said:
It always kills me when I see a set of pearl exports with a B8 starter set and the person is asking like $800 bucks.

Mid-level instruments, while more than serviceable, just aren't worth anything.
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I'm not even sure if brand new an Export with a B8 set cost $800. I got my Sonor 2001 and a set of Wuhan and Istanbul cymbals (all higher end than Export and B8's) for $950 brand new. This was in 2004 mind you, before the price of copper started skyrocketing around 2007-08.

They don't make Exports anymore so you can't really check modern prices, but I'm almost sure a higher end Export was like $600-700, and a B8 set was, what, $200?
 
Seafroggys said:
I'm not even sure if brand new an Export with a B8 set cost $800. I got my Sonor 2001 and a set of Wuhan and Istanbul cymbals (all higher end than Export and B8's) for $950 brand new. This was in 2004 mind you, before the price of copper started skyrocketing around 2007-08.

They don't make Exports anymore so you can't really check modern prices, but I'm almost sure a higher end Export was like $600-700, and a B8 set was, what, $200?
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What I meant was you can find awesome deals all over craigslist and even better deals looking at Guitar centers used gear but there always people who think their used mid-level gear is worth way more than "market value".

Im pretty sure they still make exports and I still think they are the best bang for your buck drums you could buy.....especially used.
 
Raymeous said:
The cheaper lines like Sabians B8's or Ziljians ZBT's use an alloy that makes their cymbals sound trashy with more of a "Tah" sound and less of a "ping". Visually speaking the cheaper ones are more orangish in color.
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The manufacturing process is quite a bit different. Higher end stuff is cast while the cheap stuff is stamped.
 
Guitargodgt said:
The manufacturing process is quite a bit different. Higher end stuff is cast while the cheap stuff is stamped.[/QUOTE

Paiste make great B8 cymbals(2002 & alpha) and you can save big buying used. On the other hand all their other cymbals, B15-B20, have gone sky high price wise, I may have to switch.
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I think the manufacturing process has more to do with quality than the alloy. Cast and forged cymbals that are hand lathed and hammered are naturally going to sound better and last longer than mass-produced stamped sheet cymbals.
 
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