kit's, kit's, kit's, and oh yeah, did i mention kits. damn

fenderlikingood

fenderlikingood

New member
there are so many to chose from, and then there's mahogany, birch, beech, maple, cross laminate this, air seal that, ply's.
DAMN!!!!

i recently sold my starter set and im looking to upgrade. i think i have narrowed it down to three choices.

in no particular order.

tama 2002 rock star

sonor 3001

yamaha stage custom

all these kits are $899.00, and then there is the fusion model for each of these kits. the fusion kits have the smaller rack toms.

the tama has a 22"x18" bass drum, the yamaha has 22"x17" bass drum, and the sonor has 22"x16" bass drum.

i will be using this kit mainly to record, but it would be nice if they sounded good live as well.

these kits are in my budget range as of right now.

is any one familiar with these kit's?????????? which would you reccomend?????? or are there more options that are better in this price range??????? or would it be better to save some more scratch and buy a $1200.00 to $1500.00 kit????????

im just clueless as to which would be better, you can clink around some on these kits at mars, but they are usually out of tune, and i have virgin ears. so i need some serious help before i spend that hard earned cash.

any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!!

peace

rick
 
As with any instrument you really need toplay it before you buy. I have alwasys found it hard to go to a store and sit behind a set a play with it for a while. You need to mess with the tuning. Drum positions, etc. And as we all know the stores have no patience for that. But that dosen't answer your question. All 3 sets you mention will all do the job for you moving up from an intro set. I would guees you need to upgrade all your hardware too. Most of the sets you mention usually don't come with a hardware package. For that reason I would stear you towars the Mapex kits. I teach and I've had 2 going on 3 students buy Mapex as their next kit. No, I don't work for the company but at this rate I would like a kickback. I would think a Pro M series would be in this price rage. Nice Maple shells ( they might have 1 ply of bass wood in the to keep the price down) Their finishes look great. Get a gloss stain. Don't but wrapped shells. Suspension system and hardware is included. Hope this helps.
 
mapex

thanks zbert!!

i didnt even think to check out mapex. i went to some of the online music store sites, and the mapex site. the pro m series is definitely another choice, in fact it's about $50.00 cheaper than the others i mentioned! it comes with the same hardware package as the others.

so my other question would be, is mapex a better kit than the others , better built, better sound,

the mapex is maple with 1 ply of bass wood

the yamaha is mahagony, birch and falkata woods( whatever that is)

the sonor says it uses a cross laminated tension free shell?? they do not say what kind of wood.

the tama has phillippine mahagony and an inner ply of bass wood.

so im still a bit confused, im sure i could'nt go wrong with any of these kits, but im sure each has a distinctly different sound.

whats the difference in the sound of these woods?????????

i know im asking alot, but this seems like the place to get some straight answers.

thanks again

rick
 
before you go out and buy a mass-produced kit, do yourself a favor and check out some custom drums!! I've heard nothing but great things about Conaway drums:

http://www.conawaydrums.com/about.html

instead of spending $900 on a kit made with cheaper woods (eg. mahogany) - you can spend $45 more and get a kit made with 6-ply maple (toms) AND get EXACTLY what you want (size, color, hardware (lugs, etc.))

If I were buying another kit....I would seriously consider a custom kit built to my specs...:D

phattie is another custom drum-builder that I've heard great things about.
 
if you can't tell already, i like Pearl Sessions Custom Select.
if you are willing to save up 1200 dollars, this is the best buy for your buck. They sound just like the Pearl Masters Kits(to almost everyone) and they're good for all applications. I had a pearl expot, upgraded to the sessions.......couldn't have been happier.
Nice nice colors too. I got the Fusion set shell pack(already had a rack, nice hi hat, double bass, dennis chambers snare). If you have any friends that work at music store, abuse their discount. If not, guitar center sells the shell pack pretty cheap. If you want the a really good deal go to
www.midwestpercussion.com
they have great deals there and shipping is free.
hope this helps

ss
 
CONAWAY

pratt,

thank you for recommending conaway drums , i checked out his site and was blown away. a 100% maple kit for $945.00, all built to your specs!! iv'e already contacted david conaway, and low and behold, he's local!! he even invited me down to the shop to help stain the drums( now thats personal service) i would be crazy to buy mass produced now.

even though it's going to cost more in the long run, because i have to purchase the cymbal stands and such, i just dont think i would be happy with anything else now.

sessionselect, thanks for the info on the pearls, i checked them out at the link you posted, and they are very tasty indeed!!
but i think im gonna have to go with the custom kit, for so many reasons. but if i didnt hear of conaway from pratt, i think these are probably what i would have went with. so thanks again for the heads up.

well im off to pick my kit!!!! whooooooooooooo whooooooooooooooooooooooo

peace
rick
 
hmmmmm.....wonder if I can swing some commission from Mr. Conaway????:D :D :D


good luck and congrats!! I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Dave C.'s customer service!!
 
So about these custom drums....is there somewhere where i can hear them.. Is there a pro drummer out there that plays them so i can hear them?

ss
 
..

I own all three of those kits. Go with the Tama Rockstar 2002. I have the fusion kit for that, with 10", 12" and 14" toms, and I absolutely adore it. I've also got a starclassic as well, same tom sizes, and the difference wouldn't be noticed by someone who doesn't play drums.

One thing I've noticed, be careful about buying cases. A 12" tom with the rim-mounting system won't fit into a 12" case, and this has bothered me to no end because removing the rim take about 15 minutes per tom, and I like to throw my toms into their cases and throw the cases in the bus and get to the next city as fast as possible.
 
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