New to drums and I want to buy my first kit, help!!

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ACIDBANDIT

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I am finally breaking down and learning to play the drums. I have a small recording studio in my apartment (yes, I live in a apartment) and want to add acoustic drums to my songs. I can only use drum machines for so long (try 5 years) on my tracks before growing tiresome of the synthetic feeling :( I am really excited even though I know my neighbors will hate me forever. haha.

I took a trip to guitar center tonight to see what they had for 5pc kits with a price range of 1000-1500, which should be enough to get something quality, right?. The extremely friendly sales dude pointed me to a few different kits and I wanted to know if what he said had any merit to it and what you guys think. He mentioned a Gretch Catalina Birch with Zildjian "A" Prepack cymbals for 649.99 for the kit, 499.99 for pack of cymbals OR a Pearl ELX (export maybe?) amber fade kit for 629.99... and of course I know nothing about anything when it comes to drums so I wanted to do research before I committed to anything. What do y'all think? He also recommended these Vic Firth Muff pads to reduce the noise, however I have no idea how well these kind of things work of if they do anything at all.

I already play my shit pretty loud with my guitar and theres alot of old deaf people that live around me so I figured I'd prolly be ok as long as I wasn't playing for hours and hours at night. What else do I need to get started? What's a good way to set it up? Are there any kits that are easier to play for beginners? Like I said it will be used mostly for recording, so I don't know if there are any kits better suited for that purpose. Ah, I'm so excited!!!! I hope
I don't get kicked out!! :eek: :D

-=daveyboy=-
 
You do know that when you're the old guy, you're going to have loud neigbors who don't care and it's going to piss *you* off...

We reap what we sow...

That being said: if you're just starting AND you'll be recording, the drums could be pretty much any starter kit, but cymbals should be good. Don't get cheapies! You'll really notice it on the recordings. Budget drums with good heads can get pretty good results. Get some mid range cymbals.
 
That being said: if you're just starting AND you'll be recording, the drums could be pretty much any starter kit, but cymbals should be good. Don't get cheapies!
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What he said. I would spend a little less money on the drums and a little more on the cymbals. You can get a lot of mileage out of relatively cheap drums that you can't get out of cheap cymbals. Get some Zildjian As (I'm not sure what's in that prepack, but if they really are As that could be okay) or something similar. In general, I say buy fewer cymbals and let them be keepers. A four piece Mapex VX, Pearl Export, Gretsch Catalina Club, or Tama Stagestar should be very servicable. Get a set of 14" hi-hats, a crash, and a ride, and you have everything you need to get started playing anything.

Remember that whatever drums you buy, you should plan to put new heads on them. In the price range you're looking at, the heads that come with the drums are generally not very good.
 
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Eek, sorries about the double posting!! I changed the title on my post last night and pressed the stop button on me browser before the page changed thinking that it didn't post the old title, which it obviously still did! :( Ahhhh, I feel like a douchebag now :eek: Well I definately am not spending a crapload on the kit itself, since I've had a bunch of people telling me that I could buy a decent kit for about 600-700 bux and just buy some pretty good cymbals because they matter a hell lot more especially with recording. I went to another music shop today, Cadence Music, which actually just sells drums and kits only. They had a Zildjian Prepack there for $475 and I'm almost pretty sure it's the same one Guitar Center had for $500. That definately makes my decision alot easier on where to actually buy the cymbals and kit! The owner of the drum shop also told me that I should go with a Mapex Pro M (maple) 6pc kit for $649.99 and that includes a full set of hardware. Seems pretty reasonable to me, what do you guys think of Mapex? Yay or neigh? And btw, thanks for all your help already! This forum and it's users are such a wonderful resource to me and the music community! :D

Rock on,

-daveyboy-
 
I love Mapex. If I didn't already own a good set of Tamas, I'd probably get a Mapex set. I've always been a Tama man. You might want to look at Pacific by DW. Fine drums!
 
It's all good!
I like the OLD export!
Go with the Masters with your budget.you can get the A's cheap....]

A $1500 budget can carry you far............ :)
 
Go for the Gretsch, and try to get a Sabian cymbals with it.
If you play jazz or fusion or light rock go with the HH/HHX...
If you play heavy rock go for AA Metal-X...but just listen for yourself if you decide..!
 
Hey before you buy your cymbals take them out of the box and play them first! I have bought my new cymbals online but had the chance to hear the same type played by a fellow drummer so I had a good idea of what i was getting. But if you have the chance, make the salesman let you put the cymbals on a stand and play them by themselves or with a store demo kit would be better, just remember that some rides make beter crashes and some crashes are perfect rides, just depends on the cymbal really.

My kit right now is a set of CB's :eek: but hey they sound really good, with the right heads and proper tuning I would put them up against ANY set of Rockstars or stage customs. But I also have good cymbals and they make all the difference. Also different cymbals will alter your playing styles, mine have for the better I think.

But don't be discouraged if you get home and you decide you don't like what you have bought, just try differnt heads and tuning styles to find your groove, and it should find you :D
 
for $1500 you could get a decent electronic kit with mesh heads that would have decent acoustic kits and you could play all night :rolleyes: + have the midi so in case you wanted to later use other sounds it would be easy to do... I like the feel and sounds of acoustic kit but now that i've gone electric kit I wouldn't go back - many kit sounds, percussion, etc... + decent feel

just a thought...
 
you can get a tama starclassic birch set for anywhere from 1100 to 1700, thats what i have...and ive played the ocp custom drums and i think they're overrated. but yea i recommend tama starclassic birch, or even the rockstar customs those are pretty badass. If this is somthing you really want to do then get the right drums the first time, dont settle for shitty ones. I also recommend remo pinstripes for drums heads.
 
sonor

Sonor make the best drums in the word, they are eaisly the rolls royce! But they are expensive. They do make lines ranging from the 503 - budget to the designer - high end though :cool:
 
dohc_vteg said:
you can get a tama starclassic birch set for anywhere from 1100 to 1700, thats what i have...and ive played the ocp custom drums and i think they're overrated. but yea i recommend tama starclassic birch, or even the rockstar customs those are pretty badass. If this is somthing you really want to do then get the right drums the first time, dont settle for shitty ones. I also recommend remo pinstripes for drums heads.
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All Hail the Pinstripes!!
 
I would go for a decent used kit. There a many times some kid bought a
very decent set, but gave up on playing drums, and wants to dump them
for cheap.
Also, it is not that difficult to make mid grade drums sound good with
the proper heads and tuning.
As for cymbals, I would stick to Zildjian or Sabian. I have seen too many
Paistes that crack. And regardless of brand, make sure the cymbals have
a nice decay and ring(because you can also reduce that if wanted). I have
a friend who bought Zildjian high hats that were so dead, they sounded
like crap. If you want that sound, you could always tape up a quality HH.
 
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