I've been thinking about buying a kit for a while...I've been playing on my drummer's kit off and on for about a year now. I know that once I start seriously playing I'm not going to give it up so I want to get a set that I can grow into but isn't too expensive. I'd like to keep it under a grand (perferrably lower) with cymbals and a decent double kick pedal. I was thinking about getting an electronic kit for a while because of the noise situation but I really wasn't happy with the v-compact that I tried. Any recommendations are appreciated.

if youre gonna start out drums, dont get an electronic kit, personally i think they're stupid to own, although there's some pretty cool stuff on them, you really can't recreate the sound of a drum accurately with those

most drumsets cost about the same give or take a few, it all depends on what you want with it

you can get a lower end model 5 piece for $500-600 and they are pretty good quality

personally i like pearl and yamaha the most,
however as with any set, depending on what you want its gonna cost you
zildjian and sabian are the best for cymbals you can get 4 piece cymbal sets for like 400 bucks (zildjian zbt- again lower end model but still sounds good)

as for a double kicker pearl and dw both have affordable double pedals

dunwich said:

BEWARE! I did the same thing. It's hard to "grow into" something you learn by beating it with sticks. I'll let you in on a lesson I learnt pretty early on: There's nothing gayer than learning you need to work on your poor hand technique by putting a stick an inch into your $200 crash cymbal.

Personally, I'd recommend you spend as little as possible on a good entry level kit ($500 including hardware or so), and get some shitty or used cymbals. Ask around your rehearsal space. Some drummers will discard cymbals as soon as they begin cracking or chipping, and will give them to you free. I got a couple of mine this way. Also check out wuhan, not-great-sounding cymbals for shitty-sounding cymbal prices.

However, I WOULD reccomend spending the big bucks on your hardware. You're better off spending $80 on an indestructible cymbal or snare stand than buying a piece of crap for $20 and having to replace it later. Same goes for your kick pedals.

I would recomend the pearl forum kit. it's pearl, so it sounds great. the hardware is INCREADABLE. it comes with a crash/ride and hi hats, I would recomend you get a wuhan china for like 40 bucks that comes with a splash and boom, your there. you can buy a pule pro double pedal (wich is what I use live) for 99$.

The drums (with throne, heads, cymbals, hihat stand, snare stand, free sticks, video, and single bass pedal) come in a package and are about 500 bucks off musicians friend. plus the 99 for the double bass and boom, your there.

The heads will work, but I recomend switching them to remo pinstripe or evans g2-3 coated once you do get around to switching them.

I beg to differ on the Pearl Kit. I despise Pearl kits with an undying passion. Their tom mounts don't allow you to manipulate the position of your toms the way they should. This has ALWAYS bugged me about Pearl. Get a Tama Rockstar...Its a good solid kit with great Uniball tom mount allowing you to position your toms ANYWHERE. I only payed 500 for it and its WAY more solid than Pearl's i've seen and played. And, anyone who's seen Kubrick play in the last 3 months can vouch for my drum sound.
I use Aquarian Performance series heads for my toms and an Aquarian Hi-energy head for my snare for heavy music and it does the trick wonderfully. For bass drum head, i recommend the the Evans EMAD bass drum head. Best bass drum head on the market. Quite honestly, other bass drum heads dont exist to me anymore because of how amazing this head is. It has its own muffling system ON THE HEAD, which allows you not to muffle so much inside the bass drum, giving you more projection than any other bass drum head on the market...well...if you use it right.

Noble Cooley, I dont play drums but that is who my friend is sponcered by and I can probably get you a deal.

To mOe, What kindof beaters do you use on your bass pedal? do you think the emad head will sound good if I stick a dunmar click plate on it and hit with plastic beaters? I've tried internal muffling rings and they make the click sound like open asshole.

I don't have a problem with the tom positioning on my pearl kit, but I can see why people would. My big problem with pearl drums are the stock heads. Idealy I'd like a mapex or predator kit.

I don't like unibal mounts, but I think the bass drum hoops tama makes are genius. There high end hardware is nice too. I haven't played any high-end tama sets though.

you know it's time to get your eyes checked when you misread drum recommendations for drug recommendations.

i need new eyes!

mOe said:


yeah i hate those toms that mount thru the shell, and i too have a rockstar.

as moe said you can get one with hardware for like $500.
the pacifis sets sound good for the loot(subsidary of DW)

i wish i had $$ for

Spaun drums are pretty awesome. I'm really into the Yamaha stage customs. Evans EQ 3 and EQ 4 are not bad choices for bass drums.

Thanks for all of the feedback...Any opinions on Ludwig? I have been thinking about the Pearl Forum kit and the Tama Rockstar. For those of you who like electronic drums, any opinions on the Yamaha DTXPRESS III Kit? I was told that there was a pretty big difference between that and the Roland V-compact in terms of sound quality. One of my biggest problems with the v-compact was the feel of the high hat but I guess that's to be expected given the design.

Niccolai said:

I have a custom starclassic maple. The thing is the greatest thing ive ever bought. before that, I had a rockstar that has gone to hell and back. Both were the same 8 piece set up, 1 for home & 1 for the practice space. there was a clear difference between the 2. But I was able to set them up so I could bring either 1 to a show & not worry about sound quality. I suggest triggering the kicks. I have 2 kicks, triggered with Axis trigs,(mounted on the pedals) thru a DM5. That was a good investment too. No mis-triggering at all. About every 2 mons, I will smooth out the surface of the trig cause it gets little divits. I think thats the way to go, cause your kicks will always sound the way you want. Plus Axis has sold me stuff direct. I had just standard axis peds and upgraded to the longboards & trigger boxes. I called Axis and paid by cc over the phone. It cost me $140.00 for 2 longboards & 2 trigger kits. @ a store it would have been about $240.00

OOOOOH, i would kill a man in front of his own mother for an Orange County kit...best kits ever...best sound, best finishes and by far the most innovative. Yea, a lot of SHIT drummers use the, but those SHIT drummers get good fucking tone. I can just imagine what a death blast sounds like on an Orange county vented snare with a Hi Energy snare head on it cranked to high hell...aaaarrlllggghhh *splooges pants*

I use these all wood red Gibralter beaters...kinda look like boxing gloves...they're sick

I got a Yamaha Stage Custom, it rules!