Guitar V's Drums

Lexus1976

Hi folks,

Time to move on from my guitar playing days and move into the drum areana. Can anyone advise me on what to look out for when purchasing a drum set?

68 lost souls

There are a few things to look at. First decision is can you get acoustic drums or will you go electric. In general people will recomend acoustic kits, and if you have the space and can play at LOUD levels then go ahead. If you have neighbours or live with any one else you may consider electronic drums. If you go for higher end roland v-drums like the td12 for example you get the mesh heads which do a very good job of replicating the feel of a real skin when playing. You have the advantage then of being able to play with headphones/ a monitor/ or plug midi into the computer for recording. You also can set the exact kit you want and change it about if you want to i.e. cymbal suze and sound. The othe advantage of v-drums is that they make you more accurate when you play since the pad size is smaller then an acoustic kit so if you ever do play an acoustic kit you will be better.

Acoustic kits: If you go this road you want to make sure to get a proper wood kit and not cheaper composite woods. The like of a birch or maple ply shell is what to look for really. The big question here is how much are you willing to spend. You can get a decent beginners kit for around 400 which will have cymbals that will last you about a year depending non how hard you play. This will give you a start but at some stage you will need to upgrade.

In general the more expensive kits come as shell packs since drum makers (pearl, dw, yamaha) make drums and cymbal makers (Ziljian, Sabian, Meinil, paiste) will make good cymbals. Yes you do get pearl cymbals with starter pearls and the like but they wont last too long and are not the most musical.

The key if you are buying a good shell pack and some cymbals is to first make sure to get the best shell pack you can for your money and then the next most important thing is adecent set of hi-hats. After the hats you want to look at either ride or crash cymbals. Basicly if you can afford a good shell pack but cant afford to spend too much on cymbals and maybe get one good one and the rest as decent standard get the better hi hats. Then as you progress you can upgrade the other cymbals in time.

Hope this helps.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

ive drummed for thirty years ,
.
kit wise , dont go for anything to unwieldy , get something you can expand later if you want.
but make sure its good quality - never buy cheap or low standard gear when it comes to drums
sound and feel is important to learning and very much so on drums- so get the best you can.

its best to start with two or 3 toms , snare kick

anything 20 or 22 in kick diam , with 14 or 16 depth ( deeper is not better - you need to work a drum deeper than 16 inches alot more - 14 is actually the best for punch
)
14 by 5 snare ,
10.,12, 14
or
10 .12 .16 toms - again not deep rack toms if you can help it.

a second hand yamaha recording custom is a fantastic kit to begin on ,
not a fan of pearl , but they are good kits.

get something you can sell on if you cant stick it - as drumns are THE hardest instrument to get competent at .
be prepared to spend alot of time working on co-oridantaion and muscle strenght for the first 3 months
your thighs, lower back , and stomach in particular have to strenghtn alot .
and budget for a good metronome - like a tama rythm watch - its essential.


cymbals = ride and hats , and maybe one crash - also these need to be good .
thomoann are doing a good zildjian package for 600 euro at the moment - all avedis .



if you are serious about drumming - dont get an e-kit - get acoustics.
you will not learn to project properly on an ekit , its impossible .
and you also look like an idiot in most drummy genres of music if you gig with an ekit.

once you can project on a real kit , then get an ekit.

sorry about spelling - its was a quick type ;-)

Drummerboy08

Good post Tish, sorry not to see you around the other place.

There is a nice Gretch Catalina in the Naas drum Centre going for €450 IIRC, it would be a very good kit to start off. Its a mid level kit, but for the price, it does sound great. The hardware is very good too.

As Tish said, get some decent cymbals. If your looking to spend very little, I'd suggest having a look at some Murat Dirils. They're great cymbals, and the prices are very, very good. There's a thread on here about them somewhere.