What s the best drum set for beginners?

Question

I plan to start playing the drums this summer and I m not sure what set to buy. I m not looking for anything over $400. I m 12 and I want to play the drums for a really long time or maybe even turn it into a career and be in a band. What do you guys recommend?

Answer 1

As a beginner, you need the cheapest possible kit e.g. a beat-up old Pearl import from a pawn shop. When you are good enough to play like a pro, you can buy a better kit (Natal perhaps) for concerts

Answer 2

http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/drums/alesis-nitro-e-kit-635956

http://www.noiseroom.com/2016/01/10/hands-on-with-the-nitro-electronic-drum-kit-from-alesis/

About $300.



Nick said, "you need the cheapest possible kit", but that is misguided.  A poor instrument of any kind is discouraging, sometimes extremely so, because it is difficult or impossible to get a decent sound.  If in addition the pedals are bad mechanically, or other hardware is shaky or stripped, you might want to quit before you even get started.



Instruments are no good if they can't be tuned, so the snare should have at least 8 lugs, 6 lugs for the small toms, 8 for the bigger ones, and 10 or more for the kick.  Have an knowledgeable drummer or percussionist on hand to help evaluate drums.  If the snare or toms sound bad, tune the snare or a tom to verify before buying that it's capable of reasonably good sound at several volume levels.



It's amazing what good tuning and judicious damping can do.  I was asked to improve a dreadful sounding kit, if possible, that was used by a local church.  It was about 3/4 size, likely intended for a preteen.  After replacing some heads, I was increasingly astonished at how good the sound was as each drum was tuned and tweaked.  Even the snare, which I'd had little hope for as it had only 6 tuning lugs, came out well, although fine-tuning was torture.

Answer 3

Your best, and safest bet is guitarcenter.com. They have a vast inventory of used drums, and you can specify the price range, condition, and even location.



Copy and paste this URL into your internet browser.



http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Acoustic-Drum-Sets.gc?N=1081+1082+1083+1084+1085+1086&postalCode=30339&radius=100#narrowSideBar



Shipping is a little bit (depending on where the drumkit is being shipped from) but completely worth it because you also get a return guarantee.



Just do your research online for each drumkit that you are scoping out. You want to find out what type of wood the shells are made of. The more you know about drums the better decisions you can make.



Plywood is going to sound crappy, so stay away from the pearl Exports the Gretsch blackhawks, gretsch energy, and stuff like that. If the type of wood that the shells are made from isn't mentioned, then it's probably plywood. And that sounds like a tin can inside of a wooden box!



Maple and Birch are the best shell woods, or "tone woods" for drums, or even maybe a blend with Basswood. All Basswood shells are also really good.



The kits (in your price range) that I really like are;



PDP platinum series

PDP CX

PDP F series

Premier Artist series

Premier Genista

DDrum Diatribe

DDrum Diablo

Gretch Catalina Club

Gretch Catalina Club Rock

Mapex Meridian

Mapex Saturn Pro

Mapex Mars

Mapex Pro M

Yamaha Stage Custom

Tama Rockstar

Tama Silverstar







All the best.