First drum set for function band.

L

ludakot

Member
Hey guys, I have my first gig in a couple of months and it's time to buy a semi-pro kit, this will be my first ever decent drum kit and my first ever gig. I have around £1000-1300 to spend on all gear, drum kit, cymbals, mics, drum cases etc, is this enough?

If people could recommend me gear that would be great, I can add it to my list of items I'm thinking of getting. So far the best I've found is a Pearl VSX Vision for £650 and a Sabian XS20 cymbal pack (14" hi-hat, 16" crash, 18" crash, 20" ride) for £350

I haven't even looked at mics or anything yet and don't really have a clue about them.
 
Here are some cant go wrong with mid leval kits to choose from.

Just pick one you like because they all will do a great job but you probably will have to go used if you want an entire kit...

In no particular order...Try to go Maple or Birch if you can

Mapex Meridian
Sonor Force 2007 or 3007
Gretsch Catalinas
Pearl Vision (are OK)
PDP
Tama Superstar, Rockstar, Silverstar (new)

So many more...Anyone?...
 
Thanks for the reply, I'll look into those, it's so hard to decide!

I'd appreciate it if someone could comment on cymbals/mics/cases etc too.

I forgot to mention that the Pearl Vision I found for £650 comes with cymbal stands etc.
 
Unless you have a particular reason, you probably don't need mics at all.

What drums/cymbals/gear do you have now? Knowing that might help with recommendations.
 
Soupy said:
Unless you have a particular reason, you probably don't need mics at all.

What drums/cymbals/gear do you have now? Knowing that might help with recommendations.
Click to expand...

Hi Soupy, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need mics. You can get away without them if you're playing a small party I guess, but we will mostly be playing larger parties and also the occasional club.

I'm just using a really cheap beginners kit that I picked up for £80, it's horrid and the cymbals are all bent to hell. I've mostly been practicing on my electric kit anyway.

The other musicians in the band are very experienced and the band is aiming to be professional and full time, so I'm going to need some decent stuff.
 
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I would say that micing shouldn't be one of your concerns at the moment. From my understanding, unless you're in a relatively large theatre environment, you should be able to get away with the acoustic shells.

Now for the shells. BUY USED!

You can get a very nice kit in your budget if you get one that is pre-owned. This is doubly the case with cymbals and tripley (not a word, don't care) the case for hardware.

I'd recommend looking for older sets of higher-end Ludwig, Yamaha, Pearl or another long time established brand. Those can be had for a very reasonable price.

Cymbals are the same thing. I had the Xs20s. They aren't bad cymbals but I got tired of them very quickly. I traded them in to get some lightly used Zildjian Armands and Avedis. I've never looked back.

Hardware is simple enough, go into a used music store and look around, they should have plenty of quality stands, thrones and pedals for you to try out.

The underlying point here is that no one can tell you what the "best" kit or cymbals are. You have to go out and find the one that you love. Buying used makes that so much easier. Good luck and happy shopping!
 
I have been playing gigs (parties, small and medium bars, all kinds of venues) for years and years, and only the bigger venues really need mics, but it really comes down to personal taste and what your band’s equipment can handle. You could probably get away with two (on the snare and bass) if you are a real light player, but I wouldn’t think much more. And no, my kit isn’t good. Mid-nineties Pearl Export that has seen better days. I have played both ways and much prefer the mics, but again all personal preference.

I’d look into Mapex Meridians – great drums and in your price range. However, the Sonors and Gretch drums are going to be a great sound as well. I’m just partial to Mapex. :)
 
DSCRAPRE said:
I would say that micing shouldn't be one of your concerns at the moment. From my understanding, unless you're in a relatively large theatre environment, you should be able to get away with the acoustic shells.

Now for the shells. BUY USED!

You can get a very nice kit in your budget if you get one that is pre-owned. This is doubly the case with cymbals and tripley (not a word, don't care) the case for hardware.

I'd recommend looking for older sets of higher-end Ludwig, Yamaha, Pearl or another long time established brand. Those can be had for a very reasonable price.

Cymbals are the same thing. I had the Xs20s. They aren't bad cymbals but I got tired of them very quickly. I traded them in to get some lightly used Zildjian Armands and Avedis. I've never looked back.

Hardware is simple enough, go into a used music store and look around, they should have plenty of quality stands, thrones and pedals for you to try out.

The underlying point here is that no one can tell you what the "best" kit or cymbals are. You have to go out and find the one that you love. Buying used makes that so much easier. Good luck and happy shopping!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I think I'm gonna have to go second hand for the cymbals as even most of the mid range ones don't sound amazing. But the Pearl Vision VSX seems pretty good, considering I've now found a brand new one for £700, It's a bonus that it also includes two pretty decent cymbal stands and a hi-hat and snare stand, Here's the link: http://www.rockingrooster.co.uk/product_info.php?PID=2822

What do you think, should I still be looking at buying a better second hand kit?
 
You need to budget for an entire new set of heads as well. I don't know what it would be in your currency but on my five-piece kit to replace every head with pro-level heads usually costs me almost $200. This will be the biggest improvement to the Pearl's you have your heart set on.

As far as cymbals go, look for used Zildjian A's or Sabian AA's, or Paiste 2002s - I'm sorry to say it but you can't do anything with bad cymbals, so you might as well "buy once and cry once" if you plan on making this a career move. That said, however, you do not need alot of cymbals. You can easily play music in a band with a 20" ride, an 18" crash, and 14" hi-hats. If you think you need more than that at your level of playing you're not focusing on the right things.

This may have pushed you over your budget so I would suggest saving up a bit more and doing some more research. I think it's great that all the cymbal companies have these pre-packed sets of their lower-line cymbals, and some of them actually do sound ok. But every working drummer I know doesn't use mid-level cymbals. The minimum is what I described already. I can make any kit sound good with the right heads and tuning, but a bad cymbal is just a bad cymbal, so you might as well steer clear of those altogether.

At this point as well, unless you're ready to tackle learning about PA systems for drum amplification, you're not ready to go out and buy mics, and trust me, you probably don't need to mic up at all. If the clubs are big enough, they usually have a house sound system with an engineer to take care of that part of the show.

Good luck!
 
Bo Eder said:
You need to budget for an entire new set of heads as well. I don't know what it would be in your currency but on my five-piece kit to replace every head with pro-level heads usually costs me almost $200. This will be the biggest improvement to the Pearl's you have your heart set on.

As far as cymbals go, look for used Zildjian A's or Sabian AA's, or Paiste 2002s - I'm sorry to say it but you can't do anything with bad cymbals, so you might as well "buy once and cry once" if you plan on making this a career move. That said, however, you do not need alot of cymbals. You can easily play music in a band with a 20" ride, an 18" crash, and 14" hi-hats. If you think you need more than that at your level of playing you're not focusing on the right things.

This may have pushed you over your budget so I would suggest saving up a bit more and doing some more research. I think it's great that all the cymbal companies have these pre-packed sets of their lower-line cymbals, and some of them actually do sound ok. But every working drummer I know doesn't use mid-level cymbals. The minimum is what I described already. I can make any kit sound good with the right heads and tuning, but a bad cymbal is just a bad cymbal, so you might as well steer clear of those altogether.

At this point as well, unless you're ready to tackle learning about PA systems for drum amplification, you're not ready to go out and buy mics, and trust me, you probably don't need to mic up at all. If the clubs are big enough, they usually have a house sound system with an engineer to take care of that part of the show.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Wow, some helpful info packed in your post :)

I could be willing to go up to £1500, but that's just more money that I'm going to owe. My brother borrowed about £2000 off of our parents when he first got into the music industry (it took him a long while to pay back), so they decided they would do the same for me. It's just that it's a lot of money to owe and it makes me a little uncomfortable, so I can get my budget higher but I'd rather not.

I had no idea I'd new heads to be honest, I thought the ones that come with the kit would be good, that's one more thing for me to worry about. What kind of heads would you consider mid to pro end heads?

As far as the micing goes, my brother (the guitarist) seemed to think I'd need to get some mics, he did all the micing etc for the drummer from his old band. I'll have to talk to him about this and see what he says.

This is a lot harder than I planned, I'd consider myself a pretty decent drummer but I'm a total noob when it comes to buying.
 
Yup, with the right heads that Pearl will do just fine.
Its hard to grumble about the Big brand mid level kits because in truth, most of them work very well.
Grab it if you like it. For that money, it will never be a big mistake and you can always get something better when you grow out of it.
Oh, and the hardware pack coming with it is always a BIG bonus. :)
 
ludakot said:
Wow, some helpful info packed in your post :)

I could be willing to go up to £1500, but that's just more money that I'm going to owe. My brother borrowed about £2000 off of our parents when he first got into the music industry (it took him a long while to pay back), so they decided they would do the same for me. It's just that it's a lot of money to owe and it makes me a little uncomfortable, so I can get my budget higher but I'd rather not.

I had no idea I'd new heads to be honest, I thought the ones that come with the kit would be good, that's one more thing for me to worry about. What kind of heads would you consider mid to pro end heads?

As far as the micing goes, my brother (the guitarist) seemed to think I'd need to get some mics, he did all the micing etc for the drummer from his old band. I'll have to talk to him about this and see what he says.

This is a lot harder than I planned, I'd consider myself a pretty decent drummer but I'm a total noob when it comes to buying.
Click to expand...

It's always hard to make these decisions. If you're determined to get with the band and make a living at it, you can pay the money back. The determination part is up to you. Like I said, you can "Buy once and cry once", or you can get lower end gear that you'll just end up replacing in the future anyway, which is basically, "Buying once, and then buying once again". I think the first option ends up being ultimately cheaper.

But yes, budget for new heads. All mid-level kits will come with what I call "compromise" heads, which are good to complete the kit, but not good for a great sound. Hell, you could get an even lower ended kit, and put great heads on it and get a great sound. I saw a guy with a Sonor 1005 kit (!) and it sounded awesome with the right heads and tuning. I took a Sonor Force 3007 and put white coated Remo vintage emperors on the tops and bottoms, a Powerstroke 3 on the bass drum, and that set rocked. So do not underestimate the power of good heads on cheaper drums. You just can't get away with this on cymbals. If you put your money in the right places, you can sound great.
 
ludakot said:
This might sound like a stupid question, but would I need to replace the resonant heads aswell?
Click to expand...

You "Probably" should but for the absolute time being, you can use the stock resos. I did and it sounded alright. But you should replace those pretty soon afterward too.

As far as heads to buy?

I personally use Remo Pinstripes on the toms, Remo Powerstroke 3 on the bass, and an Evans Coated G2 on the snare. It's a pretty versatile setup for rock. Again it comes down to taste. You have to figure out what you like, unfortunately there are very few resources for hearing different heads on the internet. You usually have to trial and error it out to find the right sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j20vKUY3rR8
Here's a video that might be able to help you out a little bit.
 
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DSCRAPRE said:
You "Probably" should but for the absolute time being, you can use the stock resos. I did and it sounded alright. But you should replace those pretty soon afterward too.

As far as heads to buy?

I personally use Remo Pinstripes on the toms, Remo Powerstroke 3 on the bass, and an Evans Coated G2 on the snare. It's a pretty versatile setup for rock. Again it comes down to taste. You have to figure out what you like, unfortunately there are very few resources for hearing different heads on the internet. You usually have to trial and error it out to find the right sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j20vKUY3rR8
Here's a video that might be able to help you out a little bit.
Click to expand...

It's just that they're so expensive, drums really are one of the most expensive instruments! It seems like it's gonna be about £140 for all new heads unless there's cheaper places.
 
ludakot said:
Hey guys, I have my first gig in a couple of months and it's time to buy a semi-pro kit, this will be my first ever decent drum kit and my first ever gig. I have around £1000-1300 to spend on all gear, drum kit, cymbals, mics, drum cases etc, is this enough?

If people could recommend me gear that would be great, I can add it to my list of items I'm thinking of getting. So far the best I've found is a Pearl VSX Vision for £650 and a Sabian XS20 cymbal pack (14" hi-hat, 16" crash, 18" crash, 20" ride) for £350

I haven't even looked at mics or anything yet and don't really have a clue about them.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a pretty good budget. I would leave out mics; you will rarely need them and when you do, there will be a sound guy to take care of it. Instead, I would invest in this order: cymbals, drums, hardware, cases.

Consider buying used/Craigslist. You can get some incredible bargains and check out the gear in person locally.
 
Thanks Deathmetalconga.

Hopefully this will be my last question: what kind of cases would you recommend? The hard cases are crazy expensive but I'd be worry about the kit getting dented with the soft cases. My gear will be in a van most of the time if that's any help.
 
Re: Cymbals

I was checking out the Drum Shop website (based in Gateshead) and they have a sale on Istanbul Xist cymbals at the moment. 40% of everything in that range, including the box set, which is on offer for just £300. That is a great deal on some quality cymbals if you don't mind straying away from the big cymbal names.
 
Turks said:
Re: Cymbals

I was checking out the Drum Shop website (based in Gateshead) and they have a sale on Istanbul Xist cymbals at the moment. 40% of everything in that range, including the box set, which is on offer for just £300. That is a great deal on some quality cymbals if you don't mind straying away from the big cymbal names.
Click to expand...

Wow that's a good deal, I don't mind straying away from the major brands but I've never even heard of Istanbul, do they produce some good cymbals?
 
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