What drumkit to buy as a beginner?

Well I've been learning drums already (without owning a kit). I practice at my teacher's jam room. I have recently decided on buying a drumkit now, and my teacher suggests me a Pearl Jazz Kit. As I do not have ANY frikkin' idea about drums (I have just been playing and playing like a dumbass, never concentrated on the gear) I need some opinions and suggestions.
Read this article in the forum - http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27876
do I need to take anything from this discussion?
Please, comments would be appreciated.
Thank you

I'm fond of the Tama Imperialstar compact sets. These were called Stagestar until a few years ago- if you can find some used, I'm sure they're an excellent value. They're cheap (<$600 new), they come in jazz/flexible/fun sizes- 10/12/14/18 or 10/12/14/20, they're not available in any jive finishes which hurt you when you try to resell them. To me they sound better than the more popular Gretsch Catalinas.

If you're economizing big time (<$350 budget), just go on Craigslist and grab anything you halfway like, in excellent condition, and within your price range. They'll be fine and you can't lose too much money when you sell them to upgrade.

If you're spending >$500 for a used set, run your choices by someone you trust. You should be able to find top of the line used drums from the 80's-90's for $800-1200 without too much effort.

Good luck, and never apologize for not knowing/caring about gear. tb

May i suggest that if you buy a "cheap" set , at least order one with small dimensions.
Something like 10'',12'' rack toms. 13 or 14 snare , 14'' floor tom , and any size bass drum.
That in my opinion because you will get better sound from the kit using the best heads (tuned well of course).

Saying it because i've heard cheap sets , with large sized toms , and no matter what head you use they sound horrible. While small sized cheap kits sounded a little better to my ear.

Don't take it for granted , its just my opinion (2 years drum experience)

Good luck

Those classic kits that harryconway posted look pretty good to me butt the tom mounts are a turn off to me.

Someone said to me when I was buying a kit the competition nowadays is so fierce at the intermediate level that if any of the manufacturers or their kits weren't any good they just wouldn't survive the competition - in other words they're all good and to a degree it comes down to personal preference.
I'd heard so much good about Mapex and how they'd massively improved their game in recent years that I went with the M-Birch and loved it, amasing kick drum !!!!
Only think I didn't like was I couldn't bring the rack tomes closer to me with the standard set up so just bought a couple of extra clamps / arms and managed to get it positioned exactly as I like it.
I recently bought a Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute and whilst you can notice the difference the Mapex doesn't half give it a good run for the money especially with a £2000price difference for new.
Personally though if I were newish to drumming today but with the knowledge I now have and not sure if I'm still going to be playing in 2 years time I'd buy a second hand kit and would probably get a Yamaha Stage Custom.
Their hardware is virtually second to none, easy to adjust to where you want everything and the overall quality is excellent. It's a better than average kit and could be used as a lower end pro kit and as long as you look after it (unless you bid silly money in the 1st place) it'll pretty much hold it's value.
Also you can probably get a great kit with some reasonable quality cymbals for less than you'd pay for a new kit on it's own.
As somene else suggested make sure you get the smaller rather than bigger toms ie 10 and 12" rack toms whichever route you go !!!!
Hope that's of some help and good luck with it, be interested to hear what you get so please post and let us know.

the only thing you should take away from the linked thread ; heads are to new drum kits what tires are to new cars - theyre cheap - expect to replace them as soon as you are financially able, that and Mapex seemed to be pretty good on the customer service end of things...

i like what Harry said - with all the info available online and if youre willing to do some research, youll be a know it all lickity split ;-) the biggest problem (you will come to realize) is that most of the manufacturers are making a quality product, its hard to go wrong with any particular brand these days, drums and cymbals, Yamaha, Tama, Mapex, Gretcsh, Pearl - theyre all great...

with a tight budget, used would be the way to go, chances are good that after a year of playing drums, youll start to develope a style all youre own and that will dictate the setup you play, tastes change, as do drum kits

too long now! welcome to drums, stick with em, hard work but worth it and welcome to the Forum - let the research begin ;-)

First of all, thanks a ton to ALL you guys for the reply! The fudge up is.. that Ive still not entered a single store and all Ive been doing is read. I know the basic funda now, just need to decide my budget and step into the market. But seriously, all of you here are incredibly helpful and very warm. Keep it going
I will keep posting as I get to know more and more.. guess then it will be a lot more fun to talk here

I was in your boat about a year ago, I decided a wanted a full kit (drums, cymbals, hardware) in one package because I wasn't certain I'd stick with it, had no idea what I wanted sound/feature wise, and wanted a relatively low price (<$800) with little hassle (due to my laziness). I ended up getting a Tama RockStar 5pc package from GC (with SP hardware and Zildjian ZBT cymbals).

I like my kit, but if I had to do it all over again I'd do it way differently; within 6mons I had replaced all of the cymbals, and almost all of the hardware except for a couple of the cymbal stands. So it obviously cost me a lot more than if I had just bought good stuff from the start.

If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably get a Sonor Force 3007 (I've never actually played it, but it gets rave reviews here; I've never seen anything bad said about it, and the price is nice), piece together hardware, and used cymbals from eBay, or maybe just a Zildjian A pack.

Another common suggesting is finding a good full package (intermediate-pro drums, hardware, and pro cymbals) on craigslist/eBay.

For every new drummer that comes along...there are a dozen "ustawannabedrummers", they all put their gear on craigslist.

Keep reading/researching, and keep playing on what you have access to, but keep an eye open for a name-brand kit in your budget range. A quality mid-level kit is always nice for starters.

We all say: "If I knew then...." well, we don't. So saying buy used high-end cymbals and gear to start with has alot of merit....but if you find the right kit with budget cymbals and heads...don't sweat it. This aint the LAST dollar you'll spend on drums...not by a long shot. As your needs/wants change...you'll be in the market again...knowing that up front is also important.

Don't get all caught up in the nuances of wood types and shell construction just yet. Stick with well known brands, pick a budget that doesn't starve your kids, and beat those things into submission.

Everyone here (except a lucky few) will tell ya what a piece of crap their first kit was. But I still smile when I think of mine....you'll learn what you want in the next one by beating on this one...

Hi
Mapex & Pearl drums are very good drums indeed - you would not go wrong with them.
But - to confuse you even more haha......

This is where I'd look too:
http://www.indoorstorm.com/Gretsch_Catalina_Jazz_Drum_Set_4pc_White_Marine_Pearl-p-3751.html
There are lots of other "outlets" & maybe even listings on eBay & CL for drums like these. (there are sound files at this site - you can try the kit out from your pc haha).

I can't think of any other drums out there that can offer this quality, stunning finish & sound for this money. And, I've seen seen them much cheaper than this.....I only throw this out there as an example. They're very nice drums. Lots of good reports & feedback from Cat owners.
Something to consider.......

Cheers

Maulikpalys...
Here's a Catalina Ash review you might find helpful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xeyj47ZncQ

Cheers,

Gretsch Catalina Club Mod!

http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gretsch-Drums-Catalina-Club-Mod-4Piece-Shell-Pack?sku=445677


!!!

You know you can get one of those Sonor Safari kits on eBay new for $339. Add a cymbal pack (Sabian, Zildjian, Paiste, Meinl - all make cymbal packs with a ride, crash, and hats for around $200+) and a hardware pack (Like the Sonor 100 pack for $200), and for under $800 you got yourself a new kit. Granted, the bass drum is 16" but it'll do for now. I have the Safari kit as my second fun gigging kit next to my slightly larger Tama kit.

Someone previously mentioned the Imperialstars. I think they are very unsung.
Great kit for the dollars.

razorx said:

Those classic kits that harryconway posted look pretty good to me butt the tom mounts are a turn off to me.

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I agree they are butt ugly!!!!!! Look for a used stage custom Yamaha kit.They are all over for around 4 hundred.Cant beat them,sound great with super hardware.........

A-customs said:

Look for a used stage custom Yamaha kit.They are all over for around 4 hundred.Cant beat them,sound great with super hardware.........

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Quite useful advice! If I was you, I'd buy a student level drum kit, Student level drum kits sound good enough even for a professional drummer, so there will be no strong desire to sell after some months of playing, and their quality is pretty good.

I'll make it really simple:

• Brand doesn't really matter. You'll find someone to tout each and every major brand out there. Just about everyone makes good stuff.
  
• Listen, look and read up... in that order.
  
• Decide your budget. Divide it into roughly 1/3 on drums and hardware and the remaining 2/3 for cymbals.
  
• Fewer, better quality cymbals > more lower quality cymbals or more expensive drums. Good cymbals = you will enjoy your kit more and play more often.
  
• You can fix not-great drums with better heads, tunning and all manner of devices. You can only fix bad cymbals by buying new ones.

A-customs said:

I agree they are butt ugly!!!!!! Look for a used stage custom Yamaha kit.They are all over for around 4 hundred.Cant beat them,sound great with super hardware.........

Click to expand...

Yeah but for some reason when they are on a Pearl kit everyone likes them.

For the money, Pearl Vision is the line to go for.

The Vision series is a rebranding of its older relative the Export series, which is famous for its quality within its price range. No matter what, the Vision series are good drums, assuming the name is what's changed. I own an Export set and I think I could wait quite some time before I become dissatisfied. They're real work horses!