davidr
Senior Member
Hi guys, just got the DW Go Anywhere practice kit, so I thought I'd post a little review. I know people have reviewed it before, but there are details that I couldn't find when I was looking into the kit that I thought I would share.
First thing to say is that I already love this kit having had it for a day. It's great to be able to practice sticking patterns that I can then take to a kit. Anyway, here are some pros and cons:
PROS
The kit is well build and very sturdy.
It is fairly adjustable both in terms of the arms and the pedal attachment.
The pads have a nice feel to them. They are firmer than an HQ Real Feel. I am considering making a kind of towel cover for the floor tom because it rebounds way more than an actual floor tom.
There are two 10" pads for snare and floor tom, and two 8" ones for ride and rack tom (although obviously these can be used to represent different set ups e.g. three toms). Probably the most pleasantly surprising thing is that because of the different size pads and I think because of the different length arms, the pads all have a different pitch. This is more noticeable between the different sized pads, but is still there between pads of the same size. This allows you to imagine the final sound of a fill a little better and is useful in terms of hearing the distribution/balance of different stickings (if that makes sense).
The practice pads can be used separately and have optional little rubber feet for this purpose. A separate attachment can also be bought to attach them to cymbal stands for a standalone pad.
The kit comes with memory locks, making it easy to set up quickly.
CONS
The pads on this kit are loud for practice pads. They are about twice as loud as my HQ Real Feel pad. They are not quite as loud as E-kit rubber pads I have used, but they are not as quiet as mesh heads. In some ways this is good, since as I mentioned, they have different pitches, so it is useful to get some sound out of them.
Although the kit is described as portable, it is heavy. I would say it weighs as much as a couple of double braced boom stands. It does break down to be fairly small, but I would want a small case with wheels to carry it around. Maybe I'm just weak, I don't know.
The kit is adjustable, but only to a degree. For some people I imagine it can perfectly replicate their kit, but for others like me it cannot. I play jazz and the ride cymbal cannot be lowered to be flat and low as I would have it. It does go low enough for how a lot of people including jazz cats have it, but not as much as some others have it. This is not a huge problem as long as you treat it as a separate tool for practicing sticking etc. rather than a perfect simulation of a kit. This is a problem with electric kits as well, but I would say that my old TD9KV is about 25% more adjustable. To get the position I wanted, I had to turn some of the clamps round to the other side of the stand, which means that the memory locks, which only lock on one side of the clamp, become redundant. Not an issue for me as I won't be moving it, but it may be for some people. The arms are different lengths and it is possible that by using them in configurations other than that recommended, I could get a better set-up, we'll see. The snare arm has an adjuster(?) at the end like a boom stand which is great for me because I play traditional grip with the snare tilted away from me. However, I have the snare arm extended fully to get the snare where I would have it and it is still a little short.
The pads are made of a kind of rubber that squeaks when you run a stick along it. This has the consequence that when moving between pads, if your stick is moving sideways at all it can get caught on the pad's surface. This is pretty annoying because it is not like a drum head and can get in the way. Also not great for press roles which move horizontally. I'm hoping the pads will become smoother with a bit of wear. [PARTIALLY SOLVED: with a tea towel over the heads, this phenomenon is alleviated. When I make towel attachments for the heads, this won't be an issue, although not everyone will want to towel all their practice pads, obviously.]
To move the ride pad down, I had to push the clamp down the stand, which tore up the DW sticker and left sticker residue all the way down the stand. A little bit annoying. [SOLVED: Since the ride is the top most pad, just moving the whole central pillar down instead alleviates this problem.
CONCLUSION
The DW Go Anywhere Practice Kit is an excellent tool that does exactly what it claims to do, namely provide an approximation of a drum kit set up using practice pads. As long as this is borne in mind, then you will not be disappointed. If you play jazz, then you might want to do what I intend to do, which is to set my hats up on their stand with a silencer between them and on top of them, giving you the basic jazz setup. If you play rock you might find there are too few pads to simulate your kit and you will be reminded again that this is a practice tool, not a full simulation of a kit. Final tip: buy a long drum key because arms that are next to each other can stop the key turning when trying to tighten them where they attach to the central pillar.
I bought this kit for £150 delivered next day from wembley drum centre, who price matched GAK (excellent service btw) and I would say that this is about right for the kit in terms of build quality and thoughtfulness involved in the product. Obviously having only had it a day, I can not comment on its durability, but if anything goes wrong I will post further.
David
First thing to say is that I already love this kit having had it for a day. It's great to be able to practice sticking patterns that I can then take to a kit. Anyway, here are some pros and cons:
PROS
The kit is well build and very sturdy.
It is fairly adjustable both in terms of the arms and the pedal attachment.
The pads have a nice feel to them. They are firmer than an HQ Real Feel. I am considering making a kind of towel cover for the floor tom because it rebounds way more than an actual floor tom.
There are two 10" pads for snare and floor tom, and two 8" ones for ride and rack tom (although obviously these can be used to represent different set ups e.g. three toms). Probably the most pleasantly surprising thing is that because of the different size pads and I think because of the different length arms, the pads all have a different pitch. This is more noticeable between the different sized pads, but is still there between pads of the same size. This allows you to imagine the final sound of a fill a little better and is useful in terms of hearing the distribution/balance of different stickings (if that makes sense).
The practice pads can be used separately and have optional little rubber feet for this purpose. A separate attachment can also be bought to attach them to cymbal stands for a standalone pad.
The kit comes with memory locks, making it easy to set up quickly.
CONS
The pads on this kit are loud for practice pads. They are about twice as loud as my HQ Real Feel pad. They are not quite as loud as E-kit rubber pads I have used, but they are not as quiet as mesh heads. In some ways this is good, since as I mentioned, they have different pitches, so it is useful to get some sound out of them.
Although the kit is described as portable, it is heavy. I would say it weighs as much as a couple of double braced boom stands. It does break down to be fairly small, but I would want a small case with wheels to carry it around. Maybe I'm just weak, I don't know.
The kit is adjustable, but only to a degree. For some people I imagine it can perfectly replicate their kit, but for others like me it cannot. I play jazz and the ride cymbal cannot be lowered to be flat and low as I would have it. It does go low enough for how a lot of people including jazz cats have it, but not as much as some others have it. This is not a huge problem as long as you treat it as a separate tool for practicing sticking etc. rather than a perfect simulation of a kit. This is a problem with electric kits as well, but I would say that my old TD9KV is about 25% more adjustable. To get the position I wanted, I had to turn some of the clamps round to the other side of the stand, which means that the memory locks, which only lock on one side of the clamp, become redundant. Not an issue for me as I won't be moving it, but it may be for some people. The arms are different lengths and it is possible that by using them in configurations other than that recommended, I could get a better set-up, we'll see. The snare arm has an adjuster(?) at the end like a boom stand which is great for me because I play traditional grip with the snare tilted away from me. However, I have the snare arm extended fully to get the snare where I would have it and it is still a little short.
The pads are made of a kind of rubber that squeaks when you run a stick along it. This has the consequence that when moving between pads, if your stick is moving sideways at all it can get caught on the pad's surface. This is pretty annoying because it is not like a drum head and can get in the way. Also not great for press roles which move horizontally. I'm hoping the pads will become smoother with a bit of wear. [PARTIALLY SOLVED: with a tea towel over the heads, this phenomenon is alleviated. When I make towel attachments for the heads, this won't be an issue, although not everyone will want to towel all their practice pads, obviously.]
To move the ride pad down, I had to push the clamp down the stand, which tore up the DW sticker and left sticker residue all the way down the stand. A little bit annoying. [SOLVED: Since the ride is the top most pad, just moving the whole central pillar down instead alleviates this problem.
CONCLUSION
The DW Go Anywhere Practice Kit is an excellent tool that does exactly what it claims to do, namely provide an approximation of a drum kit set up using practice pads. As long as this is borne in mind, then you will not be disappointed. If you play jazz, then you might want to do what I intend to do, which is to set my hats up on their stand with a silencer between them and on top of them, giving you the basic jazz setup. If you play rock you might find there are too few pads to simulate your kit and you will be reminded again that this is a practice tool, not a full simulation of a kit. Final tip: buy a long drum key because arms that are next to each other can stop the key turning when trying to tighten them where they attach to the central pillar.
I bought this kit for £150 delivered next day from wembley drum centre, who price matched GAK (excellent service btw) and I would say that this is about right for the kit in terms of build quality and thoughtfulness involved in the product. Obviously having only had it a day, I can not comment on its durability, but if anything goes wrong I will post further.
David
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