Dooyoo want to play drums? (Drum Kits in general)

Member Name: wob1001

Product:	Drum Kits in general
Date:	01/05/08 (868 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great first instrument.

Disadvantages: Can be expensive!

Getting started!
If you are looking to buy a set of drums to start practising on then you want to keep a few things in mind.

If you are serious about learning it is allways worth spending that little bit extra money in order to get a kit that will last you for a while. Sometimes with cheap kits that cost around £150 - £200 you are going to find that not only is the build quality poor but the overall sound will be terrible and may put you off playing! I understand that for people like students or parents investing in a kit for their children money is an issue. To solve this you could look on ebay or a similar site. Here you can pick up a second hand kit for half the normal price. Even though the kit is second hand if you look for makes like Pearl or Mapex and make sure it has been well treated, you shouldn't need to worry.

A well made kit is quite a durable thing. Make sure with the seller that the skins on the shells are in good order also. These can be quite pricey (£20 each!) and could explain something that looks like a bargain. Also it may be worth asking about the stands for the cymblas. These too can be expensive things to replace but are essential! This brings me on to cymbals. If you are buying second hand chances are you will get cymbals included. Some bundles of new kits also come with cymbal sets.

Sabian have budget sets that whilst are cheap, they aren't the greatest sound. If your just starting out this shouldn't be a problem. I personally started with a Sabian Solar set and have upgraded over the years when I could afford it. Speaking of my kit I have a Mapex M series (the fusion version). It cost around £550 new with the starter set of cymblas included. It is a great kit. im still using it now 5 years on and I have only had to replace the bass drum skin (which was my fault).

There is a deal on with Mapex kits at the moment where you get a free fourth tom. Normally a kit only has 3 toms (hi tom, low tom and floor tom) and you could always put the free one back on ebay if you found it wasn't essential.

The snare is a very important bit of the kit and with the mapex you get a very good one. It has a great sound and you wont really need to upgrade it until you get serious! If you are looking to spend quite a bit of money I would put it into the cymbals. This way you could choose your own and find the sounds you like.

Drum stores normally have second hand cymbals. Again just because its second hand isn't a bad thing. Sometimes after a bit o use a cymbal actually sounds better. Say you had a cymbal starter set which included a 16" crash, 14 " hi-hats and a 20 " ride, you could invest in an extra 18" rock crash. You can never have enough cymbals as they really open up your options whilst playing or improvising!.

I hope this helps anyone looking to buy a kit. Drums are a great instrument. If you find guitar a pain to learn or you just like hitting things then dums are for you!

Summary: Something to get you into music