Should i start with a beginners drum set?
Soon to be a Drummer 
asked:
Well i am planning on buying a drum set soon, but I’m not sure if i should buy a regular one or a beginner one. The reason for this is because like at my friends house i play all the time, in fact I’m pretty good according to him and other friends. I want to know would it still be better to buy a beginner one or a regular one.
asked: Well i am planning on buying a drum set soon, but I’m not sure if i should buy a regular one or a beginner one. The reason for this is because like at my friends house i play all the time, in fact I’m pretty good according to him and other friends. I want to know would it still be better to buy a beginner one or a regular one.
You will be called a “flaming homosexual” if you buy a beginner one.
Buy a regular one. Dr Eric Chush
My experiences in the area of rock & roll, roadie for Cooper and others, if you are past the beginning stage, get a real set and bang your heart away, the louder the better. Keith Moon, that was a drummer.
Please excuse me but I must state the following things to the good old Doctor.
Have fun, and now down to business.
Nice language alleged Dr. Eric Chush.
I see the good doctor has issues with gays, evidence in his answer alone demonstrates that.
If you are a doctor, you’ll be liable for that comment. A.H., and reportable to the A.M.A, and subject to loss of any and all licenses, you can be tracked and will be.
No, I’m heterosexual to answer the statement you just made to yourself.
What a fool, a doctor and a teacher, do you have tenure? Well not for much longer. Mr. Curious Rides Again
it depends on what you mean by a “beginners” set. the beginner sets made by the top durm manufacturers are great sets! dont listen to those other two guys, i garuntee neither of them know a thing about drums. lemme give you an example:
you could consider a beginner sets to be a cheap, crap set from a maker like sonar, cb, or pulse. these are about 300 bucks for a full set and sound terrible. but on the other hand, if you buy a brand like pearl, tama or mapex, their beginner sets are amazing! a little more costly, though. you can expect to pay about 600-1000$ for one of those. just because they’re labeled as “for beginners” doesnt mean that its a crap set.
another option is your hardware. if you buy nice hardware, it will last you forever, including through your next set of drum upgrades. same with cymbals. cymbals are easy to upgrade over time since they are cheaper. if you get a cheaper set, maybe think about spending a bit more on the cymbals and hardware, or vice versa. the main different between cheap and nice drums are the wood. maple drums generally cost the most. but a novice drummer will find it difficult to even tell the difference.
suggestions:
pearl - vision/forum/export series
tama - imperialstar/swingstar/rockstar
mapex - Q/QR/VX series
so theres 9 great sets you can buy that are considered beginner, but are of excellent quality. i start on a pearl export myself before upgrading to a tama starclassic. just stay away from crap drum manufacturers such as the ones i listed up at the top. Mike
Hello,
In all honesty, the answer to your question deals with two specific sub-questions:
1. How much money are you willing to spend on a drum set?
2. How serious or how long do you think you’ll be playing the drums?
If you don’t have a lot of money or just want to try to begin playing drums on your own kit, I would go with a beginner’s set from Pearl, Ludwig, Tama, or Gretsch - these are all great drum companies that carry the most “bang for your buck” when it comes to entry level drums.
Additionally, there are hardware packs (stands, throne, pedals) that you can buy for relatively cheap. In the same vein, there are cymbal packs that you can buy for cheap. Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, and Wuhan all carry great beginner cymbal packs that, again, are relatively cheap.
If you think you’re serious about playing drums and want to own a nice kit, I would think about trying to buy a semi-professional or professional drum set.
When it comes to drums, you get a lot of bang-for-your-buck at the lower end and don’t pay a lot of money, or you can get very nice, professional quality drums at a higher price but you also get a lot of bang-for-your-buck at the higher end. In my experience, a lot of the mid-range drum kits that companies like Tama, Pearl, Ludwig, or Gretsch sell aren’t worth the $800 - $1,200 you are going to pay.
Another option, if you’re serious about playing the drums, but don’t have a lot of money would be to try to find a great deal on eBay or Craigslist. Usually, you can get a gently used drum kit on there for a fraction of the price you would pay to order the same kit out of Musician’s Friend or buy at a store like Guitar Center.
Also, you could try piecing your drum kit together, like I did. I bought a nice snare, drum throne, and crash cymbal for myself while I used someone else’s kit for a while. Over time, I pieced my own drum kit together and now have a professional, custom, drum kit that I could afford and will last me a life time.
Good luck! Jon H.