Morning all

I’m looking to get my 7 yr old his first kit. He’s started having lessons and loves it but as I know nothing about I’m looking for advise from those in the know and I remember there being a fair few stick men on here.

I’m open to traditional and electronic kits but I’m looking to buy something that has a reasonable resale potential when he’s finished with it.

Any recommendations, advise or best places to buy welcomed. I’m near Edinburgh if that helps.

Thanks

No idea, other than to say that getting a 7 year old a drum set sounds like a really, really stupid idea 😀

I’m near Edinburgh if that helps

Yeah i think that should be far enough that I can’t hear him 😉

I did this! You may live to regret it! I think we got the first kit from the local “free ads” paper ( it was a while ago), it never got sold but was upgraded bit by bit as he improved.

Be prepared to live with a whole new world of aural pain – a youngster in full flow WILL drown out everything in a normal sized house – garage or shed at the end of the garden is the way to go.

Electronic kit.

I have an older version and my Nephew has a new one. They can’t beat the real thing, but for practice at home using headphones(for your sanity), they are pretty good.

My boys 11 & 7 bang away on this, impressive for £400

Yamaha DTX400K Electronic Drum Kit

Interested to hear the thoughts of “those in the know” too, as i’m looking to get a kit for my 8yr old daughter (i might have the occasional paradiddle myself).
This kit was recommended to me by a music teacher couple, they have this kit themselves & said that the mesh head on the snare gives a much more realistic snare drum feel – only quoting what they said, i have no expertise in this! I did have a go on their kit & i was impressed – nice & compact (important) & can be run through headphones too (even more important).

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/roland-td-1kv-v-drum-kit/95694

We went with a Roland electic kit and it’s been brilliant! Definitely a good thing being able to plug in headphones but we also have a bass amp he uses – IT IS LOUD!!!!

No matter what anyone says they are loud. The pads the salesman will tell you to place on the skins to dampen the sound – forget it. They make them feel crap and do bugger all to reduce sound.

Drum kits are awesome though.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD-1fBWHioA[/video]

This kit was recommended to me by a music teacher couple, they have this kit themselves & said that the mesh head on the snare gives a much more realistic snare drum feel –

Mesh heads are good.

My son is now 14 and started playing the drums at about 8 years old. His first kit was a 5 piece mapex kit, used from gumtree I think. Cost about £150, including some (not so good) cymbals. Make sure you get what is known as a fusion kit, as the toms will be smaller so easier to use when they are small. We put some new heads on it after a while, and it sounded pretty good.

I love hearing him play, and he sounded pretty good pretty soon! But it is loud. Luckily they have a short attention span when small so don’t play for too long. Make sure to get some decent ear plugs for them to protect their hearing.

Encourage them to take grade exams, my son loves the sense of achievement and the higher grades get UCAS points for uni. My son is now doing grade 7 ( goes up to 8).

I also sometimes have a go myself and love it! My son now has bigger drum kit, a rock kit, 7 piece with quite a few (expensive) cymbals.

Go on, get one! And no, please not an electric one, just not right. And if it comes with some of those silencing pads, bin them too ;0).

Simone

For a small person I’d be tempted to go for a smaller kit, probably a jazz style kit. Something like this:
http://www.drumshop.co.uk/collections/acoustic-drum-kits/products/sakae-pac-d-compact-4-piece-shell-pack-in-tabacco-fade

“Compact” Jazz kit. Cymbals are extra and can be as expensive as you like. Or as cheap. But they won’t sound (as) good.
Minimum cymbal configuration would be hi-hats + a basic crash/ride. Don’t forget the stool either (“throne”). Or the most essential piece of any drummer’s armoury… Sticks