I know there’s a few drummers on here. No.1 son has expressed a desire to learn the drums (and I’ve always wanted a set, so this is an ideal excuse for me to also try it out)

What are the key things to look out for when buying a second hand kit? I’d imagine that a good second hand kit is better than many starter kits out there. I’m over in Oz so specific suggestions may not work over here. I have seen a few Yamaha Rydeen and Gretsch Blackhawk kits for sale on gumtree – are these any good?

I don’t really want to buy a cheap set to find out they’re worth nothing if they need to be moved on.

Cheers 🙂

I’d advise doing just that – Buy a cheap starter kit second hand then if (when) he gets bored you can sell it on cheap and lose minimal money

the other alternative is to consider an electronic kit whic is a hell of a lot quieter. Look for something that has audio input as well as audio outpuo then he can play along to mp3s or teaching sites

If you buy a natural drum kit you’ll have to think about pads to cover the drumsand cymbals unless you have no neighbours or the rest of your family enjoy hearing the dull repetitive beats of a learner.

I would suggest a second hand electronic drum kit off ebay. Easy to sell on and great fun and noiseless to other householders.

This isn’t the Rick Allen / Prothetic Arm thread I was expecting.

House-trained and able to count to four – anything else is a bonus!

I’ve found from using cheaper “house” kits in rehearsal rooms that the things most likely to fail are the threads on the hardware – for example the tom mountings, wingnuts on cymbal stands, and the footboard of the kick pedal (I think I’ve broken 4 of these over the years).

For this reason I’d always recommend buying the highest spec kit you can afford, even if second hand – the higher the quality, the bigger the wingnuts / levers / whatever you want to call them.
You could do worse than one of these: http://www.drumshop.co.uk/buy/mapex-voyager-5-piece-drum-kit.htm
Granted this is a new kit but I’m sure you’ll be able to find some s/h examples

cheap drums (shells) can be improved by spending more on decent heads and tuning them properly but if the hardware holding them up is shonky, the drummer will soon want shut of them.

Cheap cymbals on the other hand will always sound like cheap cymbals – I’d go for Sabian B8 or Zildjian ZHT at a minimum – boxed sets containing hi-hat, ride and one or (if you’re lucky) two crash(es) can be had for around £200 brand new
http://www.drumshop.co.uk/buy/sabian-b8-performance-cymbal-set.htm
On the other hand, expensive cymbals are really expensive… for example, this http://www.drumshop.co.uk/buy/istanbul-mehmet-xperience-x-metal-20-power-ride-cymbal.htm is my current ride and it’s really nice but by god it wasn’t cheap

FWIW I had a basic electronic kit, didn’t really like it. Like playing rubber bricks. And the kick pedal will still come thumping through the floor. Mesh heads are way better but then so is the price…

look for a bass guitar instead ?

🙂

You can’t really go wrong with drums, weirdly I was thinking about this this morning.

The best sounding kit I ever had was a pearl export kit that cost me £100. Stick some decent heads on (remo pinstripes for me but YMMV) and almost any kit will sound half decent.

Cymbals wise, make sure they’re made of actual bronze and you cant really go wrong, the cheaper brass models sound shoot and break easily.

Hardware is the thing worth paying more for, Try and get stuff by one of the big brands, Pearl, Tama, or Yamaha are good and shouldn’t cost the earth, my pearl double pedal is about 15 years old and still fine, cheap stuff is cack. I had a dixon pedal that fell apart in less than a year.

I’ve got an electric kit now, but I wouldn’t recommend a cheap one for learning on, they’re ok for practice but nit that nice to play on. You’d need to fork out £1500+ for a half decent one

Them wooden stick things that’s broke in half. Watch out for them. Also cymbals with a big split sound pants.

Source: Try the salmon he’ll be here all week boom chaaaaa!

John’s not wrong about cymbal prices, this was one of mine

Sabian HH 22" Power Bell Ride Cymbal

sounded nice enough though, but I picked up an alan white signiature that was proper lovely, cost a third of the price of the other one. Some pro’s only use the B8 rolled bronze ones, depends on what sound you’re after.

I’ve got an Odery kit at the moment, but I have a lot of Mapex hardware left over from my last kit. Excellent stuff.
and a Gibraltar double kick pedal – fairly low-end but good for the price, although I still haven’t figured out what my left foot is for (other than the hi-hat!)

I used to swear by pinstripes but I’m leaning more towards Evans G2 at the moment – pinstripes are a dull thud by comparison IMO

another thing to look for – very much in the “nice to have” category: memory locks so your stands go to the same height every time you set them up, and your toms are at the same level and tilt every time.

and to misquote Jaws, “we’re gonna need a bigger car!”

Like it when John_drummer shows up.
Good tips!

😳

Buy him a practice pad, a snare stand and a book of rudiments. Tell him he can have a kit when he can play all the rudiments. Plenty of videos of players demonstrating rudiments online, including punk and metal drummers you’d think don’t need technique, also search youtube for “moving rudiments around the kit”.

Whatever you buy, get him to watch this work of genius:

[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n3x22j9-lq8[/video]

Brain Mantia – Shredding repis on the gnar gnar rad.

His sequel was titled “Brain has made the worst drum instructional DVD ever”

Thanks all, plenty of food for thought. He’s already been specific to mum on wanting an acoustic set apparently!

Already got a big car, full of baby stuff! I’m not envisaging a lot of travelling with drums yet…

this is mine before I changed cymbals

I’m not envisaging a lot of travelling with drums yet…

Hahaha.

As soon as it gets out that you play the drums, you’re in demand by every teenage guitarist going when you’re at school.

I think at one point in my late teens I was in 4 bands and an amateur dramatics society.

Copy of Rock Band and the Pro drum kit? ‘s what I would have wanted at that age.

I Am Not A Drummer (Though I Laughed My Head Off At The Rick Allen Comment).

It may seem obvious, but one thing to check is that the drums are actually round. Some have been known to warp over the years and trying to seat a new head on a warped drum can cause issues when you try and tune it.

One thing I learned years ago was that drum sounds can be improved by spraying the inside with a few coats of clear lacquer. You have to take off all the hardware to do it, but the result is a more resonant drum; if that’s your thing.

good point there SD.
On a similar note, my first kit was a 60s vintage thing made up of odd drums from here & there. the 12in rack tom was actually about 11-7/8 and getting heads for it was a right PITA

Interesting SD 🙂

I’ve seen a set that’s up for $80, figure I can’t go wrong for that money, new heads and a few cymbals and, as they say over here “she’ll be roight mate” !