Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners OT: Drummers out there, advice needed.

Pirate hat optional.

Dude! Pirate hats are ALWAYS mandatory!

LOL!

My hat it has three corners.
Three corners has my hat.
If it has not three corners,
Then it is not my hat.

If you are worried about the loudness of an acustic set , you can always put silensers on the drum heads and even cymbals. I'll even say that they are required if the drum is played in small spaces; a big basement is way too small for a drum kit. There're plenty of manufacturers that sell silensers. I used to put old shirts on my drums, the stick bounce is pretty bad but it'll do.

I would steer away from an electric drum set as a starter drum kit. They have completely different 'feel', in fact they are different instruments, kinda like an electric bass and a upright bass, two very different animals. If you get the electric kit it's likely she/he would eventually gravitate towards keyboards than to continue playing drums.
Either way, it's good that there're kids that are still interested in playing music and parents that support them

you guys better not be making fun of futureman...he is freakin awesome with the Fleck Tones...

I disagree with your generalized statement about electric drums... You do, however, have a valid point about the rubber pads on the set that Sirquack it looking at vs. real drum heads. There IS a different feel, and "hard core" drummers steer away from them do to the feel and that they make your arms and wrists tired easier... Then again, he isn't looking for a drum set for a hard core drummer. There are positives and negatives each way, and you bring up a good one specifically with the rubber pads...

That is why I went mesh....

I'm now looking at Gretsch sets.

I was looking at Gretsch when I was shopping for drums.

Most "beginner" sets can be made to sound a lot better by replacing the cheap drum heads, and getting a good set of cymbals... Most of the cheaper cymbals, even by well known companies like Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste, sound bad. You can get as good of sound by drilling a hole in the middle of your wife's cookie sheets and bolting them on to the stands. Ok, a LITTLE extreme, but a fairly true statement. If you go acousic, look at a basic set with hi-hats, a ride and a crash. That is all you need most of the time anyway. The larger the cymbal, the "bigger" the sound. Think 80's rock... For me, I didn't like the sound of the big 20" rides. I liked the 18" better. Go to GuitarCenter, and give a few of them a spin...

Like it was mentioned before, you can tone down the sound levels, but depending on the method, you impact the feel of what you are doing. I've seen several people take perfectly good acoustic sets, and then use these rubber sound deadeners on them that go right where you would hit the drum head or cymbal... Completely gets rid of one of the positives of an acoustic set, and that is the feel of playing them.

Oh, I was looking at the Gretsch Catalina Fusion, the Pearl Forum, and a couple of others. At the time I was also trying to keep everything under $1000. When all was said and done, I was over $2000, but I don't regret it. Now $2000 for someone to just "try it" for a while??? That would be silly.

Don't forget.... Don't skimp on cymbals, and if you find a set you like in looks, and construction, but the sound is a little off (not a LOT off) from your liking, upgrading drum heads will make a big difference, and depending on cost, you may find that you can upgrade the heads on a lower cost kit and still be less than a more expensive one.

Since we are just starting out, I most likely will stick with the heads that come with the kit. We are not looking at their entry level set, nor top end set, but middle of the road. I work with a few seasoned drummers and they said the stock heads will be fine for now, all heads have to be replaced at some point anyway. As far as cymbals, I will most likely be looking at a fairly entry level Sabian or whatever set, nothing expensive to learn on...

http://cgi.ebay.com/GRETSCH-CATALINA-6-P...1QQcmdZViewItem