May 11, 20187 yr Not mine. Or my son’s (in his dreams). They belong to an online gaming buddy. Bought them from Shannon Forrest. Dude is a beast. Marched with Phantom and was a two-time PASIC 2nd Place on tenors. I’ll ask him if I can share a vid.
May 11, 20187 yr 14 hours ago, Handcruser said: Ridiculous That was fun. Dude stays amazingly consistent in the groove. His reverse cymbal crashes near the end were entertaining. And man I love the sound of that snare.
May 11, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, the idoit said: Not mine. Or my son’s (in his dreams). They belong to an online gaming buddy. Bought them from Shannon Forrest. Dude is a beast. Marched with Phantom and was a two-time PASIC 2nd Place on tenors. I’ll ask him if I can share a vid. Huh. Is the guy a lefty or does he like playing open? The setup is all confusing to me with the toms and the hats being on the right but pedals to the left. Very interesting layout.
May 11, 20187 yr 14 hours ago, Handcruser said: Ridiculous Fantastic groove. Those tight stops into the downbeat . . . fuck me. I always wanted to be a drummer. Interestingly enough, he wasn't the drummer on the recording. I almost think his take is better.
May 12, 20187 yr Huh. Is the guy a lefty or does he like playing open? The setup is all confusing to me with the toms and the hats being on the right but pedals to the left. Very interesting layout.Yeah, lefty and plays open. He said he got that from years on quads. I meant to mention it, but, well, user name checks out.
May 13, 20187 yr If I had the space I’d drop $2k on some badass drums and a G on symbols. Do it right. I already have a basic priemere kit with A Customs symbols. Hi hats and a 16 inch crash and a 20 inch ride I think. It’s in storage and I haven’t been over there in a while. I got the kit when I had a sophomore in HS and am 36 now Edited May 13, 20187 yr by Bogeywon
October 25, 20187 yr This is a good deal if anyone is looking for a better-than-starter kit at a starter kit price. It's $750 with no tax and free shipping, including the hardware. The shells only are $730 on Musician's Friend. MSRP on the shells only is $1,216, and the hardware is probably worth another $250. This deal (checkout with discount code REDHOT) includes the throne as well as a snare stand, hihat stand, kick drum pedal, and two cymbal stands (no cymbals included):
October 25, 20187 yr 8 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: This is a good deal if anyone is looking for a better-than-starter kit at a starter kit price. It's $750 with no tax and free shipping, including the hardware. The shells only are $730 on Musician's Friend. MSRP on the shells only is $1,216, and the hardware is probably worth another $250. This deal (checkout with discount code REDHOT) includes the throne as well as a snare stand, hihat stand, kick drum pedal, and two cymbal stands (no cymbals included): Link? I may jump on these
October 25, 20187 yr Oh shit! I forgot the important part. I think they might be sold out of the 12 they had on sale, but call them and see if they'll match the price from this morning. Sorry, neg rep poster, ban for eternity. Sigler Music
November 1, 20187 yr I ended up missing out on the set above. Can the drummers here give me some solid advice? My son is 14, has dabbled in guitar but lost interest. He has been playing on the school drum line this year and has been taking lessons on the side. He is wanting a drum set for Christmas. Electronic vs Acoustic? Buy a full set or shell pack and hardware separately? I am looking for something all in around $1000-$1200. My fear is him losing interest like the guitar so I don't want to go crazy, but he has taken to drums and is actually practicing of his own volition. I don't want to be replacing a cheap set in 6 months because he is looking to upgrade. I'm totally out of my element here so any help is appreciated.
November 2, 20187 yr I'd never buy an electronic set. Period. So take my advice with that in mind. If you buy good shit, and you buy it right, you wont really lose any money and you wont have to upgrade in 6 months. $500 for cymbals $1000 for drums Gretsch Renown would get a long hard look from me. I'll post some cymbal options shortly. Totally ok to buy cymbals used....just make sure they're not cracked.
November 2, 20187 yr https://reverb.com/item/14191582-gretsch-renown-maple-shell-8-10-12-16-22-virgin-kick-satin-walnut This is a great set. But this set requires more hardware than usual. But a great set of drums at that price. Where so you live?
November 2, 20187 yr Yeah, Gretsch Renown holds its value, and I've seen plenty of pros playing that line. Lots for bang for the buck. I think he could get a basic used cymbal pack for a little less than $500. I'd say $150 for hihats, $125 for a ride, and $100 for a crash. Zildjian A (or Sabian AA). Both pro quality and played all over the world in studios and on stage.
November 2, 20187 yr Yeah, Gretsch Renown holds its value, and I've seen plenty of pros playing that line. Lots for bang for the buck. I think he could get a basic used cymbal pack for a little less than $500. I'd say $150 for hihats, $125 for a ride, and $100 for a crash. Zildjian A (or Sabian AA). Both pro quality and played all over the world in studios and on stage. Agreed all around. I could sell him some shit but then what would I do without my 9 extra cymbal stands??????
November 2, 20187 yr Thanks for the advice guys. After talking to my son, his suggestion about an electronic set was so he would not disturb me. He would prefer acoustics. I have no issues with him playing, so the electronics are now out. I will check out the Gretsch Renown. I also reached out to his drum instructor who also recommended the PDP set JimmyJazz listed above. I didn't even think about cymbals. Crap, there is so much stuff to budget for. It's a Christmas gift, so I have some time to hopefully find a good deal. We have a LoneStar Percussion in DFW, so I plan to loop by at some point. I don't even want to know how much that Ludwig set is... My kid is pretty psyched about the idea, I don't think he actually believes he will get them though. Christmas morning may be pretty loud! Edited November 2, 20187 yr by gasman I can't spell.
November 2, 20187 yr Author PDP are well made by a great drum builder and Gretsch are awesome, as are Ludwig. You might also see if there some Tama kits in that range, but they probably don't have the same resale as Gretsch (nor will PDP since they're very very prevalent and go on sale a lot at GC, MF, etc.) I would avoid Pearl, but that's probably just personal preference and has more to do with mounts/hardware (and to be fair my first "real" kit was a Pearl). It is a lot of hardware and stuff to account for, but once you piece it together, you can start with a base kit/hardware/cymbals and swap and add from there as he continues. Two other things to think about - invest in new heads and in good cymbals. Just about any drum shell can be made to sound good with good heads and a little know-how (or trial and error). Regarding cymbals, the difference between good vs. bad is monumental. And cheap/bad cymbals will literally make you go insane listening to them AND they break. I personally have played Sabians forever, but unless you go to their very top end, you're probably better off with Zildjian - their middle range is as good (or, truthfully, better) than just about anything in the price range. Beyond that, after the starter "set" it becomes more about the sound you like or need to achieve. I've got stacks and stacks of cymbals collected over the years for different purposes, etc.
November 2, 20187 yr These are very very tasty. I'd have zero problem pulling the trigger on these http://www.lonestarpercussion.com/Drums-Drum-Sets/Drum-Sets/Gretsch-CT1-R443-Catalina-Club-3-Piece-Drum-Set-Shell-Pack-24-Bass-13-16-Toms.html
November 2, 20187 yr Yeah, my daughter's first new kit was a Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz configuration. Very well made drums. FYI, I got her shell pack for about $550, and while it was probably less expensive than the configuration Handcruser just linked (simply because jazz kits use smaller drums), I doubt it was $250 less. You might be able to find an even better deal. One thing about shell packs: they rarely include snare drums. You'll need to budget another $150 or so just for something reasonable. In addition to Gretsch & Ludwig, I'd also look at Yamaha. Ask questions, including "where are these made?" At this price point, the answer will almost always be somewhere in Asia, but not all factories are the same.
November 2, 20187 yr Author JJ, are Yamaha's birch customs good? I've never played them, but Yamaha higher end drums are, in my humble opinion, the best you can buy these days. I always just think of them as higher end only. Beyond Yamaha, I think Gretsch and Ludwig are great.
November 2, 20187 yr Gasman, are you opposed to buying used? Here's a 3-piece satin black Renown shell pack in your area for $749 - less than the price of a new Catalina shell pack. I understand wanting to maybe buy a new kit since it's a Christmas present and all, but this is a lotta bang for your buck and something you won't lose money on if he loses interest. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/d/gretsch-renown-maple-3-piece/6716542942.html
November 2, 20187 yr Author 53 minutes ago, Foggy Notion said: Gasman, are you opposed to buying used? Here's a 3-piece satin black Renown shell pack in your area for $749 - less than the price of a new Catalina shell pack. I understand wanting to maybe buy a new kit since it's a Christmas present and all, but this is a lotta bang for your buck and something you won't lose money on if he loses interest. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/d/gretsch-renown-maple-3-piece/6716542942.html Those are nicey nice.
November 2, 20187 yr Gasman, are you opposed to buying used? Here's a 3-piece satin black Renown shell pack in your area for $749 - less than the price of a new Catalina shell pack. I understand wanting to maybe buy a new kit since it's a Christmas present and all, but this is a lotta bang for your buck and something you won't lose money on if he loses interest. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/d/gretsch-renown-maple-3-piece/6716542942.htmlTasty. Offer him $700. Those are great drums. I think my local pawn shop has some new beat hi-hats for a good price. I'll swing by and check them out. I want to say they were $150 for the set.
November 2, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, ohchaucer said: JJ, are Yamaha's birch customs good? Don't know. I'm not a drummer, just a father of a drummer, and I've heard and recorded a billion kits in the studio. I should clarify: I have ALWAYS found Yamaha's "_____ Custom" lines to be spectacular, I just haven't heard the birch version. Most people buy Maple Customs. The Oak Customs give me an odd feeling in my trousers, both for look and sound. They are amazing.
November 2, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, Foggy Notion said: Gasman, are you opposed to buying used? Here's a 3-piece satin black Renown shell pack in your area for $749 - less than the price of a new Catalina shell pack. I understand wanting to maybe buy a new kit since it's a Christmas present and all, but this is a lotta bang for your buck and something you won't lose money on if he loses interest. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/d/gretsch-renown-maple-3-piece/6716542942.html Yeah, that's gonna be hard to beat. "Looking to sell quickly at $750" means "lowball me".
November 2, 20187 yr The ad says they were posted 27 days ago. Before I posted the link this morning, I emailed the guy to make sure they are still available. Just cuz sometimes people forget to take down their ad after selling an item. The owner responded quickly to my email and said they're still available.
November 2, 20187 yr Author 20 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: Don't know. I'm not a drummer, just a father of a drummer, and I've heard and recorded a billion kits in the studio. I should clarify: I have ALWAYS found Yamaha's "_____ Custom" lines to be spectacular, I just haven't heard the birch version. Most people buy Maple Customs. The Oak Customs give me an odd feeling in my trousers, both for look and sound. They are amazing. With you on the Oak Customs. Solid wood, solid sound.
November 2, 20187 yr Author Dammit, JJ now look what you might be making me do. Anyone want to do a drum run to Tennessee? (PS - note the original owner) https://reverb.com/item/15331219-5-piece-yamaha-oak-custom-2008-silver-sparkle-lacquer
November 2, 20187 yr Oh my. Those are beautiful. I'm a big fan of sparkle finishes on drums. This has always been my favorite, and I generally don't like black drums:
November 2, 20187 yr 4 hours ago, Foggy Notion said: Gasman, are you opposed to buying used? Here's a 3-piece satin black Renown shell pack in your area for $749 - less than the price of a new Catalina shell pack. I understand wanting to maybe buy a new kit since it's a Christmas present and all, but this is a lotta bang for your buck and something you won't lose money on if he loses interest. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/d/gretsch-renown-maple-3-piece/6716542942.html That is a good deal. With it being a Christmas gift, I would prefer to go new. We are going to "end up" by Lone Star percussion tomorrow and I plan to turn him loose. After that, I should get a feel for what he likes and will go from there. I want these to be drums he wants rather than the drums I want to get him. At the same time, the advice here has been awesome. At least I am not going in blind about sets to look for, cymbals to avoid etc. I'll keep everyone posted as to what we end up with. Of course, now I want to call up the CL guy and get me a set too......
November 2, 20187 yr That is a good deal. With it being a Christmas gift, I would prefer to go new. We are going to "end up" by Lone Star percussion tomorrow and I plan to turn him loose. After that, I should get a feel for what he likes and will go from there. I want these to be drums he wants rather than the drums I want to get him. At the same time, the advice here has been awesome. At least I am not going in blind about sets to look for, cymbals to avoid etc. I'll keep everyone posted as to what we end up with. Of course, now I want to call up the CL guy and get me a set too......Keep us in the loop once you have a feel for what tickles his fancy. PS - Send him down the Bonham rabbit hole on youtube.
November 3, 20187 yr 8 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: gasman, what kind of music does your son primarily listen to? He is a pretty solid mix of current Alternative (Arctic Monkeys/Twenty One Pilots/White Stripes/My Chemical Romance....) and older (for him at age 14) rock like AC/DC, GnR. We looked at a few sets today at Lone Star Percussion. Their recommendation was the Yamaha Birch Stage Custom (5 piece) and the Mapex Armory. His instructor likes the PDP Concept Maple 5 piece. They had nothing bad to say about that set, just stated it was personal preference for the most part. All were solid upper tier beginner sets. He was not a fan of the Gretsch appearance at all. We couldn't play at Lone Star, so we hit a Guitar Center on the way home and he was able to play on the Yamaha and PDP. From his perspective, both were equal but he liked the color selections on the PDP better. Sparkle blue..... He also liked the Mapex Armory a lot-purple haze. I know it is silly to pick a set based on appearance, but if they are all solid kits, I want to get him something he wants. We tried out a Roland electronic. He liked the mesh heads, but when he went for the cymbals, he immediately lost interest. Hated them. At this point I am leaning towards the PDP as it seems to be a better price and I can toss the extra cash to cymbals. Hopefully some Holiday prices will roll my way soon.
November 4, 20187 yr -- looks matter. You want him to play. -- (as stated before) cymbals MATTER. Shit cymbals suck. You are wise to buy a reasonably good shell pack, reasonably good hardware, and pro level (used) cymbals. I would recommend that 7 days a week. DO NOT buy trash cymbals. Zildjian A level or bust. I'm serious. They sound SO much better. His drums are gonna sound like shit anyway until he learns how to tune them. Heavy hardware is for touring guys -- basic entry level double-braced hardware is fine for cymbal stands. Buy. Good. Cymbals.
November 4, 20187 yr 22 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: -- looks matter. You want him to play. -- (as stated before) cymbals MATTER. Shit cymbals suck. You are wise to buy a reasonably good shell pack, reasonably good hardware, and pro level (used) cymbals. I would recommend that 7 days a week. DO NOT buy trash cymbals. Zildjian A level or bust. I'm serious. They sound SO much better. His drums are gonna sound like shit anyway until he learns how to tune them. Heavy hardware is for touring guys -- basic entry level double-braced hardware is fine for cymbal stands. Buy. Good. Cymbals. I'll keep my eye on CL for the cymbals. Will try and wait for Black Friday drum specials (fingers crossed...)
November 4, 20187 yr Dw 6000 series hardware is great. Zildjian A or K series is greatPaiste Signature series is great Some sabian stuff is really really good. Jimmy jazz is right....cymbals matter. If you buy him good stuff now, he can play them his entire life. And they hold value. If you look at post 67 above, the hardware between the table and the black cases is DW 6000 stuff. The hardware in front of the table (leftish) is late 60's ludwig stuff that I still use and has been gigged 1000's of times and used in the studio for 100's of hours. Good stuff is worth it
November 5, 20187 yr Author Agree on all the above but would say you could probably go lower price dw hardware than 6000 for now. And Tama makes really good inexpensive pedals - entry iron cobra pedal is probably less than $100 and is solid. But can't really go wrong with anything dw as hc said. And agree that looks matter. At the price point you're buying all those shell packs and hardware are about the same and not in a bad way - all solid and in good hands can sound pro level so go for what he thinks is cool. Some of the kits I've bought/built over the years I would laugh at now (see my orange glitter and white hw kit up thread)... But if it keeps him playing and he and his friends think it's cool that's all that matters. And on the point about any kit being made to sound good in good hands - drum tuning and tech/care are WAY underrated skills for any drum kit drummer. Great things to learn and experiment with early. If he's like most drummers that keep at it, he will always have tons of gear accumulate (I at one point might have had 18 snare drums... But who's counting). His ability to use and adapt the equipment is important especially if/when he plays with other people and in different spaces, etc. So fun.
November 5, 20187 yr So Ive been watching this set for a while now. It is the exact config I want. Problem is, Green Sparkle is 1A and gold sparkle is 1B. Ive communicated with the seller and think I could get them for $2500, which is about what Tommy quoted me (Tommy's drum shop) on some green sparkles. But those are an 8 week ship....I could have these in days. Decisions, decisions.
November 5, 20187 yr Damn. Green is my favorite color in the world, but those gold sparkles . . . I don't think I could pass that up. Kick drum is a little large but hey, Bonham.
November 5, 20187 yr Damn. Green is my favorite color in the world, but those gold sparkles . . . I don't think I could pass that up. Kick drum is a little large but hey, Bonham.Kick is a 24, not a 26. I have 22's now and really want a 24.
November 5, 20187 yr Author Wait for the green. (says the guy who's not buying them and knows damn well he himself couldn't wait 8 weeks for that sweet ass kit)
November 5, 20187 yr I don’t know jack about drums but I do know that every guitar player, drummer, and bass player needs a Zildjan T-shirt.So keep that in mind gasman.
November 5, 20187 yr I have an email out to jimmyjazz’s link to see if they will price match the blue sparkle with the old red hot code. Wish me luck.
November 5, 20187 yr I can almost always get you 10-15% off at Guitar Center if that helps. At the very least it could be a "match the competition" hammer.
November 5, 20187 yr I'm now back on the vistalite hunt. I have 3 sets of maple... something different might be nice.
November 5, 20187 yr I'm now back on the vistalite hunt. I have 3 sets of maple... something different might be nice. Not sure if a good price, but they look awesome.https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/msg/d/vintage-1970s-ludwig/6688466119.html
November 5, 20187 yr 2 minutes ago, gasman said: Not sure if a good price, but they look awesome.https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/msg/d/vintage-1970s-ludwig/6688466119.html LOL. $1000 in the header, $1200 in the body. (No idea what they're worth.)
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