Recommended Acoustic Drumkits

Jun 26, 2009
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New Jersey
Hey all,

In the peak of electronic drum sampling and programming, I wanted to get everyone's 2 cents on recommended kits. I'm moving into a new place next month and I have a sweet basement that I plan on converting into a live drum room. I'm not looking to break the bank, however I'd like have a decent house kit for bands coming over as well as for me just writing and getting my bearings with recording live drums.

I have an old tama swingstar kit that I turned into an electronic kit, however it's super old and I'm not sure it'd be worth bringing back to life.

Also any input on decent cymbals would be cool too. From what I know Zildjian is tried and true, I'd probably only have hats, 2 crashes, a splash, and a china. Thanks in advance!
 
With respect to a house kit, I wouldn't get a "cheap" house kit since it will almost be a waste of money. Most drummers won't want to play on a cheaper kit than they own, and Most drum kits sound great with a proper tuning as long as the hardware is good (rims not bent, lugs don't bind causing tension issues, etc). If you want to get a kit for your own playing, for "budget" I will say the pdp stuff is pretty good. My favorite drum sound in room that I have experienced is a Tampa sapele bubinga kit, with a Tama star classic piccolo. The Trick Black Widow snare is crazy too (maybe because of the weird vent). Super thick crack on it.

Cymbal wise, zildjian are great but there are a lot of options. Go to a store and find cymbals that speak to you, and they may be different brands which is okay.
 
people strongly tend to look at the brand printed on the kit, so if you plan on getting a house kit for bands to record on, don´t go any lower than upper class. Even if the cheaper ones are just as good, you will have discussions sooner or later.

Same for cymbals: ideally you would have to get 3 expensive sets to cover differend sound aesthetics. And with cymbals it´s a lot of trial and error, to find out which ones complement each other
 
I have an Tama Superstar Hybrid Drive kit an it sounds massive, you can probably get a Starclassic as well second hand.

Don't forget to invest in snare drums as well, the stock snares usually sound good but snares are super important.

Cymbalwise Zildjian A Customs and K's are a no brainer but I also have some Turkish handmade cymbals from Masterwork and Amedia, which sound as good as Zildjian, maybe even better and they are way more affordable as well :)
 
Thanks for the recommendations guys. I've seen some of the nicer kits (Truth, Dark Horse etc.) I'm just not sure I could justify them since I don't record bands too much (just friends and myself). With that being said I'll definitely check out some of the Tama and Zildjian stuff