The pieces you are looking for are here:

https://usa.yamaha.com/...drum_sets/index.html

In general, you are looking for a 5-piece set (bass, floor tom, 2 mounted toms, snare), hi-hat cymbals with stand, crash cymbal, ride cymbal. That's plenty to get started.

The cymbals come in all sizes. Very generally: Your hi-hats will be 12" or 14". Your ride will be 20". Your crash cymbals will be 16" to 18".

My general thought on any purchase is a little stretch now may pay off more in the future. By that I mean if he's really serious, you can piece together a kit on the really cheap that he'll grow out of faster. Once he starts playing and develops a feel for what pieces he wants and the sounds he likes, he's going to want to expand. At that point, you're back in the market for a new set. However, if you buy a set that's not a complete mutt right off the bat, you may be out of pocket a little more now, but ultimately less later. In tri terms for me, it was the purchase of a road bike when I started doing tri. I spent $1k on a road bike that I had to add aero bars to etc. Then, when I got serious, I bought the Cervelo. If I had it to do over, I would have gone right to the Cervelo and saved about $1500. It seems he knows he wants to keep playing.

Similarly, electronic drums are something that my seem functional but they are not a substitute for the real deal. I don't know anyone who has gone from acoustic to electronic because they didn't like acoustic. I know plenty who have gone the other way. So you know, they make all kinds of baffles and other things that mute the acoustic drums and still maintain some sense of the feel of real drums. When I play in the house, I use HotStixx. They cut the volume significantly. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/...00@ADL4MF-adType^PLA

Here's another example of a really basic entry-level kit: http://pearldrum.com/...5-piece-complete-set

If you're anywhere close to a major metropolitan area Craiglist is your friend. You should be able to find a used set of Tama Rockstar or Pearl Export pretty cheap.

I had a Tama Rockstar DX for years. Loved that kit! It was pretty big and bulky though, kind of a throw back to 80's rock. If I were to play today I'd probably opt for a slightly smaller bass drum and Tom profile. They still make plenty of noise :).

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Plenty of reasonably priced shell packs are available and almost any of them will suffice.

Tama, Pearl, Sonor, Yamaha, DW, Ludwig etc etc.

Hang onto your knickers though when pricing the brass that accompanies said drum set. Good cymbals, assuming a Ride, Hats and two crashes will easily cost more than the kit itself.

Two major names here can be looked at. Ziljian (My choice every time) and Paiste (Nick Mason can't be wrong). Sabian is a third that a lot of folks like.

In Terms of cost here is what I consider to be the truth. A mediocre shell pack with good heads can sound very very good. Cheap Cymbals on the hand - Never will.

Drum Hardware - I'm a complete snob about hardware. DW9000 is expensive but will last forever and allow for precise placement every time it's taken apart and put back together. DW Pedals are the bomb.

go minimalist

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Depends on what your price range is. As DJRed said, you'll want to get a 5 piece (kick, floor tom, 2 rack toms, snare) + high hats, ride, and crash. The first upgrade would be a 2nd crash cymbal. That's a pretty standard kit (and what I play on).

I just checked out guitar center's used section, and you can pretty much get a set of used drums that are entry level, but not crap, for ~$300.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/...rum-Kit-113652886.gc

Peral Vision, Pearl Export, or Pearl Forum are pretty much your starter, but not crap, kits. For the most part, all of the big brands will sell a set of shells with stock heads for about the same price and quality.

This does not include hardware (cymbal stands and snare stand). That will run you ~$60 per stand (crash + ride + high hats + snare = 4x60 = $240) + ~$75 per low end but not crap cymbals (4 x $75 = $300) + an entry level kick pedal ($100) and a throne ($60). So figure on $700 on top of the kit itself. So you can get an entire entry level kit for ~$1000.

Here's a new Pearl Export:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/...h-Hardware-H94538.gc

That comes with hardware, so you'd be on the hook for $360 to get cymbals and throne. So again, ~$1000.



Given what DJRed said above about going bigger that that to start to save in the long run. My personal opinion: either spend $1000, or spend $4000. I think anything in between is a bit of a waste.





Electronic kits, on the other hand, start at about $300. I played on one for 2 years before upgrading to an acoustic kit. Because I was a new drummer, I couldn't tell the difference. As an experienced drummer, I can't stand playing on electronic kits.

Its entirely up to you and your circumstances, but if I had a kid wanting to play the drums, I'd probably have him on an electronic kit until he got serious with a band, and then upgrade to a $1000 kit. 90% of the kids under 30 who play amateur gigs are on $1000 kits.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

I'll throw in my 2 cents here

I'm not a drummer.

But my son has started, in September of this year. We're currently renting a kit to make sure that it takes and he wants to stick with it. He's also doing violin and I wouldn't be surprised if he chooses one or the other. We're renting both, so it works out well.

I rented an electronic kit for now. he can practice silently, but with earphones he hears everything ok. I've played around with it and it sounds ok to my ears. If he gets more serious about it down the road, I'd look online (craigslist or kijiji) and see what's out there.

I'm sure the purists won't like it, but for now it works for us.

ts entirely up to you and your circumstances, but if I had a kid wanting to play the drums, I'd probably have him on an electronic kit

Yeah, 1K to 4K aint going to happen for a 13 year old that "Occasionally" practices at home and for the most part would rather be playing on the Xbox than drumming.

What am I looking for in an electronic kit?

~Matt

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Electronic-Drum-Sets.gc


Honestly, as long as its 5 pieces. From there I'd check out reviews just to make sure its not something that breaks easy.

Like any electronics, the more you spend, the better its going to sound. For the next few years what he'll probably end up doing is plugging in an mp3 player and drumming along to music, or he'll do some exercises that the teacher gives him. The actual sound quality isn't going to be that important.

The one I bought 10 years ago cost me about $900 and it was fine. I'd imagine you can get a similar quality for a lot less now. I don't know how good or bad the $300 kit is, but I'm sure the $500 kit would be more than fine. Actually, it looks like they both get really high reviews.

Mind you, he won't be backing Lady Gaga with this kit, but he'll be drumming.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

Thanks All

Matt

MJuric -- Drummers World Forum is your friend, like the Tri forum here. A ton of smart people with a lot of good advise.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/index.php


Typically, the advise there is to save money by finding a decent used kit, and spending the money saved on better sounding cymbals. The packaged entry level cymbals don't sound all that good.
Also, there are a ton of you tube videos out there on how to make a low end kit sound better, via new drum heads and tuning. A good site is Drumeo, https://www.drumeo.com/


Another great site for used gear is Reverb, https://reverb.com/...-40e14a304f-63773405

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"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt