Buying a new set!

[Rick_danger]

Finally after about 4-5 years of drumming I am finally buying a new kit. I am so ready for some new drums, the old ones are kind of cheap and beginner. Now, I am really not sure of what to buy in order to fit my needs, and I am looking for ideas. I am buying a complete overhaul, new set, cymbals, hardware and everything. I want a good set that is very solid, and has a nice warm, full sound too it. My price range is anywhere between $600 - $1000 for the kit itself, I'll cover the the cymbals and everything separately, with my over all budget being between, at its most, $2,000.

Any advice when shopping? On cymbals? Heads? Shells? Hardware? What to look for? What to avoid?

Thanks

-RD

 

[Howepirate]

Mapex M series or M birch (m birch cheaper .. m series is maple)

M birch comes with free tom

Get evans heads

Saluda cymbals

Axis pedals

 

[anavrinIV]

axis pedals alone would take about a quarter of your entire budget...stay away from them unless you need serious speed.

m birch drums should fit the bill although the ludwig accent customs are quite nice. also, since theyre now discontinued, you can probably find a pearl session set for a killer price and they sound great. theres always tama superstars too, great drums for the money.

dont limit yourself on cymbals...if you cant afford a complete overhaul all at once then dont push it because sound is most important and you shouldnt sacrifice sound because you dont have quite enough at the time. usually cymbal buying is a longer process and i say that you buy what you can after everything else and then work on your collection as you can afford it. as for what to get, its all up to you. once you reach the point of buying professional cymbals its a fair game between all companies and lines, its whatever you want.

for hardware, pdp makes some very thick stands for pretty cheap but my vote goes to tama roadpro. for smaller cymbals though i find that gibraltar grabber arms are the best because theyre cheap and save a lot of space. for pedals, its all in feel but iron cobras are the standard for a reason. you could go axis like howie said but, as i pointed out, theyre expensive and if you dont need the speed then youre just wasting your money.

evans g2 heads all the way...emad bass

 

[Stick77]

I would avoid Poplar wood if at all possible. I am going through the same thing you are. I am purchasing a set of PDP FS series drums made by DW. They are an all Birch shell. It is a five piece set and I got the higher end of PEARL hardware foe under 1,000. That includes 2 straight stands, 1 boom stand, 1 hi hat stand, and a snare stand. As for cymbols. I got a brand new set of Ziljian ZXT hihat 14", 16 MT crash, 18 MT crash, and a 20 Med Ride......I havent got the bill for those yet. .... Good luck

 

[Howepirate]

axis pedals alone would take about a quarter of your entire budget...stay away from them unless you need serious speed.

Or serious dependability, function and response.

 

[Rick_danger]

I'm already sold on Iron Cobras. I was thinking about getting some PDP hardware, but the pedals I bought were pretty crap. Tama was another choice. All I need for cymbals is a good High-Hat, Crash, and Ride combo, maybe a Splash, although I'll probably get that for free anyway, heh. Oh yea, and yes, EMAD bass all the way lol.

EDIT: As far as I know, AXIS pedals are good if you are a pro drummer like Paul Mazurkiewicz or something. I'm not shelling out the cash just because I hear they are freak-awesome. I'm not aiming for ridiculous speeds, I'm just giving myself some range, in good quality.

 

[Howepirate]

Why are you sold on the cobras? Their terrible..

 

[Rick_danger]

And why is that? What is so important about Axis pedals?

 

[Howepirate]

And why is that? What is so important about Axis pedals?

Adjustability, long footboards, direct drive, immediate response, precision craftsmanship, innovation, aesthetics, response.....

 

[xdoseonex]

i wouldnt say cobras are terrible, therye a bit slow and clunky for me tho, direct drive is really whre its at, everyone like different things

 

[Howepirate]

i wouldnt say cobras are terrible, therye a bit slow and clunky for me tho, direct drive is really whre its at, everyone like different things

Yeh true. IC's arent really terrible. I just like to push the beauties and benefits of axis pedals on people so they try em out. Only cause i know they'll like em.lolz

 

[zen_drummer]

i wouldnt say cobras are terrible, therye a bit slow and clunky for me tho, direct drive is really whre its at, everyone like different things

Yeh true. IC's arent really terrible. I just like to push the beauties and benefits of axis pedals on people so they try em out. Only cause i know they'll like em.lolz

Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get people to take GOOD ADVICE! I agree that direct drive pedals are better. I used to use Axis, now I use Trick, both are EXCEPTIONAL! (and expensive, and worth it)

 

[Howepirate]

i wouldnt say cobras are terrible, therye a bit slow and clunky for me tho, direct drive is really whre its at, everyone like different things

Yeh true. IC's arent really terrible. I just like to push the beauties and benefits of axis pedals on people so they try em out. Only cause i know they'll like em.lolz

Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get people to take GOOD ADVICE! I agree that direct drive pedals are better. I used to use Axis, now I use Trick, both are EXCEPTIONAL! (and expensive, and worth it)

Lol smart man zen.... your experience shows buddy.

Hey man you got any vids or soundclips of you playin ur tricks!? I'd love to see/hear em!

 

[Rick_danger]

Oh man, trust me, if I had the cash I would buy Axis pedals in a second, but I really don't have the cash lol. I really enjoyed the dw 5002ad3, it was quite nice and smooth. The Yamaha pedals I scoped out played nice as well. I'm venturing to my local Guitar Center tomorrow to check out the deals I can get and what they are selling. I'll post my findings and choices up so you guys can have a look.

 

[Howepirate]

Oh man, trust me, if I had the cash I would buy Axis pedals in a second, but I really don't have the cash lol. I really enjoyed the dw 5002ad3, it was quite nice and smooth. The Yamaha pedals I scoped out played nice as well. I'm venturing to my local Guitar Center tomorrow to check out the deals I can get and what they are selling. I'll post my findings and choices up so you guys can have a look.

Hey why not try finding used axis on ebay? I got my X longboards for 330$. All i had to do was fix a few things that didnt require any cash, tighten up some bolts and i was ready to go.

 

[anavrinIV]

cobras are great, dont let anyone tell you differently. theyre perfectly durable, adjustable (not as much as axis, trick, or dw 9000 but theyre half the cost), theyre very responsive (not the slave side as much), craftsmanship is top notch, and you can easily reach 200+ bpm with them.

up until this point i havent been too keen on axis pedals but lately ive been itching to try them again because i want to see how fast i can get going. without working constantly on my footwork ive gotten up around 210-220 max 16ths, but ive never been the best at doubles anyway.

bottom line, cobras are great pedals. theyre not the fastest and some people like direct drive pedals...its all preference. as far as chains go its hard to beat the cobras.

 

[Rick_danger]

Oh man, trust me, if I had the cash I would buy Axis pedals in a second, but I really don't have the cash lol. I really enjoyed the dw 5002ad3, it was quite nice and smooth. The Yamaha pedals I scoped out played nice as well. I'm venturing to my local Guitar Center tomorrow to check out the deals I can get and what they are selling. I'll post my findings and choices up so you guys can have a look.

Hey why not try finding used axis on ebay? I got my X longboards for 330$. All i had to do was fix a few things that didnt require any cash, tighten up some bolts and i was ready to go.

Hmm. You seem to be speaking my language. What, specifically, did you have to fix? That is a good idea that I usually don't think about. How long have you had them? How do they hold up now?

cobras are great, dont let anyone tell you differently. theyre perfectly durable, adjustable (not as much as axis, trick, or dw 9000 but theyre half the cost), theyre very responsive (not the slave side as much), craftsmanship is top notch, and you can easily reach 200+ bpm with them.

up until this point i havent been too keen on axis pedals but lately ive been itching to try them again because i want to see how fast i can get going. without working constantly on my footwork ive gotten up around 210-220 max 16ths, but ive never been the best at doubles anyway.

bottom line, cobras are great pedals. theyre not the fastest and some people like direct drive pedals...its all preference. as far as chains go its hard to beat the cobras.

I'll have to try both out to see, but as far as I know they are both good buys. I am looking for smooth relaxed playing with a pedal that will last me a good amount of time. I'll keep your points in mind when I check them out. Hopefully GC has them, I'm sure they will, but you never know.

 

[Howepirate]

Oh man, trust me, if I had the cash I would buy Axis pedals in a second, but I really don't have the cash lol. I really enjoyed the dw 5002ad3, it was quite nice and smooth. The Yamaha pedals I scoped out played nice as well. I'm venturing to my local Guitar Center tomorrow to check out the deals I can get and what they are selling. I'll post my findings and choices up so you guys can have a look.

Hey why not try finding used axis on ebay? I got my X longboards for 330$. All i had to do was fix a few things that didnt require any cash, tighten up some bolts and i was ready to go.

Hmm. You seem to be speaking my language. What, specifically, did you have to fix? That is a good idea that I usually don't think about. How long have you had them? How do they hold up now?

Well i've had them for a few months. Their built like tanks. And the guy screwed up when he put the longboards on the pedals i bought from him.

He managed to stick the hinge on the pedal and forget to put spacers inbetween the footboard and the hinge causing them to rub. Very quick fix.. just a few washers and i was flyin.

I must tell you that there is an adjustment period with these pedals... you will not be able to reach your normal top speeds on them because of the long footboard and the direct drive feeling much different then any other pedal. I'd say give it a couple weeks to a month and you'll fly like no other!!!

Theres a few kinks in the axis pedals on how you have to use about 3 different allen wrenches and a drum key to tighten things but once you play these babies for a while you'll forget all about the little stuff. I have them with the e-kit trigger attachments on them now and i tell you i got up to 16ths at 260 bpm(not constant and only in like 12 second bursts) but i know theres no way i could have got up there with my dw7002's.

 

[Rick_danger]

Ok, as it turns out, I have narrowed my choices down to two sets:

The PDP CXR w/ added rack tom

http://www.pacificdrums.com/cxr/cxr.htm#

OR

The PDP CX

http://www.pacificdrums.com/cx/cx.htm#

The only difference is that the CX is $300 cheaper w/o the extra floor tom. I'm really not sure what to buy, but I really like that huge bass drum the CXR has. Is it worth sacrificing the huge bass drum for a few hundred dollars cheaper?

 

[anavrinIV]

forget going fast on a big bass drum....physics make it much harder to fly on a huge bass (it can be done but its harder). id suggest the m birch fusion set because you get an 8/10/12/14/14/22 set for just over 800 depending on the finish, or an 8/10/12/14/16/14/22 for just under 1100...much better deal than either of the ones you posted. if youre set on the pdps then go with the cx, but i implore you to consider the mapex.