Smart Buyer's Guide

When It comes to the subject of cheap drum sets the old saying, "you get what you pay for" really applies. A typical price for what is available currently in the cheap drums realm is approximately $200 to $400 or so. These are what I call "no name" sets because they have no reliable reputation in the drum world. The terms Junior, Kids, Beginner, and Student are nice ways of describing low quality and mediocre sounding drums at best.

With a cheap drum set what usually happens is the hardware, cymbals and heads need to be upgraded almost immediately. The pedals have very poor action. The cymbals get terribly dented because they are actually not real cymbals. The stock heads sound bad and dent very easily. These upgrades can add up very quickly when purchased individually.

This extra $200-$300 upgrade money would be better invested up front. You could then buy a nice entry level name brand set that is superior. Also if you ever need to sell, a cheap set holds very little of the original purchase price. As a drum teacher I'm often asked for my opinion and I always recommend the better drum set to avoid the upgrade hassle. If your budget allows, a brand name entry level set from a reputable company is money well spent. These drums will also come with a better warranty.

Established "name" manufacturers include Yamaha, Ludwig, Tama, Gretsch, DW, Pearl, Premier, Taye and Mapex. My two most frequent recommendations are the Yamaha or Tama entry level sets. Both offer good quality drums and reliable hardware for the street price of around $500 to $700. All of the above companies offer excellent quality entry level sets, so doing your internet research is very important. They also have decent resale value should you want to upgrade to a more expensive drum kit later.

For younger students always try to find the smaller versions of these drum sets. A 20" Bass drum and less deep toms will be much more comfortable to play, and sound just as good. Having drums that are hard to reach makes playing awkward and less fun.

Please note that quality entry level cymbal packages can either be included or not with these sets. The cymbal packages recommendeded are the Sabian B8, or Zildjian ZBT set of either three or four cymbals. ZIldjian and Sabian are two companies with cymbals that are easy to find and offer good sound for the money. And real cymbals do not dent when you hit them!

Another buying option is to find a used entry level or better set with cymbals and all hardware included. If the drums have been taken care, a quick clean up will have them looking like new. If you do your homework and have patience, you can find really nice higher end drum sets. These can sometimes be had for way below their original retail price from either large music stores that sell used drums or drummers selling through classified ads such as Craigslist.org or local newspapers.

This is my experience having purchased some great drums at very low prices. The only drawback to used drum sets is knowing what to look for and then tracking it down. Ultimately it boils down to pay more now (name brand entry level), or pay more later (upgrades) when buying a cheap drum set.

I hope this has helped you become aware of the pitfalls of cheap drum sets as compared to that next level up. Have fun and good luck in your buying decision.