[lumpy]

I have been reading the cheap guitar thread with mild interest, being I am only a mild guitarist at best, and wondered if the same holds true for cheap drums. Having owned a couple of cheap kits I figured I'd start a similar thread for us drummers.

Because a drum is an accoustic instrument it's sound relies on the grade of wood it is constructed from. There are many good starter kits out there with name brands on the bass drum head that sound pretty decent, especially when compared to similar priced kits from 10 - 15 years ago. The quality is there, but I wouldn't take a starter kit on the road for an extended period. In most live situations a Pearl Export type kit will sound fine. I think it's when a drummer advances their skills and starts to dabble in recording that the move to a decent maple or birch kit becomes necessary.

To me price is not a factor in the sound quality of a drum kit. I hear the stringheads discuss the pros and cons of PRS. In my opinion the PRS of the drum world is DW.

I really wish there was such a thing as the entry level kits that Pearl, Tama, and especially Yamaha offer these days when I started playing.

Lump