gmal2003

I am completely new when it comes to drums. I dont know alot about them in terms of pieces,brand, quality etc. I am very interested in buying/playing the drums and am willing to put in the studying and practicing to get good. I have played before and many (including a musician I know) say I am a natural. Id like to buy a set from CRaigslist and have picked about 10 or so in my area that I like with my budget. Please let me know which one(s) you think are the best for me. I dont know if it matters but Im about 6'4" 245 lbs. Here are the links. If you dont have time to look at each one you can also just tell me what you think of the few you looked at or rank the ones you looked at. Ill post pics if the purchase and progress Im making!

Thanks in advance:

ETA: http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/629267371.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/624291539.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/626906901.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/626893867.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/633244562.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/632774993.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/630734546.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/628042627.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/627865237.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/626073114.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/623780344.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/622867518.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/620790655.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/617850020.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/615633972.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/600172370.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/593445571.html

DVD Josh

What you should do is check the prices for each set against eBay's completed auctions. That will at least give you an idea of prices. You will probably be able to eliminate half because they aren't good deals.

I also wouldn't buy a kit over 6 pieces for starters. Bass, snare, tom, cymbals, hi-hat. I prefer to have two cymbals, one on either side.

As for quality, really go over the pieces, including looking inside the drums. Check the top AND BOTTOM of the heads for overuse. Heads can be as expensive as drums in some cases. And get an idea of how much new heads might be from your local store, factor that into your price.

And as for CL, offer 10% less and whip out the cash. Tends to work.

edclem

DVD Josh has good advice.
I've been playing drums (both seriously and as a hobbyist) for almost 20 years now. That said, after going through those listings, only 2 were half decent drums: The Sonors, and the PDP kit. The others were off brand junk. Well, the Pearl export/slingerland are decent brands, but just from the photos, they look pretty abused.

Have you checked musiciansfriend at all? You can get some pretty sweet deals on nicer, new entry level kits from both PDP and Sonor for not much more than these listings.

devilshalo

How much are you willing to spend? Knowing that could help a lot, too.

gmal2003

My range was 300ish since Im starting out. If I stick with it (which Im sure I will) I will definitely upgrade in the future.

So this is the set I went with:

http://detroit.craigslist.org/msg/626073114.html

I have a few questions for you guys. Here is the quote from the seller:

Good beginner/intermediate kit, well cared for, great condition.
Comes with a PDP double pedal, hi hat stand with a new clutch and Zildjian hi hats, Remo Emperor drumheads, tom mounts, Pearl 18" crash and Magic Brass 18" crash. Sounds great, better than most beginner/intermediate kits out there. There is no other Rockwood kit out there like this one.
Sorry, drumrack, cymbals, custom front bass drum head, Beatles posters and Marshall halfstack do not come with it, they are not for sale. I will include a brand new plain black front head for the bass drum. A $40 value.


My questions are:

Will I need to get my own drum rack in order to start playing or can I play without?

Whats the purpose/advantage of a drum rack?

It also mentions there are no cymbals but above that it mentions a Pearl crash and a MagicBrass crash is included which he confirmed. Arent those cymbals or are there other ones he's talking about?


Thanks in advance!

SmackDaddy

You do not need a rack to mount your toms/hardware. Racks are more versatile and need a smaller footprint than using traditional hardware. He is inluding the standard tom mounts (toms will mount to the bass drum). It looks like he is including the cymbals that are not mounted to the rack. From the pic, looks like he is keeping his splash/crash cymbals. Looks like you have a pretty complete kit to start with. I would consider picking up a small splash/stand.

You made a good choice, you do not want to spend a whole lot of money on something new. If you don't like it, you can always break even by selling them again.

Also, go out and buy a few different sizes of sticks and play around with them. Sticks size/weight makes a difference in how it "feels" when you are playing.