A look at what is currently available on eBay
For the drum pros out there, what is the best drumset to buy?
My guy has been a drummer for 20 years and we are going to buy a new drumset. We have looked at Gretsch, DW, Pacific, Yaka and other types of drums. We are looking for a standard 4 piece (as he has stands, cymbals and a snare already) drumset around the 2K mark. For the pros out there, what is the best set for our money? Anyone know of drums made to order by the little guys? Any professional help is appreciated.
I always advise drums to made to order by the little guys, since I am one of them! haha. I'm not a full fledged company yet, so I'll stop the shameless plug and tell you my views.
C&C is an excellent company (craftmanship, hand rubbed finishes). SJC is very creative (butcher Hoops, inlays). Spaun specializes in awesome paint jobs. Dark Horse Percussion is an up and comer with good skills and good prices. Risen drums is good too. The problem with alot of these custom companies, is that it's the same thing across the board, except the bigger boys like Truth, SJC, and spaun charge a lot. Phattie drums are great too but you may want to use only single ply heads with those because their bearing edges make a dead sound with two ply heads.
Either way, keep in mind that with all these custom companies, they're all made with the same fantastic drum shells (Keller) and the same lugs/hoops/mounts (Worldmax/Dixon, Gauger/RIMS). There are plenty of dudes out there like me who have regular jobs but can build a killer drum set that can hang with the guys at Shine and Truth.
Don't buy OCDP. That's the one big custom shop that I have seen too many issues with. Their hardware (lugs, mounts) suck. Stay away from Creature Drum Co. in florida because He can't use a tape measure. (Badges off center, crooked tube lugs, etc). Shine drums is popular, however I've seen some stains and fades that were just garbage quality. Plus, they've been known to quote "endorsers discounts" that weren't really discounts because they jacked up the "regular price" and discounted from that. Kinda underhanded.
If you don't go with a custom shop kit, look on Ebay for a good quality DW. Not Pacific. A DW. If you have 2K don't go wasting it on a toyota when you can get the Lexus.
Or you can look at a Ludwig Classic Maple. Or a Ludwig Vistalite if you're into the acrylic thing. Phattie drum co. makes a great Acrylic and the DDrum Diode is a nice acrylic too.
Do not buy a gretsch. They look nice but they have the worst bearing edges of any company. They're too lazy to do a countercut and too much hand shaping on the edge for it to be truly flat. Do not buy Pearl either because while their bearing edges may look nice, they're not flat for the most part. Plus Pearl likes to do underhanded things to smaller builders, like steal their designs (Spaun's vented snares and their failed attempt last year to patent Stave drum shells).
Also there are plenty of custom drums that make the rotation on ebay. A buddy of mine here in town got a Truth 3 piece set for $1450. It has glass glitter wrap and Claw style wood hoops. Same set from Truth would have cost him $2600 after an endorsers discount. Sure it wasn't his ideal color, but Silver Glass Glitter with Chrome hardware is so classy that he didn't care, and he gets tons of compliments on it. You or your bf may run into the same luck. Just keep your eyes out.
Good luck.
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