What should I pay attention to when buying a cheap drum kit

As a beginning musician, you may not know much about a drum set. Do you want to buy a drum kit? But what should you pay attention to when purchasing? What kind of setup do you want? We will help you to make a good choice.

What should I pay attention to when buying a (cheap) drum kit?

A drum kit is a fairly large and relatively expensive instrument and its value is reasonably good, but there are also several cheap alternatives. Popular brands are Pearl, Ludwig, Tama, Sonor, Yamaha and Gretsch. Many of these manufacturers also have good cheap drum sets in the range. When purchasing a drum kit pay attention to the hardware, these are all tripods for the cymbals and the snare, the suspension of the tom(s), hi-hat tripod and bass drum pedal. For the tripods of the hi-hat and cymbals, it is advised to have a double-legged tripod. Also look at how the tom(s) hang and how many clamping blocks each tom has (at least 5), you have to be able to stretch your drums. If you are just starting drumming then you will be satisfied with cheap sheets and cymbals, so you better spend a little more money on the drum kit yourself because you do not just replace it. Afraid of noise pollution? Then there are several alternatives such as gauze sheets that you can use as a replacement for your standard sheets, or rubber mats that you can put on your sheets. Of course, there is also the possibility to purchase an electronic drum kit.

What kind of drum kit should I buy?

Most standard drum sets are made up of a bass drum, floor tom, 2 or 3 tom(s), a snare drum and of course the cymbals consisting of a hi-hat, crash and ryde. In addition, it is possible to add another crash, splash or china basin or perhaps an extra floor tom, as you can see there are many options. Depending on the genre you play in, you can make a choice for what type of drum kit.

Sizes of a standard set:

Kick [22”]             Floortom [20”]               Tom (1) [12”]      

Tom (2) [14”]       Snaredrum [14”]            Hi-hat [14”]

Crash [16”]           Ryde [20”]

Various types of wood are used for the production of a drum set, such as birch, maple and poplar. The type of wood that is used together with the size determines for a large part the sound of the drum set. This also applies to basins, if you decide to buy other basins, it is useful to know more about basins. Cymbals are made of bronze. Bronze is an alloy (combination) between the metal copper and tin. The distribution of copper and tin in the bronze largely determines the timbre of the basin.

In Conclusion

If you have no idea if drumming suits you then it is advisable to take a few lessons, a drum set is a great instrument and must be well positioned to play with it. In this article, we link to a number of cheap drum sets. It is advisable to start with a cheap drum set, later you can always look further.

Electric and acoustic drum kit for less than € 500,-

Roland TD-1KV electronic cheap drum kit

A beautiful electronic drum kit for both the novice and the advanced drummer: the Roland TD-1KV. Equipped with mesh-head snare drum pad! Realistic sounds and full of options to make practice even more fun!

Price € 499,-

Pearl RS585C-C91 Roadshow cheap drum set Red Wine

This compact drum set is ideal for the novice drummer. With this Roadshow set, you get cymbals, hardware, a drum stool and drumsticks. That means that you have everything to get started right away.

Price € 499,-