Electronic Drum kit help

[Pompalomp]

[Picksorsticks]

welcome Pompalomp,

You'll get a variety of opinions out of the group here.....

probably the most important mesh pad to have is the snare. You can get by with rubber toms for a while. Mesh kick versus rubber kick is a personal preference.

finding a used kit and amp would maximize your money...some have pieced together a kit off eBay buying used pads/cymbals

close outs on the Roland TD-6 or some of the Yamaha kits might be an option for you too. I've seen ads for these. since I don't have any experience with Yamaha, Alesis, simmons, I'll stick to Roland kits.

700 pounds is about $1200....a Roland TD-3 and Roland PM-10 would run about $1270 here, I don't know if Roland charges the same country to country. The Roland HD-1/amp set is about $1000. It's rather limited and hard to expand so unless it fits severe space/budget concerns, you'd be better served by the TD-3.

I started with a TD-3, upgraded (later a much bigger upgrade, rack, module, cymbals) to Pintech mesh drums/kick. The TD-3 is a nice basic kit with a few very good sounds. You can't tweak them much and you can't add vex kits, which you can do on a TD-6. But it will get you started and you can add mesh drums/better cymbals or module over time.

good luck, be careful, these v-drums are addicting and can get expensive.

I'm sure others will chime in with some helpful hints.

Let us know what you end up with.

[chiphead]

I have to agree with picksorsticks. The TD3 is a great place to start. It'll give you one mesh head, 3 toms, a high hat (which will need some attention) a crash and a ride with mutil zone. The upgrade (G.A.S) p or s referred to is inevitable. I'm not sure if I could see myself playing in a band with it or not because it is a compact kit and in my opinion lacks stage presence. But since I don't have aspirations of playing out it works for me but I can see where I would like a bigger rack. Welcome to the forums. Some great folks here and so much information it'll make your head explode.

[Pompalomp]

Thanks for all of the replies,

In regards to a basic electric drum kit not having enough presence on stage, I completely agree, however unless I somehow get a lucky break, I don't think I'll be playing at many gigs. Just to say, I'm 16 so most likely the nearest thing I would get to playing at a real gig is at my schools "battle of the bands" .

Still I wouldn't feel comfortable getting up their with a basic kit because as you said, it will lack in presence.

Also, I am completely new when it comes to electric kits so when you say things like G.A.S, I have no idea what your talking about.

Just so I can have an idea, what kind of price would a good kit with "stage presence" and an amp cost?

Thanks again,

Regards,

Pompalomp

[Picksorsticks]

Pomp,

G.A.S. is a running joke here on the forum, it stands for "Gear Acquisition syndrome", where once you start buying these v-drums, you just can't stop, you need a better amp, bigger/better cymbals or drums....or rack or vex kits......

Check out "Everyday Prophets" on the web, they're a Portland, Oregon, USA based band that plays reggae music. Their drummer uses v-drums and does not have a big or fancy set-up, so "stage presence" is in the eye of the beholder. It's what you do with it that counts (I realize that there is an opening for some jokes with that line...).

The TD-3 is a bit smaller than a regular kit, Chiphead probably means that you'd need a TD-12 or TD-20 for stage presence which puts you into the $3-6K range......

A large keyboard amp/PA or one of the bigger Roland or Yamaha amps for drums ( $800 or more range), there are many discussions of "what amp should I get" floating around on the board.


The good thing is that most pads/cymbals will work with most modules. You can always add to or upgrade whatever kit you get. Everything I added to my TD-3 works just fine on the new TD-12 set up. So whatever you start with can grow with you.

[Pompalomp]

Picksorsticks,

I was having another look at the Roland TD-9KX and it looks very tempting.

If you wouldn't mind, could you answer a few questions?

1.) Is there anything i should know about the Roland TD-9KX (flaws/bugs etc)?

2.) What kind of bass drum pedal should i get? preferably a cheap double bass pedal?

3.) Where is the best place to buy a Roland TD-9KX from in the UK?

Regards,

Pompalomp

[MisterMR]

[saku]

I have a td9 and enjoy it very much...the one minor flat it has is that the headphones output is very low, and so you need the volume cranked all the way up if you are listening through headphones.

there are three remedies to that bug. 1) good quality headphones that have a matching impedance (ie 64 ohm rather than the more common cheap 32 ohm phones). 2) VEXpacks, as somehow Alan and Chris have managed to squeeze more volume out of the kits...3) a headphone amp

good luck!

[Picksorsticks]

Pomp,

Most of your questions have been already answered...but since you asked here goes anyway..

#1. No real problems that I've read about. My one concern would be the "All in one" cable..if part of it breaks, do you need an expensive new cable...

#2. I have no idea on a double bass pedal, you can use the search function or look to see what others use...i went with a single Tama pedal, it's worked well for me, maybe you could assume that the higher end/double bass Tama pedals are good ones.

#3, Shopping in the UK, again no idea, I've never been closer to the UK than Cape Ann Mass.

The TD-9 looks like a pretty good kit, it has the newest sounds, it has some "teaching functions" I guess you could call them.....read the comments from the TD-9 users. They all seem happy with the 9. Remember the law of diminishing returns, as you spend more and more, what more you get gets less and less. I sold my TD-3KW for $500. The upgrade board for the TD-20 is $495.....for the same money you get a fully functioning kit or a circuit board.

Pomp, you're just a kid, you can get all your birthday presents/Christmas gifts etc as upgrades to your drum kit. Just think, by the time you're my age you'll have been playing for over 35 years, think how good you'll be when you're as old as me

Whatever kit you'll get you'll really like it. I played on my TD-3 for not quite a year and a half. It was better to play on the entry level Roland kit than to not play at all.

I hope you figure out things soon and are soon sitting on a throne wielding some sticks.

[joelgarabedian]

Hi Pomp,

Sorry for the shameless plug here, but I have a Yamaha DTXtremeIIs which is a superb kit for a drummer at virtually any level, It does have rubber pads, but each pad has three zones and it feels great to play. It's a six piece with three cymbals and a hi-hat that mounts on a real hi-hat stand. It's a pretty imposing sight and about the size of a real kit (I've tried to attach a stock image)

I replaced it with a TD-20 in March after owning it for about three years. The TD-20 is a step up from the DTXIIs, but was also double the price. If you're interested, I'd be willing to part with it for £500, including the snare stand, hi-hat stand, and I could even throw in an old throne. You'd still need to add a kick pedal, but you'd have a cracking kit

On the double pedal front, I'm a massive fan of DW too. I use a 5000 double pedal which is a joy to play. I have a friend who swears by his Big Dog double pedal which is pretty good, and I think weighs in at about £100.

No probs if you'd rather go with a Roland or a brand new kit. Just thought I'd add another option.

Joel.

[Pompalomp]

joelgarabedian, Picksorsticks, saku, MisterMR

Thanks for all of the comments,

you have been a huge help

I was just wondering what you opinion on these speakers http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-Stage...4688715&sr=8-1

Thanks in advance,

Pompalomp

[joelgarabedian]

They look fine for jamming, and probably smaller gigs (although you can bet the vocalist is going to want to plug into it too!)

For practice, I recommend a decent pair of headphones. Even with a really loud amp and speakers, you'll still hear the sound of the sticks hitting the rubber (which someone else pointed out on another thread yesterday), which for me affects the realism of the v-drumming experience. Wearing headphones you can't hear any noise other than that coming from the module, which (for me anyway) makes the kit feel much more responsive and realistic.

Joel.

[Picksorsticks]

Pomp,

on some of the web sites such as Musician's Friend or Guitar Center you can find some user reviews of products. You can check for these speakers on some of those sites

Good luck!

[Pompalomp]

Thanks again for all of your replies

If you don't mind, i have been searching everywhere for a UK site which sells the Hart Studio Master 6.4 but i have been unsuccessful so far. If you could point me in the right direction, (if such a direction exists) i would be very grateful.

Regards,

Pompalomp