Help my friend spend $600 (or so)

[Dudley]

A non-drummer musician friend wants to buy a drum set for his home studio. He owns nothing now. He asked for help and said that while he didn’t know how realistic this was, he’d love to stay under $600. Obviously I want him to have quality stuff that, importantly, will sound good in the room and recorded. I have some ideas and my sense is he’ll need to spend closer to $1k, but I’m more of a vintage/older gear guy. Thoughts?

Without reading all the excellent replies, my thought is always to buy good name brand equipment. If and when it comes time to sell, it's many times easier to sell well made than cheaper. That said, I also realize that there exists a strong market for the MIJ drums which I have seen many good examples here and within other sites.
Dudley

 

[rikkrebs]

I don't see anything even approaching those prices anywhere.

$100 for an export kit? Where are you seeing these? It's $300 - 400 _minimum_ anywhere I look.
$250 for 3 used As? Maybe, but that's going to require a lot of work -- usually I'm seeing $100 - 150 on the low end for crashes / rides, and $200+ for a set of used New Beats
A full set of hardware for free - $100?

There was a time when these prices were realistic -- I just don't think they are anymore.

They are absolutely everywhere in the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana area. I see them daily.

 

[kzac]

If its an acoustic kit your looking for, I would suggest the Yamaha Stage Custom. They are excellent and very durable drums, and can be acquired at very reasonable prices. in the pre birch shell kits.

If you talking electronic, its a crap shoot buying used stuff. I would suggest the Roland TD-07, TD-11 or the Yamaha DTX-06. all are good kits that provide the most "bang for your buck" in the $1k price range. The TD11, in the all mesh drums has dual zones, I think the TD07 are all single zone toms.. Further the TD11 has the TD17 gen 1 cymbals which are far better than what comes with the TD07. The DTX-06 is the more modern and more capable kit of all those kits.

 

[drummerjohn333]

Where does your friend live? All these drummers viewing this thread......if we knew where your friend lived, I am sure we can point him to a great deal.

I am in Michigan and have a Yamaha kit at the church that needs to be sold. Meanwhile, I suspect this is one of hundreds of Yammy kits for sale in the US. It is very hard to find a Yammy that does not record well.....of any model.....as long as it has good heads.

 

[bigbonzo]

A non-drummer musician friend wants to buy a drum set for his home studio. He owns nothing now. He asked for help and said that while he didn’t know how realistic this was, he’d love to stay under $600. Obviously I want him to have quality stuff that, importantly, will sound good in the room and recorded. I have some ideas and my sense is he’ll need to spend closer to $1k, but I’m more of a vintage/older gear guy. Thoughts?

1.5 months of replies. What have you and your friend decided to do?

 

[Old Drummer]

For some reason, this thread has been on my mind for several days, so let me reply and clear my head:

It ain't gonna happen.

I can see finding a decent used set of drums for around $300 if you shop and get lucky, but the hardware you'll need will cost you almost as much. Come on, a snare stand, hi-hat, bass drum pedal, throne, and a cymbal stand will easily set you back another $200, and that's also if you shop and get lucky.

And how are you going to buy decent cymbals for $100? You're not. A set of old A hi-hats together with an old A crash/ride will be difficult to find for less than another $250--and that's assuming you're not paying shipping costs or sales tax.

So you're already over budget by $150, and have shopped plus gotten lucky to keep the outlay this low. Meanwhile, we're assuming that the drums don't need new heads, the snare doesn't need new wires, etc.

Sometimes there seems to be a contest over who can spend the least, and I think I'd be competitive in that contest. But unless it's a fluke, like finding a million dollar masterpiece at a yard sale, you have to be realistic.

Realistically, $1000 is probably the minimum that needs to be spent on something like this--and spending that little would require some serious shopping too.

Or, I suppose a set of electronic drums could cover the essential bases for $600.

 

[Dzdrum]

I found this set at a yard sale for $150.

Tama Superstar from the 1980’s
Tama Mastercraft snare
All Tama Hardware
21” Zildjian rock ride
14” Zildjian quick beat hi hats
18” Paiste crash
Cases for all the drum

Spent $140 on new heads

It can be done for $600 or less.

Before and after picture

 

[shuffle]

They are out there!
$130!

 

[Tama CW]

I found this 1983 Tama Superstar a couple years ago in New Jersey for $600. Driveway before photo. All original drum heads in nice shape. Full original Titan hardware including throne.
After a light cleaning I realized it was mint....though one finish flaw on the bottom of the bass drum. Hardware was mint too. Came with 50's Zildjians - a pair of thin 18's with different pitches and a set of thin 700/800 hats

Yes, it can be done for $600 if you pay attention. If you assume it can't be done.....well, then you'll probably never find anything. And I've found similar full kits like this as well. And these days I just don't have the time or
back stamina to spend 30-50 hrs cleaning up kits. But I would say, it's a bit harder today to find these deals in my region than it was in 2018-2020. Pandemic and inflation changed things a bit.

 

[rikkrebs]

FB Marketplace southwestern Ohio was filled with deals last weekend. Not only could it have been done for $600, but probably $400 multiple times. These deals are absolutely everywhere and all you have to do is look.

Happy drum hunting!

 

[rikkrebs]

I found this 1983 Tama Superstar a couple years ago in New Jersey for $600. Driveway before photo. All original drum heads in nice shape. Full original Titan hardware including throne.
After a light cleaning I realized it was mint....though one finish flaw on the bottom of the bass drum. Hardware was mint too. Came with 50's Zildjians - a pair of thin 18's with different pitches and a set of thin 800's has.

Yes, it can be done for $600 if you pay attention. If you assume it can't be done.....well, then you'll probably never find anything. And I've found similar full kits like this as well.
But I will say, it's a bit harder today than it was in 2018-2020. Pandemic and inflation changed things a bit.



View attachment 605916 View attachment 605917

Agreed. These deals are everywhere.

 

[rock roll]

Premier drum kit. Great quality for the money.