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GETTING NEW SET -> NEED ADVICE PLZ

Started by ibeeberz, May 28, 2006, 02:44 PM

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ibeeberz

Ive been a drummer for about a year and a half now.  I've advanced with a Peavy drum set (5 piece), and it is time for me to get a new drumset.

Like other things i have purchased (paintball markers, cymbals, game consells), i researched a great deal on which are the best to get, but for good drumsets i am so lost.

Please help.  I play in a rock band that plays music similar to bands like blink182, green day, sum41 and etc.  I am mostly a rock drummer.

What is the the drum set right for me? I hate the peavy with passion, or maybe because its way out of tune.  My toms sound like paper.      Please help, what should i get?  

I am not looking to spend more than 1000, maybe at most 1000 unless i reaLLYY have to.  Im too young to get a job so finding or earning money aint that easy.. mAybe my parents will pay some for my good grades or birthday.

 What will last me a long time and is right for me?  Please help. http://  http://]]] [url]

rocksnob

cHECK OUT mAPEX pRO-m'S. Mapex are the best bang for your buck IMHO.

messerschmitt

First of all, if the money for the new kit isn't ready yet, my advice would be: contact a pro drummer from your area and ask him how much he'd charge for a two hour work with you. First, let him take ya to a local instrument store for a new set of heads (if the ones on your Peavey are in bad shape) and then go and tune up your drums. Let him show you how to do it.  You will not believe your ears what good tuning does to drums. Among my drums there is probably the worst set in the world, which is equipped with good quality heads and after careful tuning, it works great for most of my live gigs. So, before you spend big bucks on a new kit, which also doesn't guarantee you'll be satisfied with if not tuned properly, think of engaging an experienced drummer and let him mess with your old Peaveys for a while. You might even use the opportunity to ask him to show you some valuable things playing-wise.  

paul

I agree.  You should be able to get good sound from your Peaveys.  Tune them up before you spend a grand on new drums.

Chris Whitten

Warning - Warning - Warning.
You are about to buy a set, but you have no idea what to buy?
You are about to change drum sets, but you think your current kit may just be out of tune?
You are about to spend upwards of $1000 on a kit, but you have no job and you're struggling to raise the cash?
You want to sound like Greenday and Blink182?
You have only been playing 1 1/2 years?
???

Whoa.....take a deep breath.
I've heard the Peavey's are pretty nice. You should definitely investigate new heads and tuning methods before ditching the kit.
[Toms that sound like paper indictates poor heads and/or tuning to me]
You can sound like a great rock drummer on pretty much any kit, but you need to learn how to tune it and you need to continue with your practice and lessons.
Before ditching the Peavey kit, you need to do a lot of research - which includes playing drum sets by other manufacturers.
My hunch is the Peavey set will probably do you for at least another year.....possibly longer.

felix

I had a couple peavey kits that I bought for friends' kids and I've played them a bunch.

They aren't that all bad.  Better than my first couple of kits.  Just get some new heads.  Save your dough for cymbals, dbl pedals, cases and other stuff.

chillman4130

*I have a hunch he means he has the stencil kit Peavey "makes" and not the innovative radial drums they are better known for.*

Still, as is the case with any stencil kit, it can sound pretty darn good given the right heads and tuning, especially, as you say, if the kit is not even 2 years old.

One of the differences between kits like yours and mid level kits has nothing to do with sound. Mid level drums are somewhat better equipped for the rigors of regular gigging. Rigors which I, for example, underestimated when I started gigging regularly.

I infer from your age that you're probably not gigging regularly and thus you may be disappointed with the very slight sound improvement of a kit that will set you back $1000.

Get new heads for sure. ALL new heads, including resonant heads. Have a professional or a very competent and experienced person tune them for you. That's your first step.

Next, I assume it's possible that with all the custom drums you see in magazines and everywhere, you are tired of the look of your Peaveys. That's understandable, but experiment with your setup. Try mounting your drums differently, and if you have to buy a different clamp or stand to do that, it's still cheaper than a new kit.

And, if sound is your primary concern (over look or durability, for example) you'd best start looking on ebay for some inexpensive cast cymbals.

It's good that you are willing to research a lot before making a big purchase, but sometimes in your research you will find that a big purchase is not what you need.

You probably don't want to hear us all saying keep your kit and put good heads on it, but we're trying to save you from a little thing called buyer's remorse. If you follow our advice and your drums still sound bad, come back and tell us and we'll buy your slightly used heads from you and tell you which new kit to buy.

Everyone here knows how tempting it can be to want all new gear once you think you've progressed beyond a certain skill point. But the advice everyone has mentioned so far is better than just recommending a certain mid level kit that will certainly not magically sound better.

**EDIT** This is completely off topic and probably very presumptuous of me, and possibly even rude, but I wanted to say it.
I was at a music industry conference last weekend, and one of the biggest complaints the big dogs (very well-known record producers and engineers) have about why music today is bland is because the kids making music are listening to bands from 5 years ago who listened to bands from 5 years before them who listened to bands from 5 years before them.
There would be no Blink-182 if there were no Green Day.
There would be no Green Day if there were no Operation Ivy.
There would be no Operation Ivy if there were no Bad Religion or Black Flag.
There would be no Bad Religion and Black Flag if there were no Clash or Sex Pistols.
There would be no Clash or Sex Pistols if there were no Who, The Jam, Small Faces, MC5, etc.
There would be non of those bands if there were no Beatles.
There would be no Beatles if there were no Elvis, Buddy Holly, or Roy Orbison
There would be none of them if not for all the pioneering black R&B and Blues artists.
I've obviously run this in the ground and sounded very pretentious doing it. But what I'm getting at is new, young artists have more music to draw influence from than anyone ever has before now. And it seems (to me) that they are not using it. How many new drummer cafe posts are there every week that say, "I wanna sound like Travis Barker" or "I want my setup exactly like Carter Beauford's" or "My band sounds kinda like a cross between Slipknot and Nickelback?"
I myself am only 21 so I am not approaching this subject from an old fogey's perspective saying, "What's wrong with kids these days? Led Zeppelin, now that's real music." Or Rolling Stones or Bill Haley or Benny Goodman. All I am saying is genres are too limited today and younger players feel they have to pigeonhole themselves before they even start out. Listen to everything. The keyboardist/rhythm guitarist in my band says his primary influence is nature and biology. I'm not sure how, but that's just an example.

I am not saying the author of this thread (ibeeberz) is derivative or that he has limited influences therefore is bad. I'm not saying that at all. I am merely making an observation about something I've noticed and I know some important people seem to agree with me.

Sorry for writing a novel completely off topic and sorry in advance if I hijack this thread.

I still agree, ibeeberz, that you should just get some good new heads.
:-\

Chris Whitten

Quote from: chillman4130 on May 29, 2006, 07:44 PM
You probably don't want to hear us all saying keep your kit and put good heads on it, but we're trying to save you from a little thing called buyer's remorse.

Well I agree with you.

Quote
I was at a music industry conference last weekend, and one of the biggest complaints the big dogs (very well-known record producers and engineers) have about why music today is bland is because the kids making music are listening to bands from 5 years ago who listened to bands from 5 years before them who listened to bands from 5 years before them.
Hmm, I wonder who these industry types were.
Twas ever thus is my come back.
The Stones were influenced by The Blues players (and Alexis Corner) who were from the previous generation.
The Beatles were influenced by Elvis and Buddy Holly.
Pretty much every band starts out immitating something from 5 or 10 years earlier.
I notice on your webpage your band sites Talking Heads and Franz Ferdinand as influences.
Also, it's only human for young drummers wanting to be like their heroes. I must say I draw the line at buying top of the line kits in the same colour and configuration as Beauford and Portnoy. But previous drummers played Ludwig 'oyster shell' kits in the same sizes as Ringo.
I agree with 99% of your argument, but in saying you are right it doesn't make the reality of human behaviour wrong.


chillman4130

Quote from: chriswhitten on May 29, 2006, 08:53 PM
I agree with 99% of your argument, but in saying you are right it doesn't make the reality of human behaviour wrong.

A very wise statement. And of course we all start out emulating the players we most closely identify with, but playing in Florida as I am (unfortunately home of Backstreet Boys, N*Sync and Creed ::shudder::), I just get quickly jaded at the bland music to which I am often subjected.

I know you're agreeing with me chriswhitten, but another reality of human behavior is to be naturally defensive, so with that in mind, did you read the rest of the band's (listed) influences? Particularly mine?

The Band: Talking Heads, The Cure, Radiohead, Muse, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand
Conrad: Michael Hutchence, Danny Elfman, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Bono, David Byrne, Thom Yorke, Depeche Mode, Dandy Warhols, The Faint, The Eels, The Cars, Pink Floyd, Muse, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, The Church, Pavoroti
Peter: Radiohead, Mars Volta, The Gorillas, The Arcade Fire, King Crimson
Chris: Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Costello, Rancid, Weezer, Bob Marley, Bill Withers, Rolling Stones, World Music (Brazil and Africa), 60's and 70's Funk/R&B/Soul/Groove
Tim: Ween, Interpol, King Crimson, Bowie, A Perfect Circle


That list may not be all-encompassing, but I'd hope it is at least somewhat more diverse than the bands about which I am speaking.

Chris Whitten

Yeah, I read yours.  ;)

I just wanted to make the point that everyone is heavily influenced at some point in their development.

I don't advocate buying replica kits, especially at $5k to $10k a pop (inc cymbals).
But I've bought plenty of stuff because my favourite drummer has used it.

ibeeberz

Great idea.  It sure seems happier for me than buying a new set.  Replace all my tom and snare heads? oh and my base sounds like.. ugh so hollow and dead.. Hope that will be solved too.



So, would i need to replace the head of boTH sides of each drum to get it sounding alot better?

and someone said talk to a pro about proper tuning.  Would my drum teacher do okay?


P.S
suggested heads??
my teacher mite not know as much as you guys.
getting pics of my peavy to let yu kno exactly which one i have. i think i have the "stencil" one yur talkin about, cuz its pretty low quality since the start

ibeeberz

kay well i dont know how to post an image ???

heh. oh well.  its a Red Peavy Set, and on the tom and bass heads and stuff it says

PEAVY  
International Series tm II

James Walker

Quote from: ibeeberz on May 31, 2006, 06:06 PMand someone said talk to a pro about proper tuning.  Would my drum teacher do okay?

I think that would be a great idea, and a lesson well-spent.  I encourage all of my students to bring in their snare drum to a lesson, or perhaps a tom, if they're having trouble tuning (or even if they're not having trouble, especially in the case of students getting their first drum set).

I'll just echo the general sentiments on this board, in that just about any kit can be made to sound really good with good, fresh heads, and skilled tuning.  I just played a steel drum gig this afternoon, and my drummer brought his old "Torodor" stencil kit - and it sounded great.

ibeeberz

http://videodrumlessons.com/t1.htm

i downloaded these videos on proper tuning.  Using these tips, i really need new heads.   Would you guys say that these insturctions, for anyone who's seen them, are good instructions to proper tuning?

chillman4130

As far as which heads you should get:

Everyone at the Drummer Cafe wil agree that for your kick drum you should go for an Aquarian SuperKick batter head and an Aquarian Resgulator reso head.

You won't get anyone to agree, however, on tom or snare heads.
My suggestion would be Evans G1 reso heads on all your toms (yes you have to replace both heads on all your drums if you want to get your money's worth) and Clear or Coated G2's or EC2's on the batter side.
Also worth checking out: Remo Ambassadors, Aquarian Performance II, Remo Pinstripe, Evans Hydraulic, etc.
Head choice is where your knack for research will do you good. You have to decide what sounds you're going for, realize how much heads actually do affect the sounds, and make the right choice. There might be some trial and error, but if you go with all pro-quality heads, your drum teacher will be able to make them sound good.