# Guitar player looking to start leaning drums



## will_shred (Apr 3, 2018)

Sorry if this question has been asked a million times. I've always wanted to learn drums, even before I wanted to play guitar (like... 7) I wanted to learn drums. I never had the coordination to do it as a kid, and felt like guitar was easier. So I picked up the guitar and stuck with it. I still want to learn drums, every time I go to a show and the drummer kills it I think "damn I want to play that". My budget is about $1k for everything. Would that be enough to get a decent kit, cymbals, and double kick pedal (and drum dial of course)? If not i'd be fine just saving up more money. Because I don't want something just to learn on, I want something that's going to sound awesome in the studio.


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## TedEH (Apr 3, 2018)

IMO, just like with guitar, you don't *have* to pour a bunch of money into getting something of working quality, if you set it up properly. My first "real" kit was made up of shells I bought used for $100, put new skins on, tuned and dampened to my liking, and when it came time to record I would borrow or rent better cymbals. I eventually got a "good" snare for about $200 (a japanese-made Yamaha snare), and a cool ride cymbal (it's a weird mystery Sabian that was returned, re-finished and re-sold). I bought them both 'cause I liked the sound of them, at a time where I happened to need just that one part, but I think it works out for the best. I also got lucky and inherited some decent crashes and hats. All in all, I think I have a decent kit, and I've easily spent way less than 1k on it. IMO the signature of a drummers sound is mostly in the snare, ride and hats, so if you're going to spend the money, I'd put the focus there.

But all that to say your sound is going to (again, like guitar) come from how you maintain the instrument and how you play it. Put some time into learning how to tune and maintain the skins, learn how to adjust your pedals to your liking, that kind of thing. You should be able to easily put together a kit that'll sound good live and in studio for that budget, the rest is in the drummer.


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## will_shred (Apr 4, 2018)

I found a dude who would trade a guitar for a full drum set, stay tuned.


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## will_shred (Apr 6, 2018)

Update, I picked up a Yamaha Stage Custom kit with a pearl aluminum snare and sabian cymbals, it would sound a lot better with an actual drummer behind it.


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## InCasinoOut (Apr 7, 2018)

will_shred said:


> Update, I picked up a Yamaha Stage Custom kit with a pearl aluminum snare and sabian cymbals, it would sound a lot better with an actual drummer behind it.


Stage Customs are excellent! Always have been tough to beat in their class. If you ever get more cymbals, I recommend going used, and _never_ go with shitty B8 bronze cymbals. B20 is the pro standard, and can be much more affordable when shopping used. Most cheap kits can sound great with good heads tuned well, but you can't make a shitty cymbal sound better.


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## Ebony (Apr 7, 2018)

InCasinoOut said:


> _never_ go with shitty B8 bronze cymbals. B20 is the pro standard



You're probably thinking of cymbals made of sheet Brass (who _are_ usually complete shit). B8 is a perfectly fine alloy for cymbals, lines such as the Paiste 2002 (arguably the second most celebrated line of cymbals in post-1960 music history) is made from it.

Companies like Sabian and Zildjian use B8 in their shittier lines because it is cheaper than B20 and therefore, alongside poorer craftsmanship/castings/coldwork/sheets etc, helps keeping the cost down in the final product. But companies like Paiste and Meinl make professional cymbals from it.


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## Ebony (Apr 7, 2018)

will_shred said:


> Update, I picked up a Yamaha Stage Custom kit with a pearl aluminum snare and sabian cymbals, it would sound a lot better with an actual drummer behind it.



Good choice! Stage custom is the "bang for the buck"-gold standard anno 2018.


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## InCasinoOut (Apr 8, 2018)

Ebony said:


> You're probably thinking of cymbals made of sheet Brass (who _are_ usually complete shit). B8 is a perfectly fine alloy for cymbals, lines such as the Paiste 2002 (arguably the second most celebrated line of cymbals in post-1960 music history) is made from it.
> 
> Companies like Sabian and Zildjian use B8 in their shittier lines because it is cheaper than B20 and therefore, alongside poorer craftsmanship/castings/coldwork/sheets etc, helps keeping the cost down in the final product. But companies like Paiste and Meinl make professional cymbals from it.


No, I wasn't thinking of brass cymbals, because I wouldn't ever suggest them. Eh, the 2002s and the Meinl B8 line are the only B8s that I think hold up to B20. The fact is that yes, most but not all professional cymbals are B20 and for a good reason. That also doesn't mean all B20 cymbals sound good., as I thought most of the Sabian XS20 line stuff sounded a lot duller than it's closest AA or AAX counterpart. I'm more so suggesting to not waste money on the usual suspects (Zildjian ZXTs, ZBTs, Sabian B8s, etc) only to eventually hate a turd you can't polish, which is the route I wish I took when I started.


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## Ebony (Apr 8, 2018)

InCasinoOut said:


> I'm more so suggesting to not waste money on the usual suspects (Zildjian ZXTs, ZBTs, Sabian B8s, etc) only to eventually hate a turd you can't polish, which is the route I wish I took when I started.



Agreed. I'm always for starting with good gear.


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## will_shred (Apr 8, 2018)

I dig this

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...m-dark-cymbal-box-set-with-free-18-inch-crash


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## mike1033 (Apr 10, 2018)

Congrats! My first and only kit was a Yamaha Stage Custom too! I sold them a while back unfortunately, probably one of my only sales I regret, You scored a great first drum set!


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## JEngelking (Apr 13, 2018)

will_shred said:


> I dig this
> 
> https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...m-dark-cymbal-box-set-with-free-18-inch-crash



Congrats on the kit! What kind of Sabians did you get with it?

Classics Custom cymbals are a great choice if you're looking for a cymbal upgrade. I liked them when I've tried them and heard recordings of them, check out Anup Sastry's videos if you haven't already, I believe he uses a couple of the Classics Customs on his day to day setup plus there's a couple vids out there where he sets the whole line up and demos them that way.


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## ZombieLloyd (Apr 28, 2018)

Hey guys, I'm also a guitarist that wants to learn drums. What would you guys recommend for learning quietly? I'm thinking about getting a drum kit and getting some of those Rtom Black Hole pads, and the L80s can anyone give an opinion on them? Sorry for hijacking the post, I didn't much see a point in making a new one for the exact same type of situation. I'm considering saving up for the DW Design kit, I really like the tone of it from the videos I've seen, but I get that it's a bit expensive for a beginner. However, I don't want to learn on a cheap piece of crap kit, I went through that with guitar and that almost put me off playing it.


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## TedEH (Apr 30, 2018)

ZombieLloyd said:


> the L80s can anyone give an opinion on them?


I have (had?) a set of these. They're great and quiet, until they break. And they didn't take super long to break. I know I hit my cymbals a bit harder than I need to, but these can't take the abuse for very long.


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## Ebony (Apr 30, 2018)

ZombieLloyd said:


> Hey guys, I'm also a guitarist that wants to learn drums. What would you guys recommend for learning quietly?



- Practice pad for hands and feet. Evans realfeel are built like trucks. The foot-pad requires a sticky carpet or facing the wall.
- Snare stand. The gibraltar 4706 is cheap and stays in one piece under heavy practice.
- A pair of drumsticks. 
- Double pedal. I'd look for a pair of used trick dominators or just buy a pair of new tama speedcobras. 
- Metronome. You probably have one already.


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## ZombieLloyd (Apr 30, 2018)

TedEH said:


> I have (had?) a set of these. They're great and quiet, until they break. And they didn't take super long to break. I know I hit my cymbals a bit harder than I need to, but these can't take the abuse for very long.



I've heard they break quite quickly. Someone on /r/drums suggest bamboo drumsticks for using the L80s.



Ebony said:


> - Practice pad for hands and feet. Evans realfeel are built like trucks. The foot-pad requires a sticky carpet or facing the wall.
> - Snare stand. The gibraltar 4706 is cheap and stays in one piece under heavy practice.
> - A pair of drumsticks.
> - Double pedal. I'd look for a pair of used trick dominators or just buy a pair of new tama speedcobras.
> - Metronome. You probably have one already.



I have a couple of metronome apps on my iPad that I do use, I can also use the metronome on my DAW and just loop a small section if I want to do that too. I'll look into the practice pads, I do have a carpet on my floor so I figure I'll be good there.

Thanks for the responses, guys.


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## TedEH (Apr 30, 2018)

ZombieLloyd said:


> Someone on /r/drums suggest bamboo drumsticks for using the L80s.


Those "multi-rod" sticks would probably do the trick. It's one more thing to throw off the feel a bit though.

I had a setup with the L80s, mesh heads, and the multi-rod sticks, and it worked nicely for low volume jams.


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## ZombieLloyd (May 1, 2018)

TedEH said:


> Those "multi-rod" sticks would probably do the trick. It's one more thing to throw off the feel a bit though.
> 
> I had a setup with the L80s, mesh heads, and the multi-rod sticks, and it worked nicely for low volume jams.



Thanks, I'll check them out.


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## klimbo (Feb 12, 2019)

TedEH said:


> IMO, just like with guitar, you don't *have* to pour a bunch of money into getting something of working quality, if you set it up properly. My first "real" kit was made up of shells I bought used for $100, put new skins on, tuned and dampened to my liking, and when it came time to record I would borrow or rent better cymbals. I eventually got a "good" snare for about $200 (a japanese-made Yamaha snare), and a cool ride cymbal (it's a weird mystery Sabian that was returned, re-finished and re-sold). I bought them both 'cause I liked the sound of them, at a time where I happened to need just that one part, but I think it works out for the best. I also got lucky and inherited some decent crashes and hats. All in all, I think I have a decent kit, and I've easily spent way less than 1k on it. IMO the signature of a drummers sound is mostly in the snare, ride and hats, so if you're going to spend the money, I'd put the focus there.
> 
> But all that to say your sound is going to (again, like guitar) come from how you maintain the instrument and how you play it. Lucky Patcher 9Apps VidMate Put some time into learning how to tune and maintain the skins, learn how to adjust your pedals to your liking, that kind of thing. You should be able to easily put together a kit that'll sound good live and in studio for that budget, the rest is in the drummer.


i think a good snare is more than 200 dollars my bro


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## TedEH (Feb 12, 2019)

It's a diminishing returns thing, "bro". IMO if a $200 (used) snare isn't doing the job, it's not the snare's fault. Like I said: Just like with a guitar, it doesn't have to be top of the line or a custom to be a good instrument.


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