Electronic Kit Recommendations

Witterings

Silver Member
I currently use a Yamaha DT Express 2 for a lot of my practice but I'm finding that the pads have absolutely no give in them and tear my hands apart if I'm playing lots but it doesn't happen on my acoustic kit where the skins have more give. Most of the damage is to my 1st finger near the hand and I think it's where I'm playing the snare.
I also find that the edges of the wedge shaped cymbals stop working after a while, I sent one back to Yamaha recently, they "repaired it" but it's come back and the edges work but not the middle - I've started filling a cupboard with cymbals that don't work anymore and it's getting expensive.
Can anybody recommend an alternative, I was thinking about a second 2nd hand Roland but I've seen quite a few comments saying that the mesh heads are too bouncy and it makes it a lot harder to go back to a real kit especially as I practice all my hand to hand / rudiments on the E-Kit. Ideally I'd like something more forgiving to the hands but but not unrealistic to a real kit in terms of bounce / feel.
Can anybody recommend some good alternatives ???
 
if you don't like the hard rubber pads AND you don't like the roland mesh heads then that limits your options quite a bit. you could try a pintech kit with mesh heads, if you can find one. the only other thing i can think of would be to get a cheap/used acoustic drum kit and replace all the drum heads with mesh heads. you could put triggers on all the heads and run them into a module you'd have to buy. you'd still need a high hat trigger and cymbal pads. that would probably give you a more realistic feel, but it would be more of a hassle to set up and get working vs. getting an electronic kit out of the box.
 
Have you played a Roland with mesh heads? If not definately do so you can judge for yourself. I have a Roland TD 9SX and love it. In the past there was no way I would have thought I'd own an electronic set but the Roland blew me away. Maybe you could try a Roland with the rubber pads to see if you like those. I have no problems switching back to my acoustic set.
 
Have you played a Roland with mesh heads? If not definately do so you can judge for yourself. I have a Roland TD 9SX and love it.
Yes I have, one of the big music stores locally has one of the TD 20's and I tried that, I must admit I was absolutely blown away in terms of sound and also liked the feel of it but I only had the DT Express back then and not an acoustic kit. I thought the mesh heads felt really nice but did seem a bit springy it's just recently I've seen a few peoples comments about how different the bounce is and as I soending so much time doing rudiments etc didn't want to feel a huge difference.
Maybe I should go and try one again now I'm as used to an acoustic kit.
 
I really don't understand why mesh heads get a bad review from a few people.

They feel great! Sure, it's not the same as a real drum head, but nothing is. And seriously, there have been thousands upon thousands of mesh head kits sold, and there are only maybe a handful of people who complain about the feel. Take that for what it's worth.

I did test out the new Yamaha foam pads, and they felt great. I don't think they were "better" than mesh heads, but certainly "different." But if I were going to buy a new e-drum kit, I'd have to give them serious consideration.
 
roland heads are far too bouncy in my opinion. will you be running the kit through a module or software? i'm guessing a module. what is your budget? i can recommend you stuff but it isn't going to be cheap..
 
I put it through a mixing desk and keyboard amp.
I rang my local drum shop and apparently the DT Express 4 Snares aren't so hard and are compatible with the 2's so I might be able to get a short term fix without it costing an arm and a leg.
Re budet, it's one of those things that as little as possible but then again the amount I use it to not spend enough and get the wrong thing again would be throwing money away, I'd still be interested to hear of alternatives.
 
Try a lighter stick and Roland mesh heads. The really light sticks have no real bounce and so this should deaden the bounce a bit.

I use a TD12 and the church Yamaha a-kit and I confess I barely notice the difference!!!

Davo
 
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