Old drum set, how to make sound better?

Explore

Junior Member
I have a very old 5 piece drumset with cymbals, and it dosen't sound nearly as good as some of my friends, i was wondering what i could do to improve it. I've tuned all the drums and replaced all the heads, and i got a new snare drum which sounds fine. I've heard that old drum sets are commonly used with bass wood, which dosent do very well after a long time. The set is Maxwin, by Pearl, and the cymbals are tosco( i dont think you can do much to change the quality of the cymbals?) Is there anything else I can do to make the set sound better, because at this time a new set would be too expensive.
 
If you've changed out the heads, that's about the biggest thing you can do to improve your sound. I agree on the cymbals though - you can't do much for them, so you'll have to live with those until you can get better (although I do recall Tosco making some 'ok' cymbals back in the day). Perhaps your tuning technique needs some help? Check out some Bob Gatzen videos on YouTube that cover tuning, perhaps?

The shells could be slowly going out of round, but that's not much of an excuse as I'v e seen and heard some out of round drums and with careful tuning, you can get them to at least sound ok. Your bearing edges could be whacked, but that would mean they've always been whacked, and you said it sounded ok long ago. I would spend some time tuning and re-tuning and see if you can't get them to sound better. Perhaps the heads just need to sit for a while on the drums and adjust to them. I've had that happen before too. Good luck!
 
When you're comparing your friends kits is it just the drum sound you're concerned about or the kit as a whole? I would think about getting new cymbals, they'll make a huge difference that carries over to whatever you invest in later on. I'm of the opinion that a good cymbal sound is more important than a drum sound but that's personal preference.
 
Back
Top