If you knew then what you know now...

With drums,or musical instruments in general being so expensive,I see more and more people who research and ask questions about that "big purchase" long before they buy it.Yet alot of us didnt have the internet,or mega music stores to become so well educated before making that big purchase.We seen our favorite musician played this brand,and went bolting past everything else to get it...unaware of how customized their gear was,compared to the mass produced version we walked out with.
I seen Zakk Wylde do a demo for Marshall at a local shop years ago.When he opened up for questions,one kid asked if they could buy that same guitar...and he just smiled and shook his head.When asked about the Marshall half stack,he just started naming off custom tweaks done to it,then said it would cost about 15 grand for whats been done to that amp.It was a 1,300 dollar half,with 13,000 worth of bells and whistles.That always stuck with me.

Any stories of buying a huge paperweight?That super pretty set that never made a pretty sound?

Mine was a thousand dollar Jackson Soloist pro guitar.It was the same(looking)guitar everyone and their brother were using in metal at the time.So its price was pretty high.It was pretty,but had a bolt on neck,and bland pickups...but you couldnt have lured me away from it with a truck load of Gibsons.Just a goofy kid.

Still see it on here every day.The kid who likes the Tama or PDP....given all the expert advice in the world to steer clear,and look into Sonor,or Mapex,only to come back with his new PDP set.

If I knew then what I know now,I would have grabbed the Gibson Les Paul sitting right next to that Jackson for a couple hundred bucks more...that needed no work done,and would be worth 5 times that now.
I dont know,maybe its a mandatory step in becoming a musician.To make that impulse buy,so we appreciate the pro level stuff that much more.

I had a lot of trouble practicing when I was younger due to the noise. Should have just bought an electronic kit!

I started at 14 with a cheap beat up Maxwin kit which I had until I was 20. If I knew then what I know now (that I'd still be addicted to music) then I would have started investing in better gear much sooner, and taking it more seriously when I was 17-20, as I'm sure a lot of us can relate to. Even if I had bought a paperweight it would have included the benefit of getting more serious about drumming and music. Right now I need to invest in a really nice snare. Or two.

This electronics age wasn't around for a majority of my purchases. Sure it helps you out when doing some of the legwork and research, but the lack of it didn't change how I bought my equipment. I still do today what I did many years ago, go to the shops, play the kits and use my ears to make the judgement calls.

Dennis

I toyed with the idea of starting drums in high school but never did. At 36 I am almost a year in and regretting that I didn't start sooner because I am having so much fun.

I wish I had couple paperweights and a lifetime of drumming and playing with others and regrets about a couple purchases here and there. I say consider yourself lucky that you had the opportunity to start young and the skill and good fortune to stay with it.

That said, I am trying to avoid that kind of thing. Being older I could afford to buy a huge set with all the bells and whistles but i am trying to stay with a small set until my style and skills develop to the point where I actually know enough to make an educated purchase.

Toolate said:

I toyed with the idea of starting drums in high school but never did. At 36 I am almost a year in and regretting that I didn't start sooner because I am having so much fun.

I wish I had couple paperweights and a lifetime of drumming and playing with others and regrets about a couple purchases here and there. I say consider yourself lucky that you had the opportunity to start young and the skill and good fortune to stay with it.

That said, I am trying to avoid that kind of thing. Being older I could afford to buy a huge set with all the bells and whistles but i am trying to stay with a small set until my style and skills develop to the point where I actually know enough to make an educated purchase.

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Yea I could not agree more.The impulse buys and mistakes we made,made us who we are.If you ignore everyone's advice on a starter kit,you end up with a toy.Yet if you take everyone's advice,you're still not getting exactly what you're after...Takes years of getting to know yourself.Even then we are always learning more.
Kind of like if you could go back to that one bad relationship you were in...the one that ended in losing the farm.If we could go back to the day we met,we would shun them immediately,but we would have never learned the lessons we did and simply turned to the next person and made the same mistake.

So yeah,in order to appreciate a good relationship,you have to be in a bad one.Just makes your senses work better.If we all started with top of the line custom gear...where would we go from there?

Point is,wouldnt it be doing the kids a favor,to point them at the sound percussion kit...so they will always appreciate any step up from there?That kit that screams at you,embarrasses you in public...is completely unstable.

I'm actually still on my battered piece of crap like the one Kettles mentioned, but - and I'm fairly sure I'm alone in having this point of view - I'm actually quite happy with it. My logic has been that I should work using my crappy kit for a period of time to build a good basic skillset and save up while doing that for an upgrade (as opposed to burning upwards of five hundred quid on a quality kit and then another lump on cymbals within the first few months of picking up sticks).

Yes, it's true that nearly anything I'll get from here will be a significant step up, and I'll have to learn to work with the sonic quirks the upgrade offers but, at the heart of it, there's not a huge amount of difference between something that's been bought out of the Argos catalogue and something you've paid thirteen grand for DW to make from scratch using the word from the True Cross. You still play them the same.

My major learning curve was when I took up bass in the mid 90s ... all of those exotic basses and amps, and then I find a simple Fender 4 string was right for me.

Drums has not been nearly the issue, the guy that really inspired me, only plays a kick and snare one cymbal and hats, what he can do with that just blew me away!

My 1st kit was the little Yamaha Manu Katche Jr. I bought it for $450.00 and sold it for $450.00 (just before the Sonor Safaris hit the street). Knowing I wanted to stay basic has made it much easier to find good playable bargins. I've never "lost" $$$ on buying a drum, any purchase I didn't like was sold for at or more than I paid for it.

I have concentrated on getting good snares, but none over $199.00 (a 1969 Supra) and good cymbals, and again any I didn't care for were sold for at or more than I paid.

As of today I'm set ... have not looked at or bought a new bass in years, and as for drums I'm done too, time to just kick back, enjoy and play what I have ...it;s a good place to be.

Be26 said:

at the heart of it, there's not a huge amount of difference between something that's been bought out of the Argos catalogue and something you've paid thirteen grand for DW to make from scratch using the word from the True Cross.

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well, there is actually, but the principal of diminishing returns applies. You're completely correct in your approach & attitude to playing the instrument though. Kudos to you!

Acoustically I was very lucky, found Yamaha RC's by chance 15 years ago, and never found anything better for me, I do have a new Birch Custom Absolute setup ( which of course is the RC shell ) so even with a budget last year, I tried ALL the obvious candidates, and all in all taking sound, finish, hardware, build quality into account, still nothing better for me. I have also found Ludwig Snares to be perfect LM2000B 14x6.5 is MY DRUM.

Turkeys ALL have been Midi/Electronic, just soooo overhyped as a real alternative to acoustic drums, they have their place ( and I use em ) but NEVER listen to your Guitarist when he says - 'If we had V-Drums and BFD you will get 'the sound' - you won't. I now respond with 'OK you play a Casio Midi Guitar, leave the Strat at home, I will use Midi drums' - this shuts them up instantly..

I would have bought stock in Apple and McDonalds.I would be stinking rich and be able to buy a few houses to store my drums and recording studios.I also would have taken lessons from Joe Morello and Carmine Appice who were both teaching at the time.

Steve B

I paid over 1300 USD for a Canopus Zelkova that just sits there drying out.