New Kit suggestions?

Hey Folks:

I’m in the market for a versatile drum shell pack that sounds especially good in the near-field, is well-built, and costs around $3,000 (USD). I will be using the drums mostly for hobbyist/recreational purposes at home.

I live in Northern Virginia so you would think that there would be lots of drum shops/music stores in the immediate area where I could try out mid-level drums – but the truth is - there’s not. To be sure, there are a few Guitar Centers around me but the acoustic kits that they have on display are (perhaps wisely) more budget-oriented. There is the Washington Music Center, which is an institution in the area—but I didn’t see anywhere you could try kits out.

At any rate, I listen to and play a variety of music which is why I’m looking for a versatile kit but again, I’m doing it basically to have fun so I am completely opened to suggestions.

Kits I’ve owned in the past include a beat-up, 1960’s Gretsch round badge kit (it was stolen back in college – I’m still sad 20-plus years later); a budget-level Yamaha – which was okay; a boutique Keller kit which I loved; and most recently, a Gretsch Brooklyn.

Thanks in advance for reading and let me know if you have any questions.
 
If you're looking for something that's sonically rich, I'd recommend looking at something like a George Way or C&C Player Date, both of which should put you around $2k for the shells.

Can you elaborate a bit more on what kinds of sounds you're trying to generate?
 
Thank you for the reply, KamaK - and let me say that "sonically rich" is a good way to describe what I'm looking for. In fact, I have watched a few videos of Geo Way drums, which I loved, but I always worry that the sounds are processed and that the drums don't sound that "rich" in reality.

To give you another example, there is a video of a drummer playing on a Dixon Artisan kit and the drums so great. I have never seen a Dixon drum kit in person let alone play one -- and they are quite affordable for most drummers, it makes me wonder how much is the video and how much is the drums. Alas, I suppose this is a topics for another post but in the meantime, I think I may be seeking out a Geo Way kit somewhere to try out.
 
What did the Keller kit and/or the Gretsch Brooklyn NOT do that you are needing/wanting from a drum set?
 
I love both kits -- so it's not so much what they could not do.

With that said, the Keller kit I sold years ago in order to buy an electronic drum kit, which I was happy to do at the time but later regretted because I missed the dynamics of an acoustic kit, among other things. Even so, I had moved to a place that playing an acoustic kit was frowned upon due to the proximity of neighbors.

One thing I loved, loved about the Brooklyn is the way it had give when playing. The only thing I can say about it that approaches criticism is that in the near field it didn't sound as good as it did standing 20 or more feet away. Not because of volume in terms of loudness but volume in terms of openness of sound. The other thing is the 10" tom was a total PITA to tune. But overall -- it was a fun kit.

Anyway, that is why I asked for suggestions of drums that sound good in the near field. I hope that helps. And thank you for the question.
 
What I have found is the type of heads you put on the drums and the tuning determine how the drums sound up close vs far away.

But you need to be happy with the up close tone of the drums.

Last week I played a Pearl Vision maple kit at a friends house. They sounded excellent. We were in a carpeted 20 by 20 room. He has pinstripe heads on them. But I know if I played that kit, just the way it was, outside with my rock band; the audience would not have been able to hear my drum fills or my base drum.


.
 
Thank you for the reply, KamaK - and let me say that "sonically rich" is a good way to describe what I'm looking for. In fact, I have watched a few videos of Geo Way drums, which I loved, but I always worry that the sounds are processed and that the drums don't sound that "rich" in reality.

One of the benefits of Carter's videos is that you can see that he's only using a few condenser mics to capture the ambient sound of the drums. There's no proximity mic tomfoolery. On some of his play-a-longs, you can hear the tasteful processing and subtle proximity artifacts. On other exposition videos, I hear some faint compression, but that's about it.


I'll be heading to Drumcenter of NH in Feb/March to give them a listen in person.
 
Will you be gigging the kit? If it's near field richness you're missing out on maybe it's your playing area?

I've moved my drums around my house a bit and the near field difference is almost night and day depending on the room. I've played some Brooklyns and found the near field sound to be exceptional, but I wouldn't describe them as rich sounding.
 
You may want to consider going solid shell. Something like a Guru is probably out of your price range, but I spent about $3k on a custom stave set two years ago and love it to death. I spent quite some time deciding all the elements of the design with the builder (and with Andy), ordered the shells finished & drilled, then bought all the hardware and assembled the kit myself. Very rewarding & unbelievable kit came out of it. The builder I ordered from is Terry Thompson, he's really great and well-priced especially for stave drums.

I also chose to get name-brand RIMS mounts, solid aluminum lugs from Ego Drum Supply, and various other nice upgrades from the beginning, instead of fitting aftermarket parts to a pre-existing ply shell.

You may also want to look at Kumu drums, they do some really amazing ply drums. I used their SideHole bass drum idea in my own kit, which has proven to be a super good idea.

Some mass-production kits you may want to look at if you want something more standard are Pearl Reference Pures and Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maples. I've heard great things from both.

My kit (before drilling the side hole in the bass drum):
coolfrontsmall.jpg
 
If it's even an option...For a versatile home use kit for that much, you may want to look at a high end E-kit. You really can't get more versatile then that. I just programmed a kit on my Roland set for sympathy for the devil with bongos ect. My home playing/practice time has more than doubled, they are so much fun!!
 
You may want to consider going solid shell. Something like a Guru is probably out of your price range, but I spent about $3k on a custom stave set two years ago and love it to death. I spent quite some time deciding all the elements of the design with the builder (and with Andy), ordered the shells finished & drilled, then bought all the hardware and assembled the kit myself. Very rewarding & unbelievable kit came out of it. The builder I ordered from is Terry Thompson, he's really great and well-priced especially for stave drums.

I also chose to get name-brand RIMS mounts, solid aluminum lugs from Ego Drum Supply, and various other nice upgrades from the beginning, instead of fitting aftermarket parts to a pre-existing ply shell.

You may also want to look at Kumu drums, they do some really amazing ply drums. I used their SideHole bass drum idea in my own kit, which has proven to be a super good idea.

Some mass-production kits you may want to look at if you want something more standard are Pearl Reference Pures and Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maples. I've heard great things from both.

My kit (before drilling the side hole in the bass drum):
coolfrontsmall.jpg

Terry makes some great shells. I bought 4 snare shells from him recently and they are very well built. He was also great to work with through the purchase, and afterwards, when I had all kinds of questions about the drums.

I recommend Terry and DaVille Drumworks if you wanted to get something unique.
 
If it's even an option...For a versatile home use kit for that much, you may want to look at a high end E-kit. You really can't get more versatile then that. I just programmed a kit on my Roland set for sympathy for the devil with bongos ect. My home playing/practice time has more than doubled, they are so much fun!!

What model Roland did you get? I am a beginner, bought a Yamaha E-kit to learn on. As much as I would like an acoustic kit in the future, I don't really think that is practical.
 
Thank you all for your replies -- I totally appreciate it. And as I had hoped there were a few suggestions that I was already aware and curious about--and a few suggestions that I had not considered or was aware of. Win-win.

I'll answer these in order as best as I can:
Hollywood Jim - I totally hear you regarding types of heads and tuning affects the sound of the drum in both the near-field and far away. And its funny that mentioned Pearl because even though they seem to get a bad wrap on drummer forums, I have always thought they're drums sounded very good in the near-field.

KamaK - I have seen those videos too. And Carter has some serious top shelf equipment recording those vids -- even if it's a minimalist approach. Nonetheless, I do agree that there is not a lot of processing and Geo. Way Drums are on the list to research.

increnetalg - I will not be gigging with this set. These drums are going to be the "proverbial" last kit I buy -- the kit I plan to grow old(er) with. In the event that I start gigging again I will buy a different kit for that.

Porter - I have to be honest and tell you I never heard of Terry Thompson and I hadn't considered solid shells but you have me intrigued. Your kit certainly looks beautiful and your statements seem to indicate that you love its sounds -- so this is a pleasant surprise that I will have to do some research on.

braincramp - I owned a mid-level Roland and then a 2Box Drummit Five and there is no question they were both fun to play. That said, the Roland was a solid build but I just didn't like its modulated sounds which is totally personal preference, and there were really only like ten volocity layers. With the 2Box, the sounds were amazing (especially some really awesome samples that I loaded into its brain from FXpansion's BFD2) but it wasn't as consistent as the Roland in terms of build.

In my opinion eKits and acoustic kits are both awesome but they serve two different purposes -- and after owning a couple of eKits I am firmly planted on the acoustic side. No offense to anyone who loves eKits. They have a versatility in terms of sound libraries that acoustic kits don't.

Super Phil - never considered Taye for no other reason than I never heard a set live - but I've added that to my list to research. Thank you!

Tommy D - as I mentioned to Porter I am now intrigued by Terry's work and totally going to check it out.
 
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