Lightweight Drum Shell Pack Suggestions?

BertTheDrummer

Gold Member
First to start, I used to own a Ludwig Signet kit that was pretty lightweight. It was nice for taking to practices and especially those 2nd floor gigs. I ended up selling it to help pay for a big move. I was thinking about purchasing another light weight drum set. I just figured before I go looking for another Signet kit, which is slightly more difficult since they are now discontinued. I figured I'd ask to see if anyone had other possible suggestions that might actually even be better. Not looking for anything super custom, probably wanting to stay under $1,500. 20" kick.

Other thoughts, Pork Pie Hip Pig? DW Frequent Flyer? Maybe a Ludwig Club Date? Any thoughts would be good.
 
Re: Lightweight Drum Question

Sounds like you have a lot of options!

I have a Ludwig Centennial kit with a 20" kick that I love.

I have a friend with a DW FF kit. He sold me the Ludwigs, but kept the DW's.

If it were me, I'd get a set of these for $829:

61DMlgqZ5IL._SL1000_.jpg
 
The guy who came up with Signet started iNDE drums. I'd take a peek and see what they have to offer.

http://www.indedrum.com/

I agree about checking out INDe. INDe drums are very lightweight, sound superb w/ their proprietary 5-ply maple shells, and have nice hardware appointments - great synergy in design and function in my opinion.

Josh at INDe is among the best to work with when configuring and ordering a kit. INDe has what might be the nicest lug design in the business. Also, the price point is surprisingly low for having some of the nicest drums out there.
 
The guy who came up with Signet started iNDE drums. I'd take a peek and see what they have to offer.

http://www.indedrum.com/

I checked them out, the stuff looks pretty cool. Not too high price, I might have to save up a bit more and maybe order a set from them.
 
If you dont have to have new, look at the kits 10 - 15 years old when thin shells were common. Yamaha, Pearl, even some Sonor.
 
A little above your price range, but the lightest kit i know of is a Whitney Penguin. Total weight for kick and 3 toms is under 25 lbs. My DW classic kick weighs 31 by itself.

So instead of guessing, can you guys please actually weigh your suggestions? Seems like all the drum companies are pretty reluctant to publish their actual weights.
 
A little above your price range, but the lightest kit i know of is a Whitney Penguin. Total weight for kick and 3 toms is under 25 lbs. My DW classic kick weighs 31 by itself.

So instead of guessing, can you guys please actually weigh your suggestions? Seems like all the drum companies are pretty reluctant to publish their actual weights.

In the band that I play guitar, the drummer has a Penguin kit.

It's compact and clever, but I am not a fan of the sound that he gets from it. I know, heads and tuning, but this kit, with coated heads sounds thin and lacking punch.
 
I had a Sakae Trilogy kit that was very lightweight. I believe they use three ply shells with reinforcement rings. Price may be too high, but they are wonderful drums. If you found a shell kit without snare, it might be close to your $1500 range.
 
A Gretsch Catalina Club is lightweight and comes with a 20" bass drum, however it's under your budget so might not be what you're looking for. Fwiw I gigged one for about 18 months and loved it.
 
Can't make a recommendation on the INDe stuff since I haven't seen it. But looking for lightweight would mainly mean losing the hardware mass on the drums, so that automatically puts the Pork Pie Hip Pig and the Ludwig Club Date up for consideration. Both are configured 12/14/20 so all you'd have to do is consider a finish, Ludwig offering more than Pork Pie. I would recommend either after having seen those in action.

The DW Frequent Flyer is good, but a bit heavier due to the hardware, but I'm not a fan of the weird sizes - although I just saw a rock band festival at the local county fair we have out here (where there was a new band about every 90 minutes) and most of those guys brought in Frequent Flyer kits, and lo and behold, they sound like drums!

OTOH, I've picked up some light vintage Ludwigs too. A 1960s 14x22 bass drum seemed a lot lighter than today's equivalent. Heck, my 1979 Ludwig 16x26 (minus the silly Modular mount and the second set of spurs) is relatively very light compared to a new one as well. So if you want "adult" sizes, an older kit isn't a bad investment, either.
 
Just about anything Yamaha I've picked up in stores has been light as a feather! Thin shells, minimalist HW, low mass YESS mounts all make their drums super light. Doesn't hurt that they tend to sound killer too!
 
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Agree with Yamaha, especially Stage Custom. We have some of these kits at work and I swear the bass drums are half the weight of my Premier in the same sizes. Oak Custom are heavier. The new Tour series has thin maple shells - should be light too.
 
Generally speaking, just look out for drums with thin shells and flanged hoops. Die-Cast hoops will make drums heavy. I guess the new Tour Custom could be a good fit. The Stage Custom is also lightweight. Some older Pearl Masters also fall into this category. And so on....
 
Just about anything Yamaha I've picked up in stores has been light as a feather! Thin shells, minimalist HW, low mass YESS mounts all make their drums super light. Doesn't hurt that they tend to sound killer too!

+1 on this suggestion. I went from a Gretsch Renown kit to a Yamaha Stage Custom, partly due to the weight of the kit. The entire kit weighs less that the Renown bass drum. I can carry it all in one hand.

I also downsized from carrying around the Yamaha 700 series stands to using the Gibraltar flat based stands and that has dramatically decreased the amount of weight that I carry to gigs.
 
As an example, our Origin series English ash drums use all aluminium hardware, & with ash hoops fitted, they are very light. A 20" x 14" bass drum, 14" x 14" floor tom, & 12" x 8" tom kit, including all shell hardware, legs, spurs, etc, comes in at a total of 26lbs. Similar specification 14" x 7" snare adds another 6lbs to that.
.

Thank you Andy for specifying actual weight (and in lbs even :). ). I would have never guessed your drums were that light. Im gonna seriously have to take a better look at your catalog now. As a former product manager in the MI industry im shocked that none of the major drum manufacturers realize how important low weight is to the baby boomer generation (the ones with the most disposible income).
 
The PDP Concept Classic by DW are super light. But they are one up, one down 4 piece. They cost less than $900 new & you can add another tom & still be well under $1200.[/SIZE]
 
As others have noted, Yamaha Stage Custom(I have the 2013 model). I can carry the 20" kick over my shoulder, and carry all of the other drums in my other hands.

They look great, sound great, and have great reliable hardware, too.
 
I know this isn't answering the question, but I'll tell you wasn't ISN'T light, and that is my DW Performance kit. It seems a hell of a lot heavier than the PDP Maple kit it replaced. I like my DW kit, but had I known it was so much heavier I may have considered other options...
 
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