Ever regret buying a drumset?

I sold a Tama superstar for a brand new silverstar. The superstar was 22 10 12 13 16 and the Silverstar was 22 10 12 14 16. I wanted to try the two floor thing.
I couldn't make this kit sound as I wished even with the coated G2, it sounded "hollow". The superstar was more meaty and the snare was rather good whereas the Silverstar sounded flimsy and the snare too poppy. I thought the Silver would sound more open : 100% birch, small lugs, triple flange hoops,... But it only sounded less good, less full than the SS. I regretted my move.
The only advantage in the Silverstar was the weight saving!
 
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drumnut87 said:
as for actually buying a drum, i remember buying a tama starclassic performer birch/bubinga snare, and unless i cranked it tabletop tight both heads the thing sounded absolutely horrid, tired multiple head and tuning combos and it would not have it whatsoever.
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I’ve heard the BB and WB demos on YouTube and thought they sounded great ( and not ALL that different) never played either though and was thinking of picking up a matching snare for my BB kit, ( just started a thread about possibly picking one up ) so this is disappointing to hear . Was there maybe something wrong with the shell or hoops or some other problem ?
 
drumnut87 said:
as for actually buying a drum, i remember buying a tama starclassic performer birch/bubinga snare, and unless i cranked it tabletop tight both heads the thing sounded absolutely horrid, tired multiple head and tuning combos and it would not have it whatsoever.
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I also bought a Tama B/B snare that sounded incredible in the shop, but also like yours, only liked to be cranked up and liked lively rooms - dead spaces and lower tunings and it stunk the place out. Had to re-affix the wrap on the joint a couple of times too. Loud as hell though, couldn't take it on my function gigs!
 
only one, a Yamaha Stage custom in Raven black...NOT the drums i regret so much but the situation...A buddy called before X-mas a few years back and said he needed money for the family etc and asked if i would buy his kit. I didn't need or want them but his text said a Paiste Rude so i thought i could recoup some of the money right away. Well it was a Paiste RIDE, the lowest level junk they make. ( first regret) Then on the way home with the kit my car smelled like cigarette smoke badly. This kit literally reeked like an ashtray in the worst way, which made my basement stink as well. (Second regret) SOOOO, it's my kit and i sell the cymbals and tried to sell the kit, no takers. Fast forward the guy wants it back., i sell it back ( at a loss but not really as i sold some hardware and cymbals). When he came to get it he was mad i had sold some stuff from it. I felt bad so I gave him some old cymbals ( key holed Zildjians) and some beat up Pearl hardware I had. Totally ended our friendship and the worst part, he is married to my cousin so it was a huge "family" issue that I had "butchered" his kit!?!?! I never even set it up!
 
I'm going to have to say this, then duck for cover! My Starphonic Bubinga! Absolutely beautiful drum with impeccable workmanship, but way to polite! By that I mean it was just soft, mellow and very quiet compared to what I was really looking for. Sorta like the gal on Police Academy, only she ends up finding her voice with that FREEZE SUCKA!!! line, but I never did get the bubinga to really come to life. Sounded great on the videos. I tried different heads and tuning and it just remained "polite" or chocked if pushed. It didn't have a ton of boing to it which I did like. I could imagine it being a great studio snare though...
 
Jasta 11 said:
only one, a Yamaha Stage custom in Raven black...NOT the drums i regret so much but the situation...A buddy called before X-mas a few years back and said he needed money for the family etc and asked if i would buy his kit. I didn't need or want them but his text said a Paiste Rude so i thought i could recoup some of the money right away. Well it was a Paiste RIDE, the lowest level junk they make. ( first regret) Then on the way home with the kit my car smelled like cigarette smoke badly. This kit literally reeked like an ashtray in the worst way, which made my basement stink as well. (Second regret) SOOOO, it's my kit and i sell the cymbals and tried to sell the kit, no takers. Fast forward the guy wants it back., i sell it back ( at a loss but not really as i sold some hardware and cymbals). When he came to get it he was mad i had sold some stuff from it. I felt bad so I gave him some old cymbals ( key holed Zildjians) and some beat up Pearl hardware I had. Totally ended our friendship and the worst part, he is married to my cousin so it was a huge "family" issue that I had "butchered" his kit!?!?! I never even set it up!
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Wow, that situation DOES stink. But when you sell something it becomes the other persons property??‍♂️. He shouldn’t have cared if you made lamps or planters out of em ... there yours ! Unless there was an agreement to sell em back at a certain point , not unlike a pawn shop .
 
Over50drumguy said:
I’ve heard the BB and WB demos on YouTube and thought they sounded great ( and not ALL that different) never played either though and was thinking of picking up a matching snare for my BB kit, ( just started a thread about possibly picking one up ) so this is disappointing to hear . Was there maybe something wrong with the shell or hoops or some other problem ?
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nope, die cast hoops were in round and level, shell was in round and bearing edges were good, the drum was only 5 inch deep which i dont think helped it achieve its full potential. thats just my tastes though, you may play one and find it perfect for you :)

IceMonster said:
I also bought a Tama B/B snare that sounded incredible in the shop, but also like yours, only liked to be cranked up and liked lively rooms - dead spaces and lower tunings and it stunk the place out. Had to re-affix the wrap on the joint a couple of times too. Loud as hell though, couldn't take it on my function gigs!
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oh yeah it was a loud AF snare, but found the same as you, at lower tunings it just clanged and rang out, did the same in dead rooms as well.
 
Over50drumguy said:
Wow, that situation DOES stink. But when you sell something it becomes the other persons property??‍♂️. He shouldn’t have cared if you made lamps or planters out of em ... there yours ! Unless there was an agreement to sell em back at a certain point , not unlike a pawn shop .
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That was my thought, too. And it sounds like the family as a whole was/is enabling the ridiculous behavior, too.
 
drumnut87 said:
nope, die cast hoops were in round and level, shell was in round and bearing edges were good, the drum was only 5 inch deep which i dont think helped it achieve its full potential. thats just my tastes though, you may play one and find it perfect for you :)



oh yeah it was a loud AF snare, but found the same as you, at lower tunings it just clanged and rang out, did the same in dead rooms as well.
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Ok thanks. I’ve not listened to the 5” so I can’t speak to it’s sound . It was the 6.5x14 I’ve listened to . If Anyone who owns the 6.5 x14 starclassic BB could comment on my “ Tama snare decision “ thread , I’d appreciate it.

As to the thread at hand..... I’ve regretted some hardware choices and cymbals but no drum sets .
 
Only one....Yamaha Stage Custom. I know lots of people love 'em but they weren't for me. Sent them back for a full refund minus shipping. I replaced them with a Pearl Session Series and never looked back.
 
Yup... I had a big Tama Rockstar kit earlier (2006?), that I planned to upgrade with a Sonor Force 3005 with all maple shells. When the time came and I had sold the Tama kit, somehow I got it in my mind that I would be better off with getting better double pedals and a few cymbals as well. However I still needed a kit and didn't have that much money left, so I quickly decided on a Sonor Force 2003 kit in Wax Blue finish (light blue, matte finish) that was on a heavy discount, thought I should be able to make it sound decent, at the very least for practice use only. When I got it, I didn't like the finish at all, it was way lighter than I thought it would be. One of the toms was more greenish than blue, to top it all of. Sounded ok, but worse than my old Rockstar.

Had it for a month. Sold it, then got together the money for a Force 3005 kit, which I should have bought in the first place.... Safe to say, buying drums over the internet can be a hassle if done on an impulse....

Second choice would be a Tama Starclassic Maple kit I got in a trade for a big doublebass Starclassic B/B kit. It had a 22"x20" bassdrum, which I initially thought not would be that big of a deal, considering I'm used to 22x18" already. But it was just way too overpowering, and too much of a hassle to lug around to gigs, taking up too much space on the stage... Think I kept it for 3-4 months, then sold it and got a Mapex Black Panther Black Widow kit instead... Toms sounded good though... :p
 
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Not so much regret as disappointment. After playing 1988 model Yamaha Power Tour Customs for 20 years I bought a 2007 model Yamaha Birch custom absolute Nouveau kit. While the Birch Customs gave me bragging rights they really didn't sound any different than my Power Tour customs especially when I had the same heads on them. After about seven years I sold them and bought a 2003 model Tama starclassic performer all Birch. I really think the performers sound just as good has either of my Yamaha kits. I am glad that I got that high-dollar kit desire out of my blood though. I'm quite happy with the mid priced kits now. There is just not enough difference to justify the money spent between the mid-range and the top of the line.
 
Lennytoons said:
Only one....Yamaha Stage Custom. I know lots of people love 'em but they weren't for me. Sent them back for a full refund minus shipping. I replaced them with a Pearl Session Series and never looked back.
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What didn’t you like about the sc?
 
lefty2 said:
I am glad that I got that high-dollar kit desire out of my blood though. I'm quite happy with the mid priced kits now. There is just not enough difference to justify the money spent between the mid-range and the top of the line.
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Valuable insight, Lefty2. A common and costly fallacy among many drummers, and all musicians, is that gear upgrades will elevate them to a new height of achievement. Only improvements in playing can do that. And many midrange kits are gaining significant ground on the exorbitant high-end models. Dropping thousands of dollars more doesn't always translate to an enhancement in sound. Sometimes it just provides an overpriced badge that impresses only novices.
 
Yeah, an 80’s Ludwig super classic set. I was maybe 16 and worked my butt off after school to save for a set. A local shop had a closed door sale with some deep discounts and I walked out feeling like a king with my gold colored super classics!

The build quality was so bad that it wouldn’t pass for a bottom of the barrel set these days. There were splinters where the giant tom mount holes were drilled..couldnt see them until I took off the giant piece of felt Ludwig used between the mounting hardware and shell. One drum was almost untunable because it wasn’t round. I was too naive at 16 to ask the shop for help getting it rectified. That being said, that set had the most monstrous sounding bass drum I’ve ever played.
 
C.M. Jones said:
Yes, my first kit ever in the 1980s. It was a Ludwig, and while the drums themselves were okay, the hardware was another matter. The experience turned me off from Ludwig, and I vowed not to buy from them again. That oath might be unfair, as I know they make good equipment, but I can't shake my early disappointments. Even so, I do have sentimental memories of that set, so I can't say it was a comprehensively bad stage of ownership.

I sold the Ludwig set three years later and switched to Pearl. I've bought nothing but Pearl kits for over thirty years, and I've never regretted any of them. I have no real desire to play anything but Pearl. They're my manufacturer. Because I don't acquire equipment from multiple drum makers for the sake of sampling it or through some misguided effort to conquer boredom, I save a lot of time, money, and regret. How much equipment do we really need anyway -- not equipment we're semi-curious about but need?
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I went Pearl after my 80’s Ludwig set turned out to be a disaster. I bought a BLX in sheer blue lacquer finish. Totally flawless set and sounded great. Had to sell those as I was paying my own way through college.
 
2006 Gretsch USA Customs. I ordered a 20/16/14/12 set up with a 6.5X14 matching snare, so I went all in. The bass drum was OUT OF ROUND when I received it directly from Gretsch. The edges on the 14" floor tom were not level - seriously - so the drum would not tune ....at all. I wound up having a conference call with several people at Gretsch. The apologized and had me return the two faulty drums. I got replacements about a month later. They were better, but none of the drums ever sounded good. They always sounded hard and brittle to my ears. I sold the kit a few months later and lost a ton of money. Lesson learned.
 
incrementalg said:
I went Pearl after my 80’s Ludwig set turned out to be a disaster. I bought a BLX in sheer blue lacquer finish. Totally flawless set and sounded great. Had to sell those as I was paying my own way through college.
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Yeah, Pearl has delivered for me time and time again over the years, which is why I'm so faithful to them. I'm currently playing a Session Studio Select kit and love it. Great balance and very well made.

I don't want to malign Ludwig, though. They make some pretty nice stuff. But being so pleased with Pearl, I have no incentive to look elsewhere.
 
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