odery cafe kit

alp

New Member
hi all,
I was about to buy my first acoustic drums, Tama Club Jam Mini, then I saw a drum set called Odery Cafe Kit on a website. I was suprise because it is even cheaper to buy Odery 4 piece drum set including hardware than buying 2 piece Tama Club Jam Mini and additional hardware. I have never heard of Odery before so I wanted to ask your opinions. I have read good reviews of Odery but sometimes the reviews are not honest. I just want to have an affordable small acoustic set to play in small apartments, spaces. Does Odery Cafe Kit sound good, is it similar to Tama Club Jam quality? Anyone ever played? I would appreciate if you can tell me what you think about Odery Cafe Kit. Thank you in advance.
 
Just a suggestion, check out all the tiny kits. Just about every big manufacturer makes one now. They all have their pluses and minuses, and there are lots of reviews on here for probably all of them.

I'm gonna suggest the Pearl Midtown. Just because I have one. And it's fantastic. I absolutely love that little kit.
 
What's your budget? If you can afford it, you should look at the Pearl Midtown or Ludwig Breakbeats kit first.

Odery is a drum company from Brazil. I would not get that kit for a variety of reasons.
 
What's your budget? If you can afford it, you should look at the Pearl Midtown or Ludwig Breakbeats kit first.

Odery is a drum company from Brazil. I would not get that kit for a variety of reasons.
Interested in the reasons you wouldn’t buy these drums. I believe they are made for Odery in China or Taiwan just like the Pearl and Ludwig kits you mention.
 
Here's a pretty good Odery demo (skip to 2:06 - unless you speak Portuguese)

One thing I know about the Brazilians .... they take their percussion seriously.
 
Interested in the reasons you wouldn’t buy these drums. I believe they are made for Odery in China or Taiwan just like the Pearl and Ludwig kits you mention.
Why I wouldn't buy the Odery Cafe kit:

-It sounds terrible
-Short stack toms suck hard. They sound thin, like toy drums.
-No wood hoops on the bass drum?
-Basswood shells = bad. Poplar would be preferable.
-I do not know enough about Odery drums to be confident buying them. I doubt many here know much about them either. They have little to no presence in the USA. No slight to Odery, maybe they're good, maybe they're not. I would stick with brands that already have a long track record.
 
My local drum shop has a used odery cafe kit someone sold in, it's equal to a Breakbeats in it's 'P.O.S'ness lol. If you really want a gimmicky kit with 20lbs of mounting hardware, get the Tama cocktail jam. Atleast you get birch shells, a bag set, an even smaller foot print, and the reliability of the Tama name. That Micheal shack guy wails on one of them like it owes him money and it takes it like a champ.

If you have a significantly low budget.. buy a proper kit used. If you just want a smaller kit... Spend the money and get something quality.

In the last three years I've bought (then sold) a sound percussion 4pc, Tama cocktail jam, Tama club jam mini, and a Ludwig Breakbeats before landing on the pearl midtown which is hands down the highest quality and most reliable "mini kit" on the market today that is sub $1,000 and not considered 'pro' level shells and hardware.

If I would have just bought the midtown from the get-go I would have saved myself an additional $1,300 trying out other kits and 3 years of constant stressful and unsuccessful tweaking of drums.

I also change my set up frequently, anywhere from 2-4pc w/ 1-2 cymbals, and play a wide variety of styles... The midtown easily adapts to any set up, style, and volume I throw at it. It speaks with a subtle intricate voice at low volumes yet can handle a solid hour long metal set should that be your thing. Another member here commented on using his midtown kit on a tour for around a year with his metal band blasting double bass on it nightly and came home with it still sounding and functioning like new. The odery kit or a Breakbeats would have failed that guy on gig #1.
 
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I have an Odery Cafe kit. I got it used at a good price. It's definitely NOT an all-around, go to kit, but it's also not supposed to be. It is a cool concept kit. The toms are 10" and 12" and the bass is a 14". The snare is 12". Here are my thoughts:

Pros:
-Well made
-Cool Wraps
-Very compact (I fit all four drums in a rolling duffel bag I bought at Wal-Mart-with pieces of foam in-between each drum for protection).
-Cool and hip looking
-Unique Lug Design
-Expandable (more below)

Cons:
-Can't achieve "true" full sounds on those small drums (but it does sound good for what it is)
-There is A LOT of hardware on that bass drum (4 spur brackets plus 2 additional tom brackets and 1 more bracket for the lifter.....that's a lot of holes drilled into a 14" x 11" shell). It also makes it the heaviest 14" x 11" drum you've ever carried.
-Supplied tom arms can be difficult to position the drum to your desired preference (more on this below-they are actually made as cymbal arms).
-Snare hangs off the hi-hat stand from a clamp. Hard to position and play.....I just put it on a regular snare stand.

The one thing no has mentioned here is that it is designed to be expandable, You can buy the "expansion back" which includes a 20" bass drum, double tom holder, floor tom legs, cymbal felts, sleeves and wing nuts. The idea is that 14" bass drum now becomes the floor tom and you use the supplied legs. You also have leftover brackets on the 14" to hold accessories like cymbals or cowbells etc. The original "tom arms" become cymbal arms with the expansion pack. That's why they are threaded at one end. The 12" hanging floor tom becomes the second rack tom. Looking at it this way, it makes this kit very unique and very versatile.

The only downside is, the expansion pack costs as much as the original kit does. It would also be nice if the expansion pack came with a full size 14" snare as well. Also, the 20" bass drum has metal hoops (blah). For that price (a bass drum and few accessories) it should come with wood hoops. Here's a link for the kit and the expansion pack is further down the page:


Overall, I enjoy playing the Cafekit. As long as your mindset is "these are not regular drums, but a compact mini-kit that is easy to tote around and fun to play", you will enjoy it as well. Also, between all four drums fitting into that rolling duffle bag in one hand, along with a hardware bag in the other and a cymbal bag backpack on my back, I can literally make it from the car to the stage in one trip with everything
 
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The TAMA is junk. I had one. Tension rod lug splay and sounded bad. It's toy-like. Odery I am not sure about. Look at the Sonor AQ2 now there is an excellent kit that sounds fantastic and built to gig. INDe also has a new travel gig kit just announced for $999 check it out it may be best of all.
 
Pros:
-Very compact (I fit all four drums in a rolling duffel bag I bought at Wal-Mart-with pieces of foam in-between each drum for protection).

Hey, there.

I appreciate all the info on the Odery kit. I have been considering purchasing one of those for myself.

I currently have a Sonor Martini shell pack that I picked up for $200, and was considering buying this bag to use with it:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/protec-multi-tom-bag-with-wheels

However, I would gladly consider another option.

By any chance, can you point me to the exact rolling duffel bag you found at Wal-Mart to carry your Cafe Kit around in?

Many thanks for any direction you can provide.

Best,
Jim / Peter Radiator
 
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