Trying to decide which of these kits is best

Which would you say is best for the price?

  • Total voters
    40
Im an aq2 fan boy. I havent played the Superstar classics, but I would if I had em. Im sure they are great drums. Both kits are going to have maple shells. You gotta figure out which one sounds best for you. I do like the fact that you can get a 22x14 with the Tama.
Ive never played a bad set of stage customs. They do the job. I personally love the White Marine Pearl and the Silver Sparkle finishes on the Sonors. Ive gotten nothing but compliments on my WMP Aq2 kit, anywhere I play. I havent had any weird issues with them. They hold up great and feel good. Like I said, If I had the Tama set, I would probably say the same thing. They are probably fantastic drums.
Sonor addons can be kind of hard to get sometimes, so take that into consideration.
 
wildbill said:
From one store:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...piece-shell-pack-with-snare-aqua-silver-burst $1349

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=tama+superstar+classic+5+piece&sb=low2high $849 to $949

https://www.sweetwater.com/yamaha-stage-custom-birch/series $709.99

So the AQ2 costs almost twice as much as the Stage Custom.
To compare a similarly priced Yamaha set, you should be looking at the Tour Customs:
https://www.sweetwater.com/yamaha-tour-custom/series $1359.99

And for something from Tama in a similar price range, you should be comparing one of these:

Oh - and BTW, do you know how to play drums, or will this set be for learning?
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I’ve been playing for roughly two years, so I’ll definitely still be learning but I do have some me experience. Thanks for going to the trouble to link everything above, I’m going to look into the tour customs 👍
 
Eddie_wafflez said:
Im an aq2 fan boy. I havent played the Superstar classics, but I would if I had em. Im sure they are great drums. Both kits are going to have maple shells. You gotta figure out which one sounds best for you. I do like the fact that you can get a 22x14 with the Tama.
Ive never played a bad set of stage customs. They do the job. I personally love the White Marine Pearl and the Silver Sparkle finishes on the Sonors. Ive gotten nothing but compliments on my WMP Aq2 kit, anywhere I play. I havent had any weird issues with them. They hold up great and feel good. Like I said, If I had the Tama set, I would probably say the same thing. They are probably fantastic drums.
Sonor addons can be kind of hard to get sometimes, so take that into consideration.
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I love that I finish on the Sonors too, it’s just the badges I have an issue with visually. Thanks for the insight I appreciate it
 
Bo Eder said:
I couldn't really vote for any one of them to be better than the others. They're all about the same. The deciding factor for me would be how easy is it to add drums if I wanted to in the future? How readily available is the particular hardware for either one of those? Depending on where you live, one of them will be in better stock (or at least easier to get). But in this instance, Yamaha would win that hands-down. Stage Custom extra drums are even available on Amazon, and their hardware is great and readily available in alot of stores and on line. I couldn't really say that for the other two.

But if you're just planning on buying one of them and living with it the way it came, then any of those three would be great.
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Hardware availability isn’t something I thought about before, so I’ll certainly look into that. As for adding drums, it’s not something I see myself doing as currently I’m really looking for a more minimal set up
 
I own an AQ2 set (Bop + 10" tom) and think it is a fantastic kit for the money. The hardware is excellent, and I have had great service from Sonor USA -- one drum came with bent tension screw from shipping and they sent me a six pack of them free. They tune well, play great, and look great.
 
rwp42 said:
They tune well
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This has been my experience too. The other day I had a lug screw back out inside of my snare (after 7 months of playing 2 hours a day - not a quality issue). I took the head off, reinserted the screw, checked all the others and had the head back on and tuned up sounding perfect all in less than 5 minutes. Every other snare I've ever owned is a lot more finicky.
 
bearblastbeats said:
am i the only one to vote for the SC? c'mon!
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Okay, you twisted my arm! :p

Seriously though, I do think the Stage Custom is a great set of drums and the value can't be beat. I like their color options, and the lacquers are well applied. The number of add-ons available is outstanding for a drum set in that price range, and I think Yamaha makes the best hardware in the industry.

The Tama Superstar would be my second choice. I like their finishes and Tama's reputation for building a good set of drums is well known, and I do like their hardware. I just don't have any hands-on experience with the Superstars, and the add-on situation isn't as good as the Yamaha.

I also haven't played an AQ2, but I have played their previous Chinese-made offering, the Force 3007. From what I could tell the build quality seemed good but the hardware was a mix of over-engineered and under-engineered. The lugs and tom mounting system seemed needlessly bulky but the snare throw off seemed like budget-level junk. It looked and felt like what it was: a Mapex Meridian drumset with Sonor hardware bolted on. Looking at the AQ2 they seem to still use the same hardware as the Force 3007, the available finishes are...fine I guess, and they now bolt that Sonor hardware on the Chinese-made shell in Germany, so they get to claim they're "made in Germany" now, though I'd still probably consider the Mapex Armory too since they're pretty similar and have a few more interesting finish options.
 
RichFaulk said:
This has been my experience too. The other day I had a lug screw back out inside of my snare (after 7 months of playing 2 hours a day - not a quality issue). I took the head off, reinserted the screw, checked all the others and had the head back on and tuned up sounding perfect all in less than 5 minutes. Every other snare I've ever owned is a lot more finicky.
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Yes. I will add that Sonor drums in general always have tuned well and stayed in tune due to the lug design.(the inserts inside the lugs). In fact my first acoustic kit was a Sonor force 3001, and I became a harder hitter later on.. I failed to understand why other/nicer snare drums wouldn’t stay in tune like my cheap Sonor snare would 😆😆. I have to admit I was rim shot crazy for a few years in the early 2000s 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
 
TAMA. I suggest you read the post where one member says his TAMA Superstar Classic sounds better than his DW Performance. I think they sing. They don’t have the short sustain of the SC W/B nor die cast hoops (not my fav hoops). Change the 1.6 to Gibraltar 2.3 and you’re set.

You’ve got to dig into the Yamaha SC to get the tone you want from my understanding.

Sonor: if it isn’t German-Sonor, it isn’t Sonor. Undersized shells + vertical grain. That’s not the AQ2. It just says Sonor.
 
TAMA is probably the best drum company out there. They have a lot of integrity, their QC is obsessive, and you’ll have heaps of add-ons for that line. (On higher-end lines, you’ll have to wait for add-ons depending on what you want, but that’s how it goes with TAMA.)

I’m biased because I love TAMA and they’re just badass drums. They own their China factory, the plant manager, floor manager, and purchasing manager were brought in from Japan. The tooling and molds are also from TAMA Japan. There’s a YT video in Japanese on it.
 
Yamaha fan boy, so I voted Stage Custom. Put the $ you save into cymbals, etc. Or better yet, buy a great USED set of SC for $400 or so, like I did.
 
RK1 said:
TAMA. I suggest you read the post where one member says his TAMA Superstar Classic sounds better than his DW Performance. I think they sing. They don’t have the short sustain of the SC W/B nor die cast hoops (not my fav hoops). Change the 1.6 to Gibraltar 2.3 and you’re set.

You’ve got to dig into the Yamaha SC to get the tone you want from my understanding.

Sonor: if it isn’t German-Sonor, it isn’t Sonor. Undersized shells + vertical grain. That’s not the AQ2. It just says Sonor.
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You say thats not the Aq2s it just says Sonor I totally disagree what are they then man?
 
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