What's the obsession with cost vs value vs sound ?

B

B

Active Member
Please, somebody ....anybody fill me in on human nature.

What is this obsession every nine days with the comparison of kits at different price points and if they're " worth it".

Swear to God, in my 30 years of buying drums, it's never anything that I have thought of. Never never never. I bought the best kit that I could afford.

And yet it comes up here about every 7 1/2 hours

I literally I do not understand it.
 
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on a given subject, a desire to be influenced
by others experiences?
I can't recall asking anyone for advice; I read- between-the-lines, before the internet, in music publications,
and it has served me

today there's phones that can receive questions, get posted on message boards, and answers come out the other end
 
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drums at one time were a more solitary endeavor

today the world wide web can be asked how to tie snare strings
and receive answers from across the globe
 
I don’t know if it’s an obsession. I think it’s just different posters asking for honest comparisons because they don’t know. We’ve all been there. And now in the internet age, it’s easy to get confused because there’s so many to choose from, and there’s so many people who like what they like, so it boils down to fans yelling at each other and people shopping getting more and more confused.
 
For many at the heart of it is the idea that there is some magic inflection point where you maximize sound, hardware quality, visual appeal and price........the discussion and pursuit of identifying and agreeing upon if and where that inflection point exists is what keeps the conversation going.

It's a drum forum, with drummers, drummers talk about drums.......
 
River19 said:
For many at the heart of it is the idea that there is some magic inflection point where you maximize sound, hardware quality, visual appeal and price........the discussion and pursuit of identifying and agreeing upon if and where that inflection point exists is what keeps the conversation going.

It's a drum forum, with drummers, drummers talk about drums.......
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I get that it's a drum forum. I just can't believe the incessant and consistent and nonstop nature and posting off that particular question.

Stickies, they're there for a reason. My new motto.

Yeah, I know. I should probably just leave.
 
Human beings like getting the most for their money. Perhaps there's a small minority that assumes that simply spending the most they can afford means they got the best drums for that money, but that's not always true.

Since sound is so subjective, and there's such a huge selection of modern drums to choose from, it makes these discussions fun and interesting for nerds like me.
 
One of my dearest friends is a concertmaster with a couple orchestras and a soloist who travels all over playing music. When she was in grad school-- LONG before she had any real gigs-- we went out bow shopping together. Her budget? In grad school? And not for her violin but for her BOW? $20,000. And that was 1994 dollars. Can't even imagine what her violin and bow are worth now. I guess I could ask.

I think I believe two things simultaneously. First, I believe a Stage Custom with PST7s is adequate for just about every cover band VFW bar gig that exists. Second, I believe that if you're genuinely trying to find a beautiful sound and create something great, it's worth understanding how different drums work and whether spending more money will take you closer to the sound in your head.
 
It's the internet discussion forum curse... where so many things are over analyzed and get discussed to death & blown out of proportion to reality.

Some of us remember a world before this technology existed and how we simply got on with life and lived with what was available.
 
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jaymandude said:
. . . . in my 30 years of buying drums, it's never anything that I have thought of. Never never never. I bought the best kit that I could afford.
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I'm pretty sure I never actually asked for advice online, but you'd better believe I research, then research some more, which of the kits I'm interested in is the best value based on what I want in a kit.
That's how I ended up with a SC Maple and Performance, instead of a Star and Collector's. I didn't want to spend more for features or options which I have no use for.

If I simply bought the best I could afford, I would have wasted a lot of money.

What is this obsession every nine days with the comparison of kits at different price points and if they're " worth it".
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I would actually expect someone fairly new to drumming to ask precisely those questions on a forum full of experienced drummers.

I guess you do have a point though, about the frequency of those posts recently.
 
I'm gigging with a used kit, which was bought this year for $126. The cymbals were crap, but the hardware was fine.

I've gotten complimemts on the sound, but can't take credit because it's just as it was when bought.

But the snare I use is still 1 of my Maple Premier Signias and a Demonator pedal. I never tried the steel snare that came with the kit.
 
here for the car wrecks
for some I'll remove the "Bridge Closed" sign
others I'll put up a "Dangerous Curve" sign.
 
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bud7h4 said:
I'm pretty sure I never actually asked for advice online, but you'd better believe I research, then research some more, which of the kits I'm interested in is the best value based on what I want in a kit.
That's how I ended up with a SC Maple and Performance, instead of a Star and Collector's. I didn't want to spend more for features or options which I have no use for.

If I simply bought the best I could afford, I would have wasted a lot of money.



I would actually expect someone fairly new to drumming to ask precisely those questions on a forum full of experienced drummers.

I guess you do have a point though, about the frequency of those posts recently.
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Since you have chosen to isolate my words, let me clarify something

I bought based on sound, the best sound that I could afford. I can think of a few instances where there were drums that I absolutely loved, but could not afford them. A Canopus Zelkova snare at the time, and a Round Badge Gretsch three ply kit with an 18 inch bass drum that was unbelievable. Also a DW anniversary kit that had the roses on the Lake Superior Birch. Incredible kit.

Value was never considered. Sound and money. "Jesus H this sounds amazing, can I afford it" That's all.

And an Ayotte kit from the Ray era. Plus a few other things over the past 20 years that I remember that I just couldn't swing. But there was and is some absolutely amazing stuff that I could afford. And I'm very thankful for that.
 
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jaymandude said:
Please, somebody ....anybody fill me in on human nature.

What is this obsession every nine days with the comparison of kits at different price points and if they're " worth it".

Swear to God, in my 30 years of buying drums, it's never anything that I have thought of. Never never never. I bought the best kit that I could afford.

And yet it comes up here about every 7 1/2 hours

I literally I do not understand it.
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Because paying max dollars while blindly assuming what you are getting is the best available is foolish. Paying for a name for example is a real thing. It's not complicated at all if you are paying the least bit of attention
 
money is value
how much money can you value putting into a set
at a particular time; what are the odds it will turn to be good value in the long run personally
for you
will it be money well spent.
That value becomes money
out of your pocket spent

that's what's meant by a value decision

am I a quitter, a lackey, a lifer
How much value do I place on my dedication
to the art

value then becomes money and the purchase is made
 
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2 hit wonder said:
I'm gigging with a used kit, which was bought this year for $126. The cymbals were crap, but the hardware was fine.

I've gotten complimemts on the sound, but can't take credit because it's just as it was when bought.

But the snare I use is still 1 of my Maple Premier Signias and a Demonator pedal. I never tried the steel snare that came with the kit.
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It's exactly this sort of story that makes the whole price point discussion fascinating to me. There's nothing cooler to me than a drummer who can make an inexpensive kit sing.
 
A J said:
It's exactly this sort of story that makes the whole price point discussion fascinating to me.
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Pricing fluctuates. Finding an entire Gretsch Progressive Jazz outfit half a dozen years old in pearl with it's brass snare for under $200 was not uncommon in 1975.
So pricing is part
or wholly
a sign of
the times'
good
and
bad.

a 9 year old 1966 Gretsch Progressive Jazz -that's a pearl covered 20/12/14/ and a brass snare- in 1975 was under $200.
And It will be in service again this weekend

It was $180 in 1975
 
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