TK-421
Senior Member
I'm a big proponent of getting the correct drum sizes based on the genre of music and physical stature of the drummer. If he's only playing rock, then larger drums like the Pearl and Yamaha kits you posted (or even larger sizes) would be good, IF he's tall enough to set them up and play them comfortably. Otherwise, I'd look for something with a 20" bass drum. However if he's playing jazz, I'd recommend a kit with an 18 or 20" bass drum, regardless of your son's stature. If he plays rock and jazz, kits with a 20" kick seem to work well.
But as others have said, you can make any drum sound better through heads and tuning, but there isn't much you can do to make a bad sounding cymbal sound good. So good cymbals are always a great investment. That said, the cheapest cymbals that sound at least decent to my ears are the Zildjian S family. They're kind of like "high-end budget cymbals", and they sound pretty good for the price (and this is coming from someone who only plays high-end Zildjian Ks).
I wouldn't bother with ZBTs, B8s or other low-end cymbals, because they really sound terrible and are just extraordinarily unmusical.
But as others have said, you can make any drum sound better through heads and tuning, but there isn't much you can do to make a bad sounding cymbal sound good. So good cymbals are always a great investment. That said, the cheapest cymbals that sound at least decent to my ears are the Zildjian S family. They're kind of like "high-end budget cymbals", and they sound pretty good for the price (and this is coming from someone who only plays high-end Zildjian Ks).
I wouldn't bother with ZBTs, B8s or other low-end cymbals, because they really sound terrible and are just extraordinarily unmusical.