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Thursday, July 27, 2017

Drumming gear tips for beginners

In the following paragraphs I'll be speaking about my personal advise for (poor) beginners regarding to drumming gear. If you or your son/daughter want to enter the drumming world, this may be useful.

1. At first, buy cheap and second hand
In your first steps, buy the cheapest set you can get, don't even think about buying new, go second hand.

Everyone wishes to be a drummer, but drumming isn't for everyone. The market is full of beginner sets second hand almost new from people that got them and played it for less than a month.

You really don't need more than a basic kit that sounds like crap to learn and play with your friends. Check that it has at least one cymbal besides the hi hat. Example of crappy generic brand 2º hand kit:

Photo stolen from here
This set was for sale on eBay for $143.

2. Don't upgrade your crappy drum set
Maybe you thought about adding a couple of cymbals to your set (you'd need a pair of stands too), or maybe you read that replacing the heads with quality ones you'll get a decent sound. Don't waste any money on your starter set, you will regret it. Little upgrades can cost you lots of money if put together and you'll end up with a piece of crap no matter what you do. I can't emphasize how important this is. Better save for the next point.

After practising a lot with your crappy kit (months or years) so you can play songs feeling confident then it's time for the next step.

3. Get some decent kit
At this point, you can upgrade your gear to something low-mid range (depending on your budget) that allow you to play gigs for money, record stuff or just develop your skills further. Don't buy generic brands, doesn't matter how fancy they look, trust famous ones. Second hand market is a great idea, good deals can be found. Drums and cymbals are robust instruments, they can take lots of abuse, don't be afraid of getting a 5 or 10 years old kit if rust isn't involved and the model gets good opinions.

One piece of advise, try to get rid of your old set. Maybe you can get half what you paid for it to invest later, it can be useful for other beginner and also, it won't take up space.

4. Upgrade your set to taste
Just some words here. From now on, try to get good quality upgrades that you can keep and use in future kits. For example, if buying a hi hat stand, get a strong good brand one. Don't buy disposable stuff anymore.

Hope you find this useful.

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