Buying a drum kit for my young son, advice please.

Master Skooter

Master Skooter

Master Skooter

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
3,464
Location
Somerset
My son has been learning to play the drums at school for the last year or so and has asked for a drum kit on his 7th birthday next month.

I haven't a clue what I should be looking for or where I should buy from, so am hoping that you lovely people can point me in the right direction.

How much should we be looking to spend? Obviously don't want to spend a fortune in case he gives it all up, but don't want to buy somethnig that falls apart after a few uses!

Thanks in advance.
 
Toughie! Obviously there's the cheaper kits in the market but for a new kit I'd suggest something like a Mapex M Birch for starters, probably around the £500 mark new.

I think the best bet for this kind of buy is gunning down a second hand Pearl Export or Mapex M for the £250-£400 range, as hopefully it would then come with cymbals and hardware, which quickly add up for a drum kit. Look for any of the big names (Pearl, Mapex, Tama, Yamaha, Gretsch, Sonor etc) and you can't go wrong.

Something like the one on eBay here - comes with hardcases etc so it's all there. Cymbals will inevitably be rubbish (Sabian Solar, Pearl Cymbals etc are cheapo) but then again I don't think your son will have the demand for professional cymbals until he gets a bit more into drumming. (cymbals get quite expensive - the ones I have run you back about £150+ per cymbal!)
 
Somehow I think a Pearl Export kit maybe a bit much for a seven year old. :p I'd recommend looking at something like a CB drumkit. They're not particularly good, but for someone of the age (and possibly skill level) of your son, I think it would be more than adequate.

I'd be looking at complete kits for ~£200, don't be looking at paying anything more than £250-£300 though.
 
this is a tough one.

a Pearl or Mapex (as per Dave's post) will fetch a higher resale value IF he doesnt keep at it.

I did play a Mapex M kit when picking out a snare drum last time I went shopping. I was very suprised at the sound. it was very good (tuning is everything on a kit)

but a cheaper CB drumkit altough comparable to fisher price could be a better starting point.

AND...a full size kit fro a 7 year old...not so sure. but like 7 year olds clothes, a smaller kit will get grown out of quickly and 11th birthday will be requests for a full size kit :)

i would aggree with the sncond hand but better kit, or cheaper kit and play it by ear.
 
My daughter was 10 when we were going to pay around £250 for a kit.
I was round my brother in laws house one day when I heard him playing the intro to When The Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin and was quite impressed.
I was even more impressed when he walked into the living room and it was actually my daughter playing it.
The cost shot up to £600 and we got her a second hand Yamaha Stage Custom.
 
Dave said:
Have you seen the way they are put together? You may as well stretch a bit of paper over some jam jars and gaffa tape them up!

Hmm . . . I have an idea :p
Click to expand...

Naffa is right a CB kit would be the best bit for a learner, i learnt on one, and it hadn't effect my learning in anyway....14 years down the line we move to bigger and better kits, id be looking in the region of 300-400, go to a decent music shop sometimes they have second-hand (don't jump to conclusions just yet) kits that have been refurbished with all new hardware, re skinned etc might be the best bet in picking up a nice first kit.

Dont jump in the deep end your son might not carry on this learning, it happens and then you have wasted money, as drum kits don't really increase in value unless its a special limited edition or signature kit not longer in production.

Also your son has asked for one, its a very personal thing, take your son with you if going to shops and get him to sit behind certain cheaper kits you'll be amazed at what difference each has, and what feel it has, he might prefer some kits to others, in terms of feel. I know he's no where near pro standard yet but its still a very personal choice.

-Neoni

EDIT:

also like dave says your son won't tell the difference betwen sounds on cymbals not in terms of response, and certain qualitys, so dont buy anything expensive, as dave says it can become serious, so start basic, and unlucky for you if it does become serious, its gonna cost you thousands, decent cymbals alone as dave says rack up to 160+ each cymbal, a Gretsch kit i priced up today has come to 4200+ alone just for the drums, no hardware or cymbals, or even snare for that matter! serious money is drumming, why didnt we choose a guitar!
 
Last edited:
I aggree with Neoni. CB drums are not made of paper and string. they are actually not badly constructed. it is a kit a child will grow out of...but at 7 years old....your choice.

one other thing I will add.

I have been playing drums for years. the first part of my playing career I didnt use any kind of ear protection.

Now I wear it every gig and practice session. But its too late for me. I have tinnitus (one ear worse than the other, very annoying) and I am sure when I get old my hearing will fail altogether.

Please please buy some suitable ear protection for the child. it will save their hearing.
 
lozza23_uk said:
Please please buy some suitable ear protection for the child. it will save their hearing.
Click to expand...

Cannot emphasise this nearly enough - I only started wearing ear protection at 16 (played since 6) and I also have tinninitis - when I lie in bed at night I can just hear constant ringing, gets really annoying! Easy to prevent though with the right measures :)
 
Dave said:
Cannot emphasise this nearly enough - I only started wearing ear protection at 16 (played since 6) and I also have tinninitis - when I lie in bed at night I can just hear constant ringing, gets really annoying! Easy to prevent though with the right measures :)
Click to expand...

Been playing for 14 years and i have never worn plugs, i dont have tinnitus weak ears chaps, weak ears.
 
Neoni said:
Been playing for 14 years and i have never worn plugs, i dont have tinnitus weak ears chaps, weak ears.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic here, but I'll assume you're not.

You may not have tinnitus, but I guarantee you've got noise induced hearing loss in one form or another though.

Having just carried out a 18 month noise survey in the music department at the university where I work (because of the new HSE regs which now include entertainment industries such as music etc) it's pretty obvious that out of all the instruments I've sampled that the drums are the worst. It's not uncommon to find a drummer kicking out about 100-105db when measured at 1m with peak levels hitting 130dB or more.

To put this into perspective, because the dB scale isn't linear, for every 3dB you go up, the intensity of the sound doubles - and as such, the time you spend being exposed to that noise should be halved, else you risk hearing loss.

The HSE regs are time weighted against a typical 8 hour working day. The second (important) action level is 85dB.

85dB - 8 hours
88dB - 4 hours
91dB - 2 hours
94dB - 1 hour
97dB - 30 mins
100dB - 15 mins
103dB - 7.5 mins

And so on...

There is a serious culture issue in the music industry which *is* leading to premature hearing loss. Even orchestras are having to evaluate their positioning and even the pieces that they play now, because the levels a decent brass section can kick out are deafening the flutists at the front of the pit!

So - 14 years of drumming with no protection will have taken it's toll on your ears. The damage is often initially not perceptable without a proper audialogy test since the damage tends to effect the higher frequencies the ear percieves first.

...and we've not even covered transient damage (the most damaging sort of noise for the ear) and guess what kind of noise a drum kit is mostly made up of...

Even a 6 quid pair of washable flat response plugs are better than nothing, the best choice being a set of custom moulded plugs, but they cost about 120 quid for a proper pair. Expensive, but I don't think you can put a price on your ears, since they don't ever heal up or repair themselves. It's a bit like looking at the sun all day and then saying 'Blind spot? Nah, you've got weak eyes mate' heheh! :D
 
Lowe said:
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic here, but I'll assume you're not.

You may not have tinnitus, but I guarantee you've got noise induced hearing loss in one form or another though.

Having just carried out a 18 month noise survey in the music department at the university where I work (because of the new HSE regs which now include entertainment industries such as music etc) it's pretty obvious that out of all the instruments I've sampled that the drums are the worst. It's not uncommon to find a drummer kicking out about 100-105db when measured at 1m with peak levels hitting 130dB or more.

To put this into perspective, because the dB scale isn't linear, for every 3dB you go up, the intensity of the sound doubles - and as such, the time you spend being exposed to that noise should be halved, else you risk hearing loss.

The HSE regs are time weighted against a typical 8 hour working day. The second (important) action level is 85dB.

85dB - 8 hours
88dB - 4 hours
91dB - 2 hours
94dB - 1 hour
97dB - 30 mins
100dB - 15 mins
103dB - 7.5 mins

And so on...

There is a serious culture issue in the music industry which *is* leading to premature hearing loss. Even orchestras are having to evaluate their positioning and even the pieces that they play now, because the levels a decent brass section can kick out are deafening the flutists at the front of the pit!

So - 14 years of drumming with no protection will have taken it's toll on your ears. The damage is often initially not perceptable without a proper audialogy test since the damage tends to effect the higher frequencies the ear percieves first.

...and we've not even covered transient damage (the most damaging sort of noise for the ear) and guess what kind of noise a drum kit is mostly made up of...

Even a 6 quid pair of washable flat response plugs are better than nothing, the best choice being a set of custom moulded plugs, but they cost about 120 quid for a proper pair. Expensive, but I don't think you can put a price on your ears, since they don't ever heal up or repair themselves. It's a bit like looking at the sun all day and then saying 'Blind spot? Nah, you've got weak eyes mate' heheh! :D
Click to expand...

i dont have any form of hearing loss im glad to say ive been for recent hearing checks, they tell me all is ABOVE perfect hearing, and that my ears havent sustained any form of damage whatsoever.
 
Neoni said:
i dont have any form of hearing loss im glad to say ive been for recent hearing checks, they tell me all is ABOVE perfect hearing, and that my ears havent sustained any form of damage whatsoever.
Click to expand...

lucky you.

A 7 year old needs hearing protection, and you should be condoning this!!!!
 
How do you manage that then? Even if I don't wear ear protection whilst tuning up my snare drum I get ringing and buzzing in my ears. (my snare drum is very loud - I assume yours is too! Mine is a 14"x6.5" Pearl MMX)
 
Dave said:
How do you manage that then? Even if I don't wear ear protection whilst tuning up my snare drum I get ringing and buzzing in my ears. (my snare drum is very loud - I assume yours is too! Mine is a 14"x6.5" Pearl MMX)
Click to expand...

im playing a tama warlord 14" x 6" and its deafening, im not entirely sure to be honest with you i went to the doctors because i said i was concerned they sent me off, i did a whole lot of audio tests etc, they said im perfectly fine....you tell me lol! maybe i should start wearing to protect just incase one day they go pop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom