Buying a drum kit, advise needed

[goldringers]

My son's after a new drum kit (2nd hand) but he's unsure which to go for. He's not after anything major just a step up from the kit he got given which is a shed. I would say he's an intermediate player, quite good, he's after bass drum, 2 toms, floor tom, snare if poss plus he already owns a couple of decent cymbals he bought with stands that he's added along the way along with hi-hats.

 

We've (see how I said "we've") a budget of about £300 tops but would like to keep well within that. He has seen a couple on eBay a PDP DW for £160 immaculate and a Pearl ELX (quite a few marks) £145 both 4 piece. There's so many makes and models it's a minefield for us to wade through.

 

Any thoughts would be handy

[Jester]

If your buying s/h m8 you need to inspect the inside of the drums for splits and cracks. Always a good plan to buy something like that from somewhere local where you can give it a good lookover. Most of the drummers in the bands i played in over the years used pearl kits except for one nutcase in the last 5 piece i played in. He used a hamma ?? kit . We played country/70's while he must've thought he was playing for zz top ffs. Def the loudest kit ive ever played with.

[dopeydog]

The two lads on last nights Dragons Den were selling a good set up, not the real thing but clever all the same...

http://aerodrums.com/aerodrums-product-page/

[bob6600]

The two lads on last nights Dragons Den were selling a good set up, not the real thing but clever all the same...

http://aerodrums.com/aerodrums-product-page/

 

I was just going to post this, was impressive but why the dorks didn't take up the offer I'll never know

[goldringers]

Thanks for the replies, we both spent a couple of hours browsing and reading last night tonnes of forums, reviews etc and now he's leaning more to a Gretch kit and the look and the maple finish but I was always under the impression when I were a lad in bands that Gretch were more of a rock n roll/ jazz type kit. You can't really tell via youtube due to good and bad mic'ing up what the kit actually sounds like. He also loved the sound of a Mapex meridian which sounded very nice. The problem is, the more you read the more you get wrapped up in the finer technical info and you can get led astray.

 

We looked at the Pearl kits but when you search lots of the 2nd hand kits are donkeys years old some up to 30 years old !. The newer 2nd hand ones in his range don't review very well , there designed mainly for starters were as my lads looking for an intermediate kit. I think he's gotta save a few more quid up and bide his time but how can you tell a 19 year old lad to "wait" ? doesn't happen.

[goldringers]

Well after after alot of searching we bagged a Gretsch Maple cherry red , 3 years old, immaculate condition, 6 piece , Bass, snare 2 hi toms 2 floor toms, gibraltar stool and upgraded bass drum pedal and hi hat pedal. 2 symbal stands and Pearl soft cases and accessory case for £375. The guys really looked after it he said its immaculate and only lightly used , he's an older middle age fella and us mature men (yep thats me) we tend to look after our new stuff far better than the yoof of today. Anyway my lads over the moon and the Gretsch Maple are a lovely sounding kit and the cheery colour really sets it off. Not too far away for collection 3/4 hr's drive.