Talk to me about electric drum kits

[HuzzahIndeed]

We are buying our daughter a drum kit. It has to be electric and not too big. Apparently a full kit not half a kit?

I know nothing about instruments and we HAVE to buy online. Her music teacher is impossible to get hold of.

Please help! I'm even sure what we should be expecting to pay.

She's only been doing drums for a few months but has been doing percussion/steal drums for years and has always wanted to drums so although we don't need super serious/professional kit, we do need a decent one (whatever that is!).

Thanks!

How old is she?

Need to be digital rather than 'electric' if there's a difference.

Bear in mind that it will still be extremely loud even with headphones so if you have neighbours and like them then you need to warn them.

Ds's was about £600 so it's worth not rushing into the purchase and wait until you talk to the music teacher.

This is good and what we were recommended by drum teacher: Alesis nitro

It's really not loud and won't bother the neighbours when played with headphones. It's mesh so feels/plays like a real kit.

@AmbushedByCake1 she's 12 but 5'4" if that matters.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor £600?! Are they really that much? We were thinking more £200ish. We've been trying for months to speak to the music teacher.
Thanks for the tip about noise. That's handy to know as we thought they'd be silent when she had earphones in. We're semi-detached with thick walls and her room doesn't share a wall so we should be OK.

@BlossomsOnATree thank you. So is mesh best then?

I can see we were underestimating the price! 🤣 hmm birthday and Christmas presents for the next two years!

Prices might have come down, it was 5 years ago .

I’ve just googled the kit my son’s friend has but it appears to be a lot higher end than you are looking at at around £1,400!

@Comefromaway yeah, that's not happening! 🤣 Thanks for looking though.

Feeling like right cheapskates now!

We spent WAY less than some of the numbers on here! Much closer to the 200 you are hoping for.

DS is on one of the first mainly black kits from here as the own brand stuff was recommended by his brothers guitar teacher...
In the old house he played upstairs, and you could feel (more so that hear) he was playing. New house he is downstairs, and things are damped down. Although when he plugs into the electric guitar Amp rather than using g headphones, everyone knows what he's playing!!!

To be fair, he’s 18, gigs and is auditioning for conservatoire/around grade 8 standard.

We got the Alessis Nitro, it's a great set. But my son has barely touched it. So annoying!

He's done lessons at school for a year. Begged for it for Christmas and Tyne just hasn't done it at all at home. He doesn't want to do lessons this year either! That's an ongoing discussion.

My son has the Alessis Turbo Mesh kit and it was about £300 inc headphones.

Can't recall what DS has - we bought it from a selection of 3 given to us by teacher - we went for the most expensive of the 3 - was about £450 ish I think - (about 7/8 years ago) - it's now sat in house unused as teenage DS has other more pressing hobbies (!)

That's what I'm concerned about. She's 12 and although she has loved her music since stating primary school and is getting even more into it now, I know she's at an age where her interests may change over the next few years.

We're going to have to get rid of furniturte that we use to fit it in so it's not just the price consideration.

With electronic kits, mesh is great as it's more realistic and works/feels more like a real drum skin. It's usually more expensive but Alesis do cheaper /entry level mesh kits. It's really worth getting one if possible.

Drum kits are often a thing you can get second hand though - so it's worth looking on ebay, and also contact drum shops in your area, as they often have a 2nd hand department. (And this also means you can always resell it if it ends up not being used)

@BlossomsOnATree thank you.

Alesis seems to be the way to go.

We did consider second hand but have had a couple of bad experiences with second hand stuff recently and seeing as we haven't got a clue what we're looking for, we are better buying new on this occassion unless it's "reconditioned" and guarenteed etc from a proper shop.

We got the turbo mesh which is currently £234 in ‘like new’ condition on amazon

@browneyesblue thank you! Apparently she wants a different type of foot pedal though 🤨 I don't know what she means. Does it work OK for your needs?

My son’s drums teacher recommended a Thomann Millennium kit - it’s excellent. Unfortunately DS prefers to play it plugged into an amp rather than the headphones, much to our neighbours’ annoyance.

Re foot pedals, with a real kit you press the pedals to operate the hit hat cymbals the ones that open and close) and the kick (bass) drum. In an electronic kit, you don’t need the mechanical linking parts, you can just have the pedals on their own. Turbo kit just has a kick drum pedal. Nitro kit has an actual electronic kick drum attached to the pedal, which makes it more realistic to use as it has a mechanical link and actually hits something.

it might be possible to get a turbo kit and attach a nitro pedal bought separately but I’m not sure, you’d have to check with alesis or drum shop.

DD has the Alessi kit linked up thread, it really isn't loud we live in a small flat and if DDs door is shut I can't hear her.

If you are in the same room I guess the closest comparison would be hitting a hard back book with a wooden spoon handle.

I bought it for her big Christmas present, on the understanding that would be her only gift from me and she agreed as that's what she wanted. I got it from the site linked above and there was a sale in November which I'd imagine is probably a yearly event if that helps.

Thanks everyone.

My husband has literally just bought home a £40 roll out drum pad thing you put on a table. I'm now trying to explain that it really isn't the same thing and it needs to go back. He's annoyed because he thinks it's fine.

@BlossomsOnATree thank you for explaining the foot pedals. That ties in with what she was trying to explain.

@Blogdog oh yeah, forgot about an amp. Hmm. She might need to use her pocket money/bday/Christmas money for that if it is in addition. I know nothing about those either but I do know someone who does and we have a shop by us that sells them. We'll be mean parents though and it'll be headphones most of the time. Will check out that brand.

@Singleandproud I've tried to find a mailing list for them but it doesn't look like they do one but thanks for the heads up. I'll keep checking back! It will be a joint bday and Christmas gift with very little else from us. I feel bad but she's old enough to understand.

Can I ask a question about drumsticks?

Are these crap? They are obviously a novelty but I’m thinking for a fun Xmas present for a drummer in a band but he is very good and wouldn’t want to use something low quality.

amajormusic.co.uk/collections/accessories/products/firestix-drumsticks