I play the drums though it is not my main instrument. My opinion is that generally a drum is a drum. Give it a test and if it sounds good do it. Drums are also easily adjusted for things like that but it is actually easier in my thought to hit tom from high up.
This is my two and a half cents......good luck on your drum related activities anyway.

tim...

as a drummer...

Speaking as primarily a drummer (20 years behind a kit), I'd suggest you check out Tama Superstars. You can get a five piece kit from Musician's Friend for under $800 (plus tax of course). Yeah, brand loyalty is a factor. I would agree with you about staying away from Pearl. As timtu said, generally a drum is a drum, but the difference in brands is mainly the difference in hardware. I have never owned Pearls, but I have seen many drummers dealing with Pearl hardware that breaks, wingnuts that strip easily and things like that. I have Tama stands (the single braced, lightweight ones) that I got over 15 years ago, and toured and gigged with extensively. Never had a problem with them through all the rough handling of me tossing them in the hardware case after a gig (and a few too many beers). I've even kicked them over a few times at the end of sets!
The other aspect that needs mentioning is cymbals. This will set you back at least another $300-$400 for a good set (hi-hats, ride and one crash at least). Again, brand loyalty figures in big time. I personally prefer Zildjians. Never a problem. After much use a crash cymbal will begin to crack. Unavoidable. I get more life out Zildjians, and love their sound. I avoid Pastes for the most part (I do have a Paiste ride I use sometimes), since I had some crashes from them that went south and cracked after only a few months. Same with Sabians, plus I find most Sabians sound too harsh for my taste. The opposite experience was had by another touring drummer I know, who had Zildjians cracking like crazy, and swears by Sabian! Whatever brand, stay away from the "entry level" cymbals please! They don't ever sound right, and won't last. Go straight to the "good" ones and save money and heartache. For Zildjians, this means either the A series or K and K Custom series. Never tried the A customs, but I'm sure they are good as well. I would go so far as to say you should get the cymbals you want, then see how much cash is left to put into the drums. You can make cheaper drums sound good by proper tuning and selection of heads, but a cheap cymbal will always sound cheap!
Well, thats a lot of info to swallow, but I hope it helps some! ANDY

No Andy I do completely agree. Most drums come with some cheap evans heads, and once you upgrade to some remo pinstripes problem solved, but bad cymbals, are bad not to sound any better. I had a buddy with a set of Tama rockstars, before they dropped the price of the new ones, and we threw an aquarian super kick 2, and those things were a lot of fun.
Anyone else got any ideas?

rockstars good too

Yeah the Rockstars are good. Another to look into would be the Yamaha's. I've known a few drummers who were very happy with the Yamaha Stagemasters. Also look at some Mapex lines. I checked out some Pacific drums (an off-shoot of DW for lower priced stuff). They were nice sounding drums with good hardware, for around $500-$600 I think. That was their birch series. Their maple series run a bit higher.

Gretsch makes some really good drumsets. I know the "drum loyalty" kicks in a little here, but I own a Catalina Birch set that I got for $1300 with good hardware about two years ago. The stock heads, like always, needed raplacing, but after that the set felt, played, and sounded great. The heads and sound is totally up to your ears, but the birch isn't a bad way to go. If you found a used kit, this set would fall right in your budget.

Another brand that no one has mentioned is Taye. They have some quality maple and birch/basswood kits. The TourPro would definately be in your budget.

I also second the Yamaha opinion. They make some quality stuff.

If you haven't already bought a set, keep in mind that you will need to spend money on new heads and cymbals. A good rule, if you plan on spending $1,000, is to spend $600 on a good used drumset (you get more for your money), $300 on cymbals, and $100 on new heads. This is just a thought. Hope that helps.

- Matt

I played a Tama kit for about 15 years. A great kit and it did its job well. I recently decided to upgrade. I looked a Gretsch kits and Taye kits-- both of which I would highly recommend. I ended up going with a 5pc Taye Tour Pro, 24" kick. The kick on this set produces the absolute biggest kick sound I have ever heard....and it records like a dream. I have made a lot of mic and pre amp upgrades recently, but the kit made the biggest difference in my recordings by far. If you can swing it, the Taye kits are highly reccomended.

all i have to say is RMV, check em out, they are sweet, and cheap. the only reason i have mine right now is because i went into my local drum shop just to look around and get some new drum heads and i always tap on everything, and i happened to tap on this set up rmv's and i was like hey guy can i get a stick, and i played it and he brought over a pedal so i can hear the kick drum, and had the guy play it to so i could see what they sounded like from listening distance. they sounded sweet, and they were only 700 bucks brand new, for a five piece, i only play a 4 piece but what ever. and i could have opted to not get the snare for 100 dollars less. and i love them, even the snare, what i liked most though was the heads that came on them, which are made by rmv also, but the crappy thing is that they are based out of brazill and hard to get stuff in from there country cause i've been looking to get more of their head with out any luck.

check them out, they have some samples at indoorstorm.com you can hear samples

I picked up a set of Mapex Pro-M's for the studio and I'm very happy with them.

I recommend checking out some of the drum forums as well to get a feel for what drummers like and why. This helped me a lot with my selection.