my friend is getting great use out of a shitty CB set. Get a used beater kit, and get an interesting sound from it. 600 pounds (which is what, 800 american?) can get you more in the way of good studio stuff than it can a worthwhile kit. If you must have a good drum set, premier, yamaha and mapex make the best intermediate kits imho

Originally posted by BattleAngel:
600 pounds (which is what, 800 american?) can get you more in the way of good studio stuff than it can a worthwhile kit.

Maybe. But I have to do everything, so if I want real drums on my recordings I've got to buy them and play them myself.

I guess your being in the UK? I'd try some Premier birch drums. The 100% birch ones. Little eq and if you tension the heads right, an incredible sound. I've played a set and I like them alot! 10", 12", 14" toms, 20" bass drum, perhaps. 5" snare should be a good all around set up. You can do jazz, rock, funk or anything in between. In the states, the drums go for around $800 for a shell kit, as they call them. You could go with maple drums, too. But, I figure with the less problem of eq and the sound, the birch would be my choice.
alrich

Ha! I don't just live in the U.K. I live about five miles from the Premier factory in Wigston! :) I guess $800 is about £600. I'll see if AoS have a set. If not I can probably buy them direct.

You can usually find a great deal in the news paper. Classified's! I picked up a Pearl set for $300.00 US. Awsome sound. I had a Preimer set loved it. I use D.W. Now, A bit more $

Hey captaininvisible, I wsih I lived close to a drum manufactuer, I'd find out where the dumpster is and check to see if they were throwing any good stuff away. I guess that's what they do if there is a mistake that doesn't meet inspection such as an imperfection in the wood grain on a shell or coloring, or they are in the process of developing a new line.

Hey all! First, I have to admit that I'm not a drummer. My question is this: Does that $300 or $600 cover the kit and all the stands/cymbals/pedals/etc, or is that just the cost of the drums themselves? If not, then that's another consideration. You may pay $600 for a kit only to find that you have to spend another $600 just to have all the clamps and stands that you need to play it.
As a guitar player, that's like buying a great guitar for $600 only to find out later that I need an amp, a strap, picks, etc.

Jason

On a really limited budget like that, I'd figure to forget about really specific recommendations (ie. 'beech/bubinga alternating plys with low mass hardware and satin finish is the bOmb dude') and shoot for the best deal you can get for a solid used kit. Of primary importance is to get a drummer chum with some wits help you find the stuff. What the drummer's gonna recognize is that for example, underneath all that dust and pop can spill, there's a Peal Export or Tama Rock (or even Swing)Star or Yami Power V kit that's got durable, functional hardware, a decent pedal and all of its bottom head mounting hardware. Unwittingly, one might just figure it's a dirty old drumset.

You'd be hard pressed to find a kit with more potential than something like this. For a few hundred bucks, one of these used kits is gonna provide solid hardware and playable drums, which is where you want to start. The budget's still got quite a bit left over for the 'fixup' part of the scheme.
-new skins for the tops of snare and toms, and the kick batter (Remo and Evans offer really affordable 'head packs' that're perfect for this).
That's going to make the biggest difference overall. Replacing the bottom skins (particularly on the snare) is a huge improvement too, if finance allows...
-chances are good the cymbals'll be mostly crap, but since you sTILL have some cash left, determine where the biggest improvement can happen. Cheap crash cymbals always sound lousy, but the lower line hihats and rides are often quite useable. Between whatever comes with the kit and $150 or so in additions, y'oughta have a decent start. Cymbals are always an ongoing 'aquisition' project...
-You've prObably even got a bit left to pick up the little detail things, like new felt washers for the cymbal stands (and the tubing that protects cymbal from stand threads!), a new set of snare wires and a reversible beater for the bass pedal (a plastic/felt combo yields invaluable variety).

Once you've got a functional kit like this up and running, it'll just be a matter of upgrading when you need to. Cymbals, the snare drum and bass pedal are where you'll look for improvement first, and if you keep an eye on the used gear market you'll be delighted with the pro pieces that turn up cheap. Chances are good you'll still be quite satisfied with the performance of those cheap toms and kick (outfitted with good skins top and bottom) years after you've advanced to a full variety of pro cymbals and snares. At that point... hopefully you've made enough bread recording drums to warrant the beech/bubinga boutique kit!!

alba359 had a good suggestion. Many years ago I worked for about a month at Fibes (does anyone remember them?). Everyone would throw stuff in the dumster and come back after hours to retrieve it. I used to have to inspect the fiberglass shells for scratches and we'd throw away a good number of perfectly good but cosmetically damaged shells. It would be worth a short drive if you're really on a budget.