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Hello sir..this is Rohit from India..I am a worship drummer..Sir I am now playing in a yamaha rydeen drum kit..But I couldnt afford to buy a nice pack of cymbals sir...If you wish can you help me for buying a pack of cymbals?Please do consider my request sir it would be so nice of you to help me out🙏🙏
Shells if they're cheap eventually gotta go, but a real snare (cough cough Ludwig Supraphonic) will unlock more potential in your musical voice after the right cymbals. Never ever skip a case, so you can take it to jams where there's a house kit and you'd be surprised how serious the room gets when you switch the old one out. The snare is the one sound the ear needs to make a "beat"...an oak bass drum will get the people banging, and a Zildjian 22" will get em swinging but some quarter notes on a real snare baby they will march in line.
Hardware does have a bit of influence in sound but not as much as those other two. Having good Hardware is great for larger endurance of the kit though.
I'm with you TJ. I'm 72 years old. I've had many good quality, expensive kits over the years. About 7-8 years ago I bought a set of STAGG (never heard of them before) drums, small sizes 10-12-14 toms 20 bass 5x14 snare. for $349.00 new (with cymbals, pedals and stands) By time I gave up playing 3 years ago all I used was my STAGG kit. Small venues it was great, larger venues when miking was involved they sounded great. I did spend time "tweeking" the drums with various techniques. They sounded great and drummers often asked me "What brand is that, how much did they set you back, how do such small sized drums sound so good?" My answer always was "You can make any drum sound good with some time, patience and experimentation". With all that said I do believe that the smaller sized more expensive kit in this video sounded much better then the bigger cheaper kit. What I would love to do is put my smaller cheaper STAGG kit against his expensive Gretch kit and prove that it really has very little to do with the shells, type of wood even perfect roundness. The amount of lugs per drum means alot and your tensioning to compensate for inferior beveled edges or rims is a must. The item that I found most useful for a bass drum was the cottony fill out of some pillows. The kind of white fluffy stuff used under Christmas trees is what I'm talking about. If you have a vent hole in your BD head its easy to add more or remove some depending of the sound or volume you are trying to accomplish. I no longer own any "expensive" kits. Sold them all and got next to nothing for them. However I kept the "Cheap" kit just incase anyone needs a old drummer. Don't get me started on cymbals. lol
I’m gonna go on and on with this, because I’ve had tons of drum sets. Cheap drum sets don’t mill a sharp bearing edge for the head to sit on. Until the author of this video does that, there is no point in a comparison. It’s the equivalent of driving a car with only having rims, versus having rims and tires. I promise you it would be difficult to hear the difference between the two; if the bearing edges of both drums were milled the same way. They might have a slightly different tone, but not so night and day. Trust me I’ve owned tons of drum sets in my life, and that is the common denominator that I figured out without this video. I have yet to pay someone to mill decent edges on a cheap drum set. Partly because I already have expensive ones, so why would I want to do that? It would make an amazing video though. Imagine you could buy a CB 700, pay someone $150 to mill the edges of that drum set… And have the equivalent tone of a $2000 drum set? That is what I want to know, because it would be amazing!
@@analogstyle I've experimented with many "Cheap" drum shells over the past 50+ years. I have found that the easiest and cheapest way to change the tone of a drum is by changing the hardness or soften the inside shell. I've coated shells with shellac, polyurethane, even auto undercoating (it was a black colored kit). If you are looking for higher tone looking for more volume or projection brush or spray clear shellac. A few coats will make a cheap plywood shell hard as rock maple. Undercoating or any rubberbased coating will get you the lower muddy tones. Then you need to put on heads comparable to the sound you are looking to obtain. I never was much of a believer in the angle of the beveled edge meaning anything much. When tensioning the drum make sure the head is seated on what ever edge you have to work with evenly, paying attention to how the hoop might be warped from years of abuse is setting. Any drum, based on its physical dimensions can be made to sound the way your ear wants to hear it (within reason) it just might take you more time then money to accomplish it. In fact I had a CB-700 set (back in the 70's) Black in color that I coated with the undercoating because I was not going to use bottom heads and was looking to get a more rounded, deeper, mellower, less overtones sound. It worked for me then with the music we were playing. Its all relative.
I get it, however if the head has surface gaps, you are starting at a deficit. Contemplated my own drum company at one time, led to school for product and industrial design. From my experience, the worst sounding drums I have owned, had gaps in them on a granite block. You can’t tune a drum head well if it’s not seated correctly. If you have that, even on a cheap drum set… there will be less of a need to modify it. My only point to any of this argument... I want to see The author of this video, have the bearing edges milled. Whether it’s a sharp point or whatever, as long as it’s completely flat and planular... I really feel like this video will be different.
@@analogstyle I can't disagree with anything you mentioned. Perfection in most everything is usually better. However I was looking at this post/video as to what can be done to a drum to satisfy those with a champagne taste on a beer budget. Lol. It's always been an interesting subject to me.
Any standard kit from the famous brands ( Tama, Mapex, Yamaha, Sonor ... ) sounds good to my ears if it's tuned well, has good heads and of course played by a good drummer. Specially these days drum manufacturing technology is great so even 400-500$ kits are totally recordable and gigable. Some of them have really nice finishes too. I really don't see why would someone buy drum shells that cost like a thousand dollars or more. Unless they like the exotic finishes and they feel like they've earned a premium instrument and budget is not so limited for them... Other than that there's no reason. Save money for cymbals people.
I aggressively agree with what you wrote. Going from a beginner kit to the mid level is certainly worth the investment, but there are diminishing returns. But the engineering on stuff these days is something else.
Not entirely true. I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on drum sets. I’ve always found the cheaper drum sets sound dead. The only benefit… Actually a lot easier to tune them, they can’t produce a note because they lack resonance. However, I will keep going when I say this… The author of this video needs to take a cheap drum set, and pay someone to re-edge the shells. Then you will have a head that can resonate. I really feel like that’s the biggest difference between a cheap set and a good one. You can go down the rabbit hole all you want with shell thickness, heads and material type. At the end of the day, if the drum doesn’t have a good bearing edge for the head to seat on, it’s not going to be a good drum. At that point you are trying to manipulate something that isn’t possible. Which is why they sell so many drum rings, moon goo and duct tape.
You guys are all kind of correct but replacing my Pearl Forum with my Ludwig Signet (spent more on 4 pieces) was just as satisfying as replacing my Sabian B8 ride for a Zildjian Armand.....nothing was ever as satisfying though as ditching that forum snare ten years ago still as an intermediate drummer for a SUPRAPHONIC...... THAT'S when cats would comment on how "nice" my set was....and after I covered the Pearl logo on the bass drum skins (yeah I had 2 bass drums....still sucked compared to my single now and love KEITH MOON)
I’m sorry, but it makes absolutely no sense to do a comparison like this where the drum sizes are completely different from one another. Nice idea though at least
sharper2112 Not necessarily true. The biggest factor between a cheap drum set and a good one, is the bearing edge in which the head seats. Resonance is resonance, it doesn’t matter what size the drum is. My DW drum set has a razor sharp bearing edge, the crappy sets I had growing up have a rolled edge. I’m anxious to see if the author of this video, will take my advice and have the bearing edges milled on a cheap drum set. Trying the experiment again. I promise you it will be very difficult to tell the difference at that point. Assuming the material of the cheap drum set can handle the milling.
For live purpose I choose my Pearl Export (90’s) above my Pearl MMX Masters. In the studio it is turn around. It all depends on application, tuning and how you treat them. Every kit can sound awesome with proper care.
I have been playing drums for 30 years. My first and only kit is a 1982 Tama Swingstar. It has a great sound even though it's an entry-level kit. I am playing a really beat-up Westbury kit right now - truly budget. I have played a high-end kit and they sound full, deep and .... I'm not really into that sound. I personally think, if you are a solid drummer, you can make anything sound great - even playing the bottom of a garbage can. Thanks for this comparison video. In your video, I actually preferred the vintage kick.
I agree A.J. Over my career, I have concentrated on good cymbal sound. My tutor ( In 1957 ) was a cymbal nut and he found me my wonderful 20" Zyljian crash ride admired by many which caused me a lifetime headache of searching for complimentary sounds. -- 16" ziljian thin crash / 18" Paiste ride ( used with a chain sizzle for club sessions )/ 14" Zyljian New Beat Hi Hats / and a 100 year old 10" Zyljian Splash. plus two years ago, my latest and long awaited aquisition -- a fantastic Instanbul Mehmet 16" 'session' which compliments the others . I also have 14" Paiste hi hats used for quiet club sessions.
I suspect much of the differences are due to the variations in heads, shell size and tuning. Please get a drum or skin manufacturer to sponsor you so you can do it again with identical skins and drum sizes ;)
The skins don't sound exactly the same, you can hear the difference between them under equal circumstances, but clear skins are all virtually the same. Most of the difference between these drums in the video is because of the difference in manufacturing quality.
It’s not the skins man, it’s the bearing edge of the drum. He needs to pay someone to mill good edges on a cheap drum set. Then, yes, put identical heads on. It doesn’t matter what size the drums are, they could be an inch or two different. It’s the resonance that I can here in this video. Cheap drum sets sounds like crap because the edges are muffling the head. Throw one of them down on a granite block some time with a feeler gauge. Yes, I’ve done that. I’m hoping to blow through a few of these comments so that the author of this video will try the next experiment, milling new edges on a cheap drum set. Something I would love to hear! After spending tens of thousands of dollars on drums, it be nice to know that I could buy a cheap ass kit and pay someone to mill the heads, for good results. Not to say I wouldn’t get rid of my expensive kits, but it would be something that you could leave at your girlfriends place. Not having that awkward break up moment where you have to pack your drums back up and leave. Lmao!
Good comparison. My feeling is that the beginner/intermediate drummers who would usually gravitate to the "cheaper" price range kits, can follow your instructions, put on good quality heads, tune them up, and get a pretty good sounding kit for their money spent. At that level, they just want to be able to tune their drums consistent with the type of music they are learning to play. Your videos show them that they don't need to spend the big bucks to be able to do that. Great job!
The thing with cheap or beginner drumkits is that they're mostly sold as complete kits with hardware and sometimes even cymbals. In most cases the shells are just fine (not pro level but fine). The low overall price is then explained by crappy heads, hardware and cymbals. If you bought a beginners kid back when you started, just change these (yeah that will cost more than the original full set) and maybe get a new snare, as these sometimes lack build quality.
I was considering subscribing, and the fact that you matched up the recordings to keep the groove going made me do it. Thanks for the video, always great to see someone’s tuning and mic techniques. Great sound from the cheap kit.
Thank you for the information. This confirms many things that I have suspected. I have owned a Maxwin 5 piece by Pearl (in high school), a Yamaha DTXtremeIII electronic kit, and I currently own a PDP 8 piece double-drive. I have loved each of these kits and had a lot of fun, but I do look forward to the day when I can buy a professional-level kit. This was useful information.
Interesting take and I get it mostly, good heads with good tuning can make a difference, I have had 4 personal kits over the years, and played on countless others, started on 1965 Sonor 3 piece, 2 years later I got a Ludwig blue Vistalite kit, yes it was the late 70's, years later I got my pride and joy, a very high end Sonor kit, now I am in a used Mapex kit, with the exception of my 70's vintage Zidljian 22 inch ride it sounds virtually the same. Granted you lose some tone with the quality of any shells, but when good heads and proper tuning you can make it work! Just my thoughts and as always thanks for the video!!
I'm a Ludwig Classic Maple guy, prefer them over any other! but my second choice is Gretsch in which I like the Brooklyn, Renown and USA customs equally. Nice kit brother, enjoy!
Having played drums in many genre bands Big Swing Band / Pop & Rock to Country & Jazz , Scottish - since the 1950s ( I currently own a 1980s Premier Resonator kit with a 1976 Royal Ace brass shell snare which I have never been able to better ) . I am now approaching age 80 and still playing until the Virus stopped me.. I have tried other makes and come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter make of kit you play, expensive or cheap , the audience won't know the difference. Put some good heads on -- tune them well - play your best and no one cares. Learn to TUNE your drums for the style of music you are playing and everybody is happy.
The Gretsch sounds better tuned high, probably because it’s a jazz kit! The fact that the kits are different sizes and the heads are different will make a difference.🤔
Tuning is all about pitch. It has nothing to do with resonance or tone. The cheap drum set doesn’t have resonance or tone, it needs to have the bearing edges milled so that the heads of the drum can be seated properly. Cheap drum sets have flat and/or irregular edges, which is the biggest difference between the two. Trust me on this man. If you don’t believe me, throw a cheap drum set on a granite block. There are usually big gaps, because they don’t take the time to mill them correctly. Hence the reason why they’re cheap. I am egging the author of this video on, to have a cheap drum set milled. Then do the test again. Results will be astounding I promise you!
If you listen to the initial hit, they are very similar. The tail of the sound is different because of the shell sizes and the different quality of the shells).
IMHO the sound of one vs the other depends on several factors - the quality of the materials and construction, the heads, how well they are tuned, the skill of the drummer and the preference of the person listening. I have a Mapex Armory kit as my "expensive" kit (I live in Costa Rica, so by the time it got here it was well over $1,000) and a Mapex Prodigy kit as my "cheap" traveling kit. I have Remos on both, and a good set of cymbals I use interchangeably. I really like the sound of both kits. My wife actually prefers the sound of the Prodigy over the Armory.
Well, I like the cheap drums because they do have a nice sounds (depends what heads you`re using). My drums are cheap (WJM Percussions) and I usre REMO clear pin-stripes on my toms and my bass drum my snare drum (piccolo) I use coated pin-stripes. And my 2nd drums (First Act)that bass is a 18" I also use REMO clear pin-stripes on my toms but on that 18" bass drum I use REMO clear emporor my snare (13" piccolo) I use REMO coated dot powestroke 3
There's definitely a difference but which one is BETTER is totally objective and to my ears I personally don't have a preference over either of them, both very solid kits.
Ive been told by sound engineers and front house mixers that if any drumkit is tuned well and miced up and played well you wont hear the difference if its 400 dollars or 4000. Although you cannot really compare because of the difference in size it all comes down mostly to good heads, good tuning and good sounding cymbals
I've stopped watching this video, when I saw that you are comparing these sets with completely different heads. EQ2s have muffling ring which make drums sound completely different, then they will sound with regular clear heads on...
Hey Stephen, great job on this video! And btw, my awesome wife bought me a gretsch kit for Christmas so I have something similar. I have a catalina club jazz with mahogany shells and I love it. I wanted a 20”, and since finding one with the color I wanted(yeah I know lol) was such a pain I just gave the 18x14 mahogany kick a try and this is the best sounding 18” I’ve ever heard. I hope you love your new gretsch as well! Soon as covid19 is gone it will be time to get our gretsch grooves going around our towns eh? Peace bro.
I agree with your assessment on smaller diameter drums. I recently became an owner of the same exact sized drums but they’re DW. Either way, much more playability and versatility!
I’ve had both, and I usually find that the bearing edge of the cheap drums is very flat. That chokes the resonance pretty bad. You should have the bearing edges milled on a cheap drum set and try it again.
A great comparison would be hearing the settings of those boths drumsets that u would use in a bar gig... I mean the best tunning and setting to take a band with
Regarding the Pearl Soundcheck, the expensive kit is some steps above while the cheap one is several steps below. (totally subjective perception, of course)
I want the same test in a performance situation with other instruments, live and in studio. It’s easy to say they at least sound different in an A/B comparison, but how about out of the vacuum and into a real situation
I know this sounds funny but the music school I teach has an old PDP beginners kit I tuned. Its sounds amazing. I am trying to get my Pearl MLX(same drum kit my drum idol Jeff Porcaro used) to sound the same. Idk what I am doing wrong. I tuned that PDP kit. I remember putting the drum heads on myself.
The kick and the toms work fine for the cheap one, with good head and tuning, maybe a little muffling and it will be great. Though I´d change the snare to a better one.
Wow, you and I have very different opinions. (This isn't good or bad, right or wrong, just different.) I've never had a problem getting the sound I'm looking for from the less expensive drums although it can take a lot of time and effort to get a good sound from the less expensive kits. Time is important. The problem I've experienced with the less expensive kits is getting them to stay tuned. No different than with getting an inexpensive guitar to stay tuned. I also wonder what you could have achieved with spending some time and attention on the bearing edges? No offense but I think your expensive floor tom could use some work here also. I hear a conflicting ring happening that aren't about overtones.
The pricier one sounds FAR superior here. I will, however, say that price doesn’t really equal sonic quality...I think we all know that. I’ve been playing the same old, red Catalina maple shells professionally for years (mostly because I don’t wanna drag expensive shells across New England in all manner of weather) and they sound GREAT...very reminiscent of the higher end kit here. My money goes elsewhere. Cheap cymbals are almost never good and cheap hardware will almost always break. So I play the nicest k’s I could find and have been using the same eliminator for over a decade. You need to spend a certain amount of money in order to sound good on a professional level. But shells are the easiest problem to solve nowadays. Manufacturing has become good enough that you can play a $700 shell pack and rock it.
I use remo emperor batter heads and remo ambassador as resonant heads on my cheap fender starcaster shells, and together they sound great tuned with a drumdial.
You compare two semi acoustic sets. The difference is noticeable, but would have been more obvious if you would have compared it with a real acoustic set. When miking close at the head, you already alter the sound. Stage drums are built to sound good miked, not so much acoustically. Even when single drums sound ok, they usually are not composed to sound good as an ensemble, all drums usually need Post procession - if only proximity effect and adjusting volume levels. This is the dilemma the drum industry has, they have turned drums into a semi acoustic instrument where besides drum heads the sound is driven by mikes and post procession. Now if drums would be build to sound great acoustically, so that miking becomes optional, and not a necessity to make them sound „less loud“, people would spend more on drums, as they do for all other real acoustic instruments. And before you revolt, rock music is not an acoustic music to start with. Ask any classical musician what he payed for the instrument he plays concerts with, and you will be puzzled how much an instrument can cost. Sure, cheaper instruments might as well sound okay, but with drums, at the moment the price has dropped so dramatically that one store after the other closes down. People are okay with cheap, sound happens in the mix, right? Nah. If you ever want to compare a drum kit with a real acoustic one, the differences would be more audible for sure. Conditions: use room mike only! Everything closer than 20cm is cheating. Contact me when interested. I let you receive a kit.
By the way, comparing a 400$ set and a 1500$ set might literally be the very same set. Drums can in China be built for about 60$ a kit, they get dirt cheap when you build many of them. so the price difference between most kits is rather marketing than actually anything else. As if you would hear a noticeable difference between toms with 5 lugs and toms with 12 lugs... The wood is the cheapest part of the drums, a shell cost less than 10$, and if it bis maple or “cheap” bass wood or such is maybe a dollar difference per shell. So what makes a drum set actually expensive? With the same wood you can make a mediocre and a great instrument, the difference is the quality of craftsmanship put into it to make it sound. But comparing drums below 2000$ means comparing drums from same origin, both sets most likely were made by the same hands. Drums made in USA or Germany would start above 2000$. Question should be if a drum set made in, say, China for 500$ sound any different than a hand made instrument by an actual experienced drum maker.
As with all modern electronic music -- the sound you hear is only as good as the sound engineer who knows nothing about resonance , it's the mics and the speakers. I went to a concert recently and the snare drum ( Drum workshop ) sounded like a woodblock.
I think the main difference between a $2000 kit and a $6000 kit is that the more expensive kit will be HAND MADE with more "exotic" woods and will have more expensive hardware like die cast or wooden hoops and lugs that aren't made in China out of pot metal.
I agree, but to my ears of the drums I've heard in those price brackets I personally didn't think the more expensive ones sounded 3 times better, especially when you have a band playing over the top of them......but then that could just be my ears.
You play what you can afford. First, you can get an amazing kit for $400. Buy some beat up looking vintage 70s Slingerlands and you are good to go. Second, you get maple shells fir $400 through PDP. Lastly, maple shells are maple shells. Birch shells are birch shells. The difference between a $500 kit and $5k kit is mainly how long it stays in tune. Cheap hardware is no biggie if you dont mind retuning.
helemaal nicks Yamaha is the only company making a birch kit for under $1000 after PDP discontinued theirs. Many companies have similar lineups (an entry level poplar kit, a midrange maple kit and a few high end kits that are either pure maple or a mix of maple and other woods) but with their own variations and additions.
@@helemaalnicks6215 I remember when I thought that.. most of them don't even sell the same features across high, intermediate, OR low end sets. You have different woods, metals, and finishes. You have lug style....drum sizing/number of plies....included or excluded snare drums...varying seam, ply, wrapping, hardware construction... varying bearing edges..US or Asian made...no brand covers all of that you might want in whatever level drum set you might want it's not even possible....I could rattle off so many examples
I'd say how good your drumset sounds is 90% dictated by the snare and cymbals. You can always make cheap toms and kicks sound good with the right heads/muffling/tuning. You really can't make a low-end snare sound good and you sure as f*** can't make low-end cymbals sound good.
@@bigredfellowIf you want a snare with a good response and crack, you need to go buy one seperately for $150-200+, bud. A stock snare on a beginner kit won't give you that. Exception being that you are going for a shitty, cheap, indie snare sound. To clarify, you can make a cheap snare sound tolerable, but it is worth investing in a nicer one; for cymbals, even more so. I'd say, invest money in better toms and kicks last because the difference in sound is minimal.
Even listening on my phone speakers that gretsch kit sounds much better. It’s much tighter and has a more focused sound. Easier to record and mix. Worth the money
My gretsch Catalina sounds amazing it was a 1500 Dollar kit. bought it off of ebay for 950 slapped new heads on them and man let me tell you. As long as you have great cymbals and no how to play then your good.
As long as you understand how tuning affects the tone and how everything (heads, lug design, hardware design, muffling, shell hardness, etc.) affects the tuning, you can make everything drum set sound decent, maybe even good. Do your homework and don’t be fooled by trends people. Also, drum tuners like TuneBot are super awesome for tone nuts!!
AlejandroDrums Tuning does not affect tone, it’s tuning. That’s like saying my Les Paul has no tone because it’s out of tune. By that theory, if I tune my guitar in drop D the tone of the guitar will suck at that point. Dude, it’s the bearing edges of the drums. Cheap drums have irregular bearing edges, and usually radiused or flat. If the head cannot resonate symmetrically, you’re not gonna get good tone or be able to tune them correctly period. I can’t believe that I am the only one on this thread that understands this. It could be because I’ve had a huge range of drum sets in my life. Anyway, I’m not picking on you as much as I am baffled about the comments on this thread. Everybody seems to think that putting good heads on a crappy drum set, is going to make the drum set magically better.
analogstyle I totally understand your example. But in drums the resonance of the drum (provided that the bearing edges are perfect as you have stated) depends on the tuning you give it. There are frequency’s that resonate better in the drum than other tunings. In these ‘sweet spots’ the drum resonates a lot more. And while it’s true that a drum needs true bearing edges if the tuning is out of whack then the whole potential of the drum is not used. In your comparison the electric guitar can be tuned to different tunings because it’s a pitched instrument. On the other hand drums are not perfectly pitched instruments rather they prefer certain frequencies better than others. That’s not to say that you can’t tune to different tunings but that still doesn’t disprove my point that tuning can influence drum tone.
I like the expensive kit except for the floor Tom. I prefer the cheap floor Tom because I can't ever dial in a 14" floor Tom dialed in low enough for me.
My opinion a nice kit does sound better, but not the thousands of dollars better they usually cost. The major difference is they’re usually easier to tune and the hardware is much much better.
Yes, a cheap drumset CAN sound decent. Also, a cheap piano can sound decent, if tuned properly. But a good Steinway Piano is MUCH! better, hands down. Same with any other musical instrument. A 100 bucks "sorts-of-concert" guitar will never sound as rich and musical as an expensive José Ramirez. I can use a 120 bucks Pearl Export snaredrum and get a "crack" of some sorts. It can however in no way compete with the crispness, articulation and dynamic range of e.g. a Starphonic Maple snaredrum. Same with shells. A cheap basswood tom will not sound as rich, vivid, musical as a highend maple/birch/Walnut/cherry... tom. You usually get more musical drums with a higher dynamic range if you invest a certain amount of money. If it would be completely irrelevant which drum you use, then why on earth are the most sought after drummers all using drumshells that cost lots of bucks? Oh yes, they are all idiots... Yes, the "gain" e.g. on a Maple Custom Hybrid compared to a Tour Custom Maple is small. However, the sound-difference between a Maple Custom Hybrid and a Rydeen is massive. So, that said: The video is definitely okay. Stop bashing him.
All this talk of resonance; and then there is me with concert toms with hydraulic heads that are all tuned with a 1 rippled area between the bottom lugs... My kit sounds like tuned cardboard boxes; and I love it. 😍 Set up: Odery Fluence - Birch and maple 4 ply - 10' 12' 14' Evans Hydraulics. Paiste PST 3 Ride & China (I like the brassy high end from these) PST 5 8' Splash PST 7 14' Thin Crash and 16' medium Crash. (Brighter and clearer than the PST 8's in my opinion) PST 8 14' heavy hi-hats (chunky yet bright sound in from fully closed to completely open)
What matters is the wood, and the thickness. Thick shells project a lot, but don't sound too good for the drummer himself. Light shells can sound very well but are not powerful. So it depends if you play in a small club or in the open. The wood is a matter of taste, maple, birch, oak, beech. If you play very loud, a good kit will make a big difference. When I play in clubs, I take a cheap kit in poplar, the less powerful is better. One last thing : Gretsch ? Never again. You can't tune properly a drum with only five lugs. That's too bad, because American custom and New classic have a sound. If you don't tune your kit on precise notes, why not.
