“What drum kit should I buy???” I get this question all the time from drummers who are eager to get started, but are overwhelmed by all the options.

It can be tempting to go with the absolute cheapest option you find that has 3 cymbals and 5 drums. But my assumption when making these recommendations is that you don’t want to have to upgrade a year or two into your drumming journey because you’ve “outgrown” the capabilities of your kit!

If noise isn’t an issue, and you want to get the full, satisfying experience of playing the drums, I’d recommend going with an acoustic kit. Just make sure you consider your neighbors and perhaps family members, roommates, etc. so you don’t make any enemies with your new hobby. Apart from the noise, the main downside of acoustic drums is you have to tune and maintain them, and buy new heads for them from time to time.

If you are buying a new acoustic drum kit, I would go with the Yamaha Stage Custom. It’s a few hundred dollars cheaper than other brands of similar quality. In my opinion, this is about as cheap as they come, for drumsets that you can get a polished, professional sound worthy of both performing and recording. It’s unlikely you’ll ever feel like you have to upgrade to something better!

Electronic kits are great because they are super quiet, compared to their acoustic counterparts. After assembling them, they already sound the way the manufacturer intended, so there should be no need to tune them. And they are cheaper than ever! In fact, they’ve gotten to the point where they are substantially cheaper overall than acoustic drums.

But be careful you don’t go TOO cheap. One common problem with going too cheap on electronic drums is a lack of flexibility, in terms of set up. For example, you want to be able to position all the pads exactly where you want them, to suit your physiology and also your playing style. Another is the sound response. You want to be able to create a somewhat realistic sound that includes dynamics, (loud and soft notes) and have the pads respond in a smooth and predictable way.

But the most egregious of offenses in regards to cutting costs to make a cheap electronic kit, is the bass drum pedal design. The cheapest ones only have a simple foot board with a spring and a trigger underneath, so there’s basically no action at all apart from that foot board moving up and down. It’s near impossible to play anything fast or intricate on this type of pedal design. So, at the very least, you want to have a kick pedal with a beater that swings and hits a pad when you step on it. I slapped together a handy graphic to show you just what I mean. It also happens that most electronic drum kits that have this feature have also avoided the other problems that often afflict cheap kits. But there are one or two designs that are rather silly in terms of set up flexibility (looking at you, Roland!)

My pick for best electronic drum kit, in terms of value, and being the least expensive kit you can buy and still feel happy with the quality well into your drumming journey, is the Alesis Nitro Mesh.

Thanks for reading! If you found this article helpful and would like more help getting started on the drums, please consider signing up for a free trial drum lesson. Use this link to book your free lesson now!