PROOF That You CAN Make a Cheap Drumset Sound Good.

→ Nail one-handed 16ths, open-hat barks, and left foot independence in 9 lessons. Download my FREE pdf guide, “Your 3 Biggest Hihat Problems, SOLVED” ✔︎ the-non-glamor...
How to make a cheap drum set sound good….and what NOT TO DO to a drum set. This video is really a double-lesson! #1: Here’s how you can take an old, beat-up kit and get it sounding pretty decent without even switching heads. #2: Learn from the past mistakes made on this kit. Be sure to avoid the problems that contributed to this perfectly good kit’s downfall. Today we take a neglected drum set, and we work with what we’ve got to improve its quality of sound. The truth is, it can be done. Our result may not belong on a Nashville record, but it’s certainly suitable for quick gigs, rehearsals, practicing, etc. Be sure not to stereotype YOUR cheap kit too quickly. You’d be surprised at how well our “Zebra Kit” can sound. So sit back, relax, and enjoy watching my two-and-a-half hour tuning process shortened into a nice, nine-minute video for you!
If you like what you’ve seen, I hope you’ll SUBSCRIBE! This channel is all about helping YOU become a better drummer, one week at a time, so you can impact your audience and the musicians you play with.
NEW VIDEO EVERY FRIDAY!!

[@sccdrum93]

Conquer one-handed hihat 16ths at 80bpm in 5 simple lessons! Download my FREE guide, “The Secret to Hihat 16ths." the-non-glamorous-drummer-llc.ck.page/b2413eee87

[@twizzlerkid9995]

I have a set dpd encore and was wondering if you could tune them

[@kylehazel5944]

The saddest part is before he changed anything, the zebra kit still sounded better then my kit -_-

[@MingusDynastyy]

Two soulz Doubt it, drums just sound better when recorded than in a live setting, especially with bad acoustics.

[@MT-hj1nj]

dont be surprised. for sure sounded better than mine.

[@mr.blueshyguy3408]

Lol same dude

[@jacobponce4406]

Kyle Hazel for real, but he actually knows how to tune

[@yozafardharold6947]

I feel you mate

[@canturgan]

I can make a good drum kit sound bad just by playing it.

[@kaiserwilhelmii1827]

Yeah same here. Also without much effort.

[@DynoPoV]

Jackie Planck funny ha ha

[@coolchristine482]

lol

[@sickdrummer3831]

To funny. I encourage you to practice and have confidence in your ability. Be yourself behind your kits. I enjoyed the laugh though.

[@devonhublit9232]

I can make it sound bad by turning it

[@lodougherty]

Man. Am I crazy for thinking it didn't sound *that* bad before the adjustments? I've heard far worse.

[@daveeverhart5834]

No, you're not. While it wasn't great, it •did• have a certain character about it.

[@imsorrydave9000]

Only really bad part was floor Tom, it was god awful

[@Joey-qb7mf]

No i did as well. Lol

[@jusefsoleiman8027]

it sounds better than my first kit brand new lol

[@shamicentertainment1262]

probably his recording that made it sound good

[@erinnerungen8823]

You never did talk about those rusted screws like you said you would later on in the video though

[@DG-sf9ei]

Throw em in synthetic motor oil or atf for a week , they'll never rust again.

[@TheLetsagogo]

I'm a seasoned musician who picked up drums over the pandemic. This channel has been a consistent reliable companion on that journey. Recently picked up a beater kit for my rehearsal space and now I know what needs doing and what I can very well leave alone

[@Rockin_Ross]

As a southern AZ drumsmith, I bought a pallet of “shit kits” at an estate sale. Literally an entire wrapped pallet of shells, hoops and hardware. Took it all home and went to work much like you did. I had very little money for improvements and other than my woodworking tools and experience, it was all me. Sold or donated 98% of the haul to people and schools and kept a few gems for myself. All in all a great experience and it helped me learn how little things (like the cloth over the bearing edge) can affect sound and performance. Great video as always.

[@sickdrummer3831]

Thank you. 30 years of drumming, I’ve always said that you CAN make a cheap kit sound good with the proper heads and tuning and making sure your bearing edge is clean etc.

[@natnatbat]

I LOVE your channel. I’m self taught and your channel is the ONLY place I come for advice. Thanks so much!!!

[@davidchapman5938]

$0 budget. *Throws $1000 worth of cymbals on for good measure*

[@sccdrum93]

Ok you got me :P I was truthful in saying that I worked with "what I've got" though...didn't buy anything I didn't already have :)

[@davidchapman5938]

Stephen Clark I’m only playing :) Nice vid - keep up the good work!

[@sccdrum93]

Haha thanks David! I know you're just messing around.

[@nate6692]

Probably not a bad rule of thumb. But new heads will exceed the value of a kit like this. Actually they can exceed the value of any mid range used kit.

[@jabezmoodley2653]

David Chapman lol

[@tdrum21]

Tom beat after tuning reminds me of the intro to Foo Fighters There Goes My Hero. Also after tuning it sounding ripe for some bonham style action on it ;)

[@sccdrum93]

Haha been listening to the new Foo Fighters album lately. Maybe not that particular song...but some great music and great drumming nonetheless. :)

[@skylerpearce4073]

My Hero!!!

[@ebollinger72]

You should do a collab with rdavidr!

[@lastcall9998]

Please no, he has great things to say but he talks so boringly...

[@ChipsNeeson]

Maybe a Beard-Off

[@Beeray11]

haha i came here from an rdavidr video!

[@calebvivanco8414]

YES!! That would be awesome! I just discovered this channel, but both channels seem to focus on some of the same ideas. I will now be waiting for that to happen.

[@sccdrum93]

Haha nice suggestions guys! Apparently a lot of people agree, seeing as how this is the top comment. :) My favorite rdavidr video along these lines is the one where he buys the Ludwig Acrolyte at Goodwill for $20 and fixes it up. Such a great snare buy! When it comes down to the true DIY stuff, rdavidr is so much more the expert on that than myself....which really could make for some interesting collab possibilities.

[@ZeroG84]

Snare was pretty good to start with. Don't know why you switched the basement kickdrum to a basement snare, but ow well. You did say it's subjective etc. meh. At least the first version had "something going". :)

[@TheApostleofRock]

I agree, i honestly didn't mind the snare originally

[@finmillard4736]

the snare sounded good both times

[@LudwigSC93]

Great job making it sound better but imo I liked the snare before.

[@raghavbhutani]

Hey man! can we possibly get a future video where you tell us how you mix your kit and the effects that would suit a cheap drumset better. Thanks for such great videos :D

[@ironweaselsbest]

Personally I felt lile it sounded halfway decent at the beginning. Drum sound is (I forget the word) opinionated?

[@sccdrum93]

I agree. The beginning sound really wasn't terrible, and I was pleasantly surprised when I first sat down to play it. A decent sound right off the bat was encouraging, so I knew I could tweak things just a little to further improve the overall sound. I think the kick may have been the biggest quality difference before and after, in my opinion.

[@ironweaselsbest]

Stephen Clark definatley, a ringy kick throws everything off

[@chasleask8533]

Danny M. Subjective.

[@georgeb6300]

Danny M. Yeah I think the word you meant was 'subjective'

[@douglastibbitts6817]

My opinion is that you ment to say subjective or a matter of taste .

[@jakekim7109]

i usually repair the drumkit of my friend's or even in my school before an activity or sumsht. All i can say that the things that were mentioned are pretty usefull in times of last minute adjustments. i have some tips too 1. If there is no moongel (or those sticky toys) i use electrical tape (tissues are optional) 2. Always tap the head near the rods for better tone 3. Keep that sht clean 4. For floors, in case you have a dead floor and you dont have a drumkey, use any cloth and lay it over the drumhead. may not be the best fix but it will do for that time being. 5. In order not to scrape your bassdrum due to the pedals, use plastic cover( kinda clean imo) 6. Going for a cheap kit is not bad, but dont ever go cheap on those cymbals. 7. In some cases, a dent on your toms or even in your snare will appear when you play hard. one way to fix it without removing the heads is using heat (lighter, heatgun etc) dont go too close, just enough so that the dent will go back to its place

[@richardball4973]

Honestly, overall sound aside, there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in taking old junk drums, refinishing their appearance in various ways (NO DAMN ZEBRA PRINT) and using some of these tricks to improve the sound to make them decent. I have a "main kit" in my Pearl Forums that I use for shows and such, but overall have about 8 or 9 total sets at this point. Some matching shells. Some total Frankenstein deals. Some I honestly couldn't even tell ya. Most pricey one has about $35 in it: I spent that in buying a metallic vinyl wrap. Best part: you can really try some creative things in building these one-offs because if you destroy it all, you're out almost nothing and almost any part of a drum can be brought back to life somehow...or at the very least salvaged for hardware and parts. May just be me, but I find an enjoyment in it that is separate from playing altogether...and regardless of overall "quality sound" spoken of by drum purists, for most situations not involving bigger stage set-ups or recording, "decent sound" is more than enough to suffice, and custom gear just looks badass to most. Just knowing basic sound qualities, acoutics, and what affects them will give the insight to avoid screwing up the "drum" part of the drum you're working on. And sometimes, you hit gold. My second-best kit (sometimes best, in fact) is a 4-piece set-up I play with my jazz group. All natural wood-grain finish. Got lucky and found four different shells that had similar-looking wood under their wraps. Bass drum from an abandoned house. Rack and floor toms from someone's pile of junk to be thrown out, and the jewel...a 1963 Slingerland wood snare from a yard sale for $1. Affectionately named the "Dollar-Menu Drumkit", she looks and sounds frickin' beautiful.

[@benjaminfeddersen7937]

1. Proper tuning 2. Post production In that order. Helpful video!

[@averagejackmedia609]

actually I hunted down a cheap $100.00 set online for a coworkers son thats interested but doesn't know if he's gonna stick with it. Stripped it down and gave it a good clean and just about to put all the heads back on and tune it up. Looks like new now, amazing what some fine steel wool and metal polish can do.

[@sccdrum93]

That's awesome! Most old kits will clean up nicely when you get rid of the beat-up wrap. That's what I did with my kit a year or so ago. It used to have a burgundy, shiny wrap on it. I tore it off and added a light lacquer on the outside of the shells, so now it at least has a more "professional" wood look.

[@simonwoodward476]

I too have done this. A pearl forum series that will see me for a few years of gigs at least. It sounds pretty nice to my ears. Trying to get people together but man!!! Roll on gig town!!!

[@ViniciusTeixeira1]

I don't even have my drum kit in my house, but I still enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the good work! :D

[@stevenwilson9865]

A great tune job makes all the difference. Finding the right drumheads for a particular kit can help also.

[@Edelweiss1102]

Good video, I really like the "no bs" approach. There are so many "how to make x $ drums sound good" where they throw in new heads worth 500$, cymbals worth 3000$ and recording equipement worth 10000$ ..., yeah. Granted you threw in K customs too, but it was the only thing and you said "with what I have", so it counts xD. And yeah, it proves you can make cheap drums sound good with some tuning and decent cymbals.

[@ericlaureanno1952]

Nice job brother I just recently restored an old CB sp series kit disassemble the entire kit we did all the lugs hoops tension rods installed new heads Remo reverse. Control sound on the snare and for the toms Powerstroke p3s coated on everything except for the Kik I put an Aquarian super kick 1 I kept all the old reso heads cleaned them reinstalled and tune them properly you would not believe how this kid sounds also I put a new paint job I wish I had some before and after is the show you anyway nice job and you are right you can bring an old kit back to life regardless of what kind and how cheap....

[@rydergrimes6696]

I think I saw that drum kit in the plains of Africa it was an odd shaped and sized zebra

[@sccdrum93]

That must be where my friend found it. Captured it and brought it home!

[@nikwboy635-_-2]

It probably was a zebreaatjeifjdojakfna'pejsdkgjsk'dfm epnkfdsakpmgpksaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@lAmayal]

Ryder Grimes don’t judge ( literally )

[@hansgrueber8169]

Toto used to have this kit.

[@jimfritz9503]

@@hansgrueber8169 We re not in Kansas anymore !

[@drewdickmann9210]

Took this beat up Gammon 5 piece, took off the yellow wrap and spray painted it with a neon blue design on a white background. Cleaned up the chrome and other metal parts. Then got some new Sabian XS20 crashes. Fun project and I'm using it for my capstone. Sounds great with new heads.

[@drewdickmann9210]

$150 for the original set, $200 for cymbals, paint, WD40, etc

The truth is... You can get along cheap drums but hardly ever, cheap cymbals

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Beatriz Totally true. I’ve even had decent cymbals that I disliked. I would dread hitting them & regretted it every time I did.

[@bryandrums32]

TheKillerAwokeBeforeDawn what kind were they?

[@joshisnot11]

I say just use a trash can lid and a sheet music stand lol

[@richannen217]

Thanx for the tips. I've been a drummer a long time. Or should I say I "drummed" long ago n had a long hiatus behind the kit. Now I'm back n looking to but a cheap kit n make it sound big n punchy. I kno cymbals will do a lot but your tips will work out AWESOME! Thanx man!! 🤘

[@Rockin_Ross]

I bought a pallet of drums at an estate sale for $100. Had about 3 complete kits of various brands in various states of repair on it. From that I drumsmithed 2 complete kits on a budget of about $50. The process of doing this was very therapeutic and I sold both of them for $300. I had fun doing the work, and I made some coin helping one get their first kit, and another with a beater kit for his bar gigs. Win-win-win. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥🔥

[@steeezyjoey]

You can make any cheap budget drum kit sound beautiful, but you just need some good heads and fine tuning at times.

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

plot twist: it's actually a ludwig kit 😂

[@sccdrum93]

Hahaha!! Or it's a super legit Gretsch kit and it was literally hand made at their Ridgeland, SC workshop. But we'll never know...will we? Skinning that zebra takes a lot of effort.

[@krismichalsky]

The lugs look very Ludwig Accent kit to me..... I had a Ludwig kit with those exact lugs. It was a Ludwig Accent Custom.

[@spartandrew8672]

I have a Ludwig and it sucks

[@markomarkovic5729]

@@spartandrew8672 You never had a chance to play Amati

[@iBaraban]

@@markomarkovic5729 you never had a chance to play Riga!

[@danielchase8487]

I bought a 6pc pearl ex ...reheaded it and painted the inside of the shells for a warmer sound ...bottom heads were all ebony ..both kicks had power stroke 3 with built in falams and added an extra with wooden beaters made a great sound ...top batter heads were single pinstripe for good resenence...all for less than 500

[@somedood6621]

When I had my first drum kit, my parents bought it for me as a kid and eventually I saved up enough money to put evans heads on and a few years later a new snare and some zildjian cymbals... similar to this video, the difference was way better once I done it. On a Mapex Saturn kit these days though which is luckily better!

[@cablevamp3163]

I have a 1965 Penncrest and 1965 Pearl mixed together and have the original skins and changed nothing but the hi hat and a few cymbals and the kick pedal. No tom has a resonant head and the snare has a subtle snap to it. It’s got assloads of tape on the sheepskin heads to muffle but as crappy as it looks it’s taken 20 straight years of me beating the hell out of it and still sounds amazing. You don’t need this or that it’s matter of taste and not fucking your kit up. I’d love a new kit but this was my grandpa and uncles kits from their childhood and it was passed on to me. For a 50 something year old kit it’s really reliable.

[@alcyone9361]

Best drummer I ever heard when it comes to not only playing but in tuning his kit and selecting cymbals was Joe Morello. 4 piece kit with hi hat and two cymbals and he was amazing.

I actually prefer the sound of the snare before the adjustment. But that's just my opinion.

[@Javisphotos]

“Zero dollar budget” *completely replaces drum heads*

[@nickgivent3157]

Great video. I have an old pearl sound check. It sounded great bc I changed all the heads, batter and resonant both, and cleaned it all up. Now it’s sounds like ass, but I don’t have any money for new heads now. This video has inspired me to talked them all off, clean it up, and put them back on and tune. Here’s hoping 🤞...

[@ImTheJoker4u]

I recently turned up a neighbors cheap kit - He was amazed by how much better it sounded. Just takes some time and a little know how😉👍

[@kasonpowers6587]

Hey, just wanted to say I love the channel so far. You get the info across well, and have a likeable personality. Great job, keep it up!

[@kevinkendall3122]

Pretty cool,simple & straightforward tips.Great vid

[@ThePsho]

Well done. Goes to show that the three most important things about a good drum set are: 1. The drummer 2. The quality/tuning of the heads 3. The cymbals I bought a full 5-pc junk set off Craigslist for $40. Came with a brand new throne (which I needed a new one anyway) that was valued at $80. I removed all the brand labels and logos, painted the rims white and the hardware black, and slapped on an Evans Rock pack of ebony heads. When people come up to me at shows and ask what brand of drums they are because they like the sound, I tell them I found them by a dumpster behind Walmart 😂 It's kind of my coy way of telling them that brands don't matter at much as they think.

[@timbretrent113]

I have a similar story bought a rusty old 5 piece and ripped off the wrinkled nasty wraps, scrubbed all the rust off the hoops and screws and lugs, took me hours. Rewrapped them with some sparkly paper and got new heads. I subbed out the snare for my old 70's Acrolite. I did find out the shells are DX series Pearls from the 80's with the power toms though, and now they sound absolutely killer. lol The heads cost 2x more than the shells haha

[@poser_disposer]

I played a gig a couple months ago where I assumed I would just need my breakables, but no drummer was willing to share drums. I live in a suburb 20 minutes outside the city, and 30 minutes from the jam space/venue, so I couldn't go back and get my kit. There was a very shitty kit at our jam space that I could borrow, so I drove back and got it and the kick was alright, but the toms sounded awful, and thw floor tom had no resonant head. I completely detuned and retuned the rack tom several times before it sounded decent, but both heads were extremely wore out, and the floor tom I just tuned once as low as I could get it where it would ring. It still sounded fairly bad mic'd, the notes were sour on both toms, but I just used my toms where I had to, and stuck to snare rolls, and the gig went great.

[@sccdrum93]

That sounds like a scenario where you actually had to adjust your playing to the kit itself. That's a frustrating situation, where you're having to work around things that don't sound so great. At the same time, that's a great skill to have - especially if you play on a lot of house kits.

[@TantraJames]

I was disappoint that you didn't use the original symbols. That's part of my cheap drum set that I would like some tips on improving.

[@violao206]

6:40 sounds like the groove to Elvis Costello's "This Year's Girl"

[@jasonholt2553]

I did the same, bought a cheap peace drum kit, put evans ec2 heads on it and sounds better than now than before, it had cheap original skins on it

[@MikiMaiden]

*I love the zebra patterns. You made a good tuning and prove that you can buy a cheap set with good sound. Most beginner drummers are thinking like that: If I will pay a lot of money for the set I wont have any problems with it. My tip: practise, practise, practise. Nice video* !

[@sccdrum93]

Hey it is a unique, attention-grabbing kit, for sure! You're absolutely right. Put good heads on just about any kit, and it's very possible to get a good sound. And yes...practicing is also a very good thing:) Thanks!

[@KPsychRN]

Crazy. I once rewrapped an old Pacific drum set in zebra print for a youth group in town. You didn’t happen to pick those up in Washington State, did you? Pretty sure I did a better job of keeping the fabric off of the bearing edges, though.

[@pedrofeio4430]

This guy never blinks his eyes!

[@skylukewalker1210]

BUT. Can you make cheap cymbals sound Good. LOL. Hahahaha.

[@numberneinlarge9965]

Luke Her Depends. Are you talking new cymbals that are cheap, or used cymbals that are cheap. Because I know where to get used A Custom crashes for $100. Psst, it's Guitar Center.

[@skylukewalker1210]

I more like dirt cheap. Like a full set of cymbals for $100. LOL. I was kinda being Sarcastic tho.

[@sccdrum93]

You can if you reconfigure your musical taste and learn to like metallic/tootrashy/overlyringy/innapropriatelyloud cymbals haha. Cymbals of that variety run pretty cheap. But besides altering your ears...I guess you could always re-lathe a cymbal. There are some guys out there who do that.

[@harmonic5107]

Stephen Clark it's actually not a hard process. But you need a good lathe and a specialized chuck. But in a pinch, you can use a friction bowl chuck and reinforce your tool rest with a 45 degree drake block and use a less great lathe to do it.

[@harmonic5107]

Stephen Clark though.... anyone can use sandpaper. Just tack the cymbal in place with hot glue on the bottom and put it on any rotating surface. Or just send on a flat surface, bit harder though. And you will lose the cool lines XD

[@Grinix0]

makes me want to get back into drumming. i remember being like 14 and had my parents buy me a cheap ass set that i could just not get tuned right. back in the 2000s it was harder to find info online than it is today and had i actually had money i would of bought one of those drum dials. man that set used to sound like so much ass and it caused me an immense amount of frustration that i just couldnt get it to sound right no matter what i did, and i tried hard.

[@beldar18]

Man, what a nice channel you got here, thanks for the tips! I'm subscribing right now!

[@racefrazier7998]

I have a Gretsch renown with Paiste signatures and HHX and an SP Cheep kit (250 bucks) with Paiste PST cymbals. I take the cheap stuff to shady bar gigs. Good heads and good tuning makes the SP kit sound great.

[@KidKat__]

I play in a school band. The drum kits we have are all out of tune, and I'm definitely gonna look into it after seeing you do it.

[@alexbeattiemusic]

TBH i liked the snare sound more before. But otherwise great video!

[@Luemm3l]

actually a big difference ! I wanted to ask if it is possible that you do a video on how to record, mix and master drums ? Pardon if that topic is already covered in another video, I'm new to the channel.

[@sccdrum93]

That would make for a great video series! Haven't done it yet, but that's definitely something to consider for future video ideas. Thanks for the request!

[@MeowfaceMusic]

Any recommendation for making an old, warped shell circle again? Is there a quick n' dirty method? Thanks!

[@lastcall9998]

I don't see why you couldn't do a record with this kit. Sounds pretty good (with EQ and all).

[@sccdrum93]

You totally could. If we were to further nit-pick this kit though...I was noticing a lot of extraneous noise coming from the hardware on the shells. A lot of it had to do with the little springs inside the lugs. Some of that really needs replacing (and of course the rusty screws do as well). So I'm just scrutinizing those little "noise" details that may be picked up on a recording. Otherwise though, yes. It's definitely workable. Now I have heard of drummers using moleskin and whatnot to eliminate noise like that, so I'm sure that could be done too.

[@jaybob1517]

Stephen Clark I know this is kind of old, but I actually restored an old supraphonic with this problem. Inside the lugs there was sponge, but since it was old the sponge was corroded. I just replaced it, and the rattling was gone.

[@nguy1128]

@@sccdrum93 just add cotton balls to the lugs, works like wonder

[@jmb92555]

Big difference on the FT and snare. The kick is more a matter of taste but it was definitely tuned better. The mounted tom... I didn't notice a big difference. Bottom line, I've heard many worse sounding kits on youtube that were intermediate to pro level drums played by drummers who seemed experienced enough to tune drums adequately. I just like the sound of those drums for whatever reason lol. I've owned everything from an unknown brand blue sparkle garage sale kit to 80's birch Tama Superstar to Mapex Saturn maple/walnut to vintage Ludwig 3 ply Classics. These drums have a lot of the old school Ludwig sound. Thanks for posting this.

[@STIXAHOY]

Dude you have a phenomenal touch........im sure a guy like u will sound great on any kit Even buckets

[@mcswordfish]

Very useful and interesting - my brother bought my young son a cheap kit for his birthday and it doesn't sound great. The cymbals are awful (might as well be using hubcabs) so I'm going to get him some (slightly) better ones for Christmas, but these are some good tips for drums themselves too. I should probably spend a few hours learning how to tune drums (I'm a guitarist, so if it lacks strings, I haven't a clue)

[@brianphillips9152]

Kick improved greatly. Thanks for this.

[@mzambo666]

This was very useful. Thank you

[@jeroenfigee]

Sounds great !! professional tuning. Only miss a little biy extra : recording the cymbals and hihat with some AKG's. Rest sounds amazing !

[@timbobimbo22]

do you blink? ps nice vid

[@sccdrum93]

I edit out every blink. Lol. Actually I have no idea...hadn't noticed that, but I'm glad you guys are observant :)

[@danny-jo1rb]

3:26

[@hacker8253]

He's a reptile....

[@bananacakesmckanzee7290]

8:52

[@miguels008]

you channel is one of my favorites with drumeo and rdavidr

[@jimflys2]

It may go on a Nashville record. Sound and effect is the important thing. Russ Kunkel used a box for a kick drum sound on a well known song on Jackson Browne's l.p. Running on Empty. Or was it a drum case....? One of the better kick sounds out there.

[@KirkHMiller]

I was gifted my neighbor’s kit in almost the same condition (luckily not as much rust). I was wanting to experiment with it because I had nothing to lose. I wanted to see what thinner shells (like a pancake kit) did to the sound. So I stripped it down to the maple and cut the toms to 12x6 and 14x10. The kick is about 22x12. I tried to keep a consistent bearing edge. It doesn’t have as much punch but it also doesn’t sound bad by any measure! I think will play it at my next small-room gig!

[@timsears6129]

I have always said if you know what you are doing you CAN make a cheap kit sound pretty good.....this was proof....thanks...

[@sccdrum93]

Thanks, Tim!

[@timsears6129]

You are welcome Stephen , I really enjoy your channel..

[@sccdrum93]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[@renedominguez4623]

...that tone from the shells still shines through regardless. point being it still sounds like crap to my ears... never understood why people say these things...

[@MAD-mo4te]

I have a cheap drum kit and achieved a great sound only by putting good drum heads and tuning them well. I don't even use muffling! Not even in my bass drum! And love the sound!

[@TwilightFlip]

What drum heads did you use?

[@MAD-mo4te]

@@TwilightFlip evans.

[@jeffsmith3743]

My bass drum will have nothing but evans heads. Imo, the remos and the superkicks do not sound very good to me. For my toms I could go either way, but I just go with evans, I like 'em. I prefer Evans HD dry on my snare but i also like remo snare heads. So, the only heads I'd say hell no to are remo and aquarian bass drum heads.

[@nateanderson4080]

Don't know if that's the mics or the acoustics or what, but those toms sound better than the toms on my Pearl Masters right now. :(

[@TheLuciferJesus]

Cool video! I have one constructive criticism: The head of your sm57 on the floor tom is rattling. putting it on a separate mic stand instead of clipping it to the drum usually can fix that problem. There are also ways people have secured it, but using tape can mess up its cardioid pattern.

[@theonecalledvino8165]

Oh crap! That looks like my old Slingerland kit I sold back east in 2010

[@poputafavian-ioel5626]

Once I had one hour to make a 200$kit with "no name" heads sound playable, trust me that zebra kit sounds really good with some new heads, muffle rings and good EQ

[@ImaginethenMake]

Nice vid. Being an apartment dweller now, I can't have an acoustic kit anymore. I do have an electronic set though.

[@russianarji]

my hihats sounds like a metal basin

[@fransterhorst3694]

another awesome vid. goes to show that same as with cheap guitars, it's all about the setup and tuning. cheers!

[@Codeezey]

Dope passion T-Shirt! Got one just like it.

[@davelaff2425]

Great video! Thanks for the info

[@orvil9223]

Why does EVERY neglected, garage/basement kit played by a newbie, no matter the maker or class of kit, sound EXACTLY the same? Every time I hear a bunch of kids starting out in a garage, I hear that familiar garage kit sound, while I wait for those garbage can lid cymbals to get a good smashing!

[@tdrum21]

What size is that rack? They look huge? What cymbals do you have there? Nice job. I liked how the snare sounded originally as well

[@mightyV444]

It all comes down to personal preference, but I liked the snare's original sound a lot, too.

[@sccdrum93]

You know, I actually had a feeling a lot of people would like the higher snare tuning. It really is so much personal preference... The rack is 13"x13" I believe. The usual 13" rack and 16" floor configuration, which I usually find to be my favorite. So maybe not huge...but bigger (and bigger sounding) than a 12" and 14" for sure. The cymbals were Zildjian K custom darks, which I really like. They're dark but have a nice shimmer, and they record well and sound great in small rooms.

[@guitarofdestiny]

The stripes make your rack look fat.

[@lukemather8495]

You changed the cymbals from $50 dollar cymbals to $1000 so is it really a cheap drum kit now?

[@mal2ksc]

I feel like both the rack tom and snare could be tuned higher, but aside from that (which is admittedly very subjective), this was a pretty good result.

[@ronaldzeoli7528]

Just pull the screws and all the hardware and clean them . that kit will be just fine. Maybe cut the rack tom length down and put a new bearing edge on it and redrill for the lugs. What brand was it?.

[@pootershnitzel]

Didn’t sound bad at first. But hell yeah! Nice job and I love the wrap in them

[@karl-kristiankorts7907]

depends on how the player's hand create THE sound and how is it tuned

[@adorodrums]

truth is - sure you can make a cheap kit sound good on a recording. But certainly a good kit will sound way better acoustically (and recorded, too). The reason why many drummers think cheap drums are not such a drag is simply because when mic'ing any drum, you already enhance the sound a lot, plus, most nouances are lost anyway - as we are used to mic' drums close, not acoustically. By acoustically i mean mic'ing the set from a few feet away to get them recorded the way they actually sound in the room, not an inch away close to the head. The latter causes proximity effect, which means a boost in low end, plus compression and limiting, the drums instantly sound more pleasent, even with the cheapest mic. You will notice that any instrument wil get pretty cheap once you do not use it acoustic. I always wanted to get a double bass (upright bass, not two kicks...), and did the mistake to ask a classical musician how much a cheap bass would be - he told me you can get a decent cheap bass for 16k used. Uffa. Way out of my range. Then I met a jazz band with upright bass, and ask the bass player. He said he bought the bass for $450 at Thomann and just put new strings on it, and he is happy. Now, what is the difference? As soon as you amplify the instrument, it is not acoustic anymore, so a lot of things that matter for an acoustic instrument can be handled fairly easy by enhancing the sound with the sound board, eq'ing, compressing etc - something every bass amp by default will offer. So the amplifier will sure end up being the most expansive piece in your signal chain when you want a good sound. This is also true for drums. Heck, most drum sets are even cheaper than a single mic used to pick them up; a set of drum mics easily cost a multipe. What I want to say is, face it, drums - rock drums, to be precise - are NOT an acoustic instrument. You will always get away with sounding mediocre because sound engineers are used to "fix it in the mix" with drums. Heck, most drummers cannot even tune.

[@michaelscafe2818]

The snare sounded good before. Not so much after. I agree with the comment that suggested that you moved the basement sound from the kick to the snare. Might as well play a phone book as a snare

[@danielreily2701]

How can you make a drum set sound sensational when you don't know what a sensational sound is ? Can I suggest a listen to "Beatit Vintage Test 90's Fibes Drum Kit" , use headphones and that is a good reference point. It is subjective though I like a wide open big resonant sound and through a big sound system /PA you feel as well as hear. Also it the zebra cloth is removed it would help that kit .

[@MikeBerbano]

i thought it sounded fairly decent from the beginning especially the snare, nice. the cloth on the bearing edge was a big hinderance to the optimum sound. proper tuning does wonders for any kit. i recall walking into guitar center and playing a DW Collectors that sounded horrible only becuz of poor tuning. an adjacent SP kit w poplar shells sounded better becuz of proper tuning

[@yep-that-happened]

I'm working on an old aluminum shell Slingerland snare that was in really rough shape. This thing was super rusty and crusty, it looked like it got dropped in the ocean. I have most of the hardware cleaned, all that's left is to pound somd dents out of the shell.

[@bryand7005]

Or pound a whole bunch more and just make it fairly even. Hammered snares rock!

[@brianortiz2200]

I always do this when I play in churches old Kit's come back to life !!! South Texas ✌️

[@noahferguson3540]

I have a Mapex Venus kit that was in a storage unit for years. The shell wraps have cracked and split. There was a mouse nest and god awful smell when I removed the kick drum head. It was so bad I had to throw it out of the house then shop-vac'd the mouse turds out of there. Still has a slight mousy smell, but not so bad now. I'm planning to replace the heads. The hardware has some corrosion. But hey, at least it's a kit.

[@matthewparrish2138]

this channel is really great! so refreshing to see someone hosting a channel that DOESNT act like an abnoxious asshole!! haha. I dont know if this can be considered an endorsement but I used to play drums in a band called Piglet and I really enjoy watching your channel. good stuff.

[@CianRourke]

Concerning the kick you stated “Generally you have to have some kind of muffling on the head even if you don’t have something inside” though you didn’t give any basis why. To my ears the kick after placing the pillow inside. I like the kick to ring a little just like a drum should. It would be great for you to make a video of a properly tuned kick without muffling versus with muffling. Just like the tone of a snare drum is subjective.

[@hephziisaac2914]

This is truly educational

[@Nollaroid]

I really enjoyed this video! Fun and informative!

[@ArsalanHaiderAli]

I bought myself a 7 piece (3 rack and two floor toms) Pacific Drums Kit. It was priced down from £995 to £595 because of a scratch on the bass drum. The money saved was then used to upgrade the hardware and skins. I switched out the metal lug washers with nylon ones by a company called hendrix drums, replaced the triple flanged hoops with "S-hoops" made by a company called Ahead (primarily known for their aluminium drumsticks) The "S hoops" are worth checking out the are a cross between die-cast and triple flanged. The kit sounds so much better with them. I also the replaced the poor quality wooden bass drum hoops with metal ones I bought from ebay. However the resonant bass drum hoop has begun to show signs of rust despited the bass drum being in a carrying case. QUESTION: what should I do to eliminate the rust and prevent further rusting on any other part of the kit?. Could you also give tips on how to store a drum kit when not in use? Is it OK to pile up two or three toms on top of the bass drums?. Thanks

[@TsunamiBeefPies]

Very interesting. I actually didn't have a problem with the original sound of the snare, but as you say, snare tuning is extremely subjective.

[@davidchapman3563]

Much better!.sounds like an ok practice kit.good job bud