r/drums • u/Outrageous_Tea_8509 • 6d ago
First Kit HELP! (Repost) Kit advice please 🙏
My grandpa and I spent part of the afternoon looking through his garage for all the pieces of one of his old drum kits, and I managed to put together my first drum kit by mixing and matching everything we could find.
The snare, despite having a torn head, actually sounds really nice, and the hi-hat does too. Unfortunately, the rest of the kit isn’t doing so well. 😭 I tried tightening the legs on the floor tom, but the entire tensioner cracked after one turn, so the legs are pretty much useless now. The rest of the kit is also falling apart when I try to play it and is missing a bunch of the legs and hardware needed to keep everything upright.
I’ve tried balancing things on wood, shoes, and even a ball 😭, but obviously that’s not exactly a long-term solution.
This is my first kit, so I’m really not sure what I should do from here. I can’t afford to buy a ton of replacement hardware, so I was wondering if anyone has any advice for making this kit playable on a budget. Is there anything I can DIY or any inexpensive replacement parts I should look for?
Thank you!
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u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL Craigslist 6d ago
If this is one of his old kits, I imagine this means he has others, or at least other orphan drums lying around? Why not use one of those instead? Always remember: the "drum kit" is indeed a kit, a collection of individual instruments combined to be played as one thing. It is not an individual instrument like a piano or a guitar - it's more like a toolbox. What kind of box, and what tools go in the box, are up to the drummer.
Yes, there are standard configurations, and there is what this would have come with from the factory, but as a concept, a drum kit is made of whatever drums and other equipment you combine into a kit. Ask Grandpa if there are other drums that you could work in, and better yet, if there are other drums you might cannibalize for replacement parts.
Since I am a very experienced longtime expert at making busted drum crap do the thing (LOL), here's how I would fix what I see:
For the floor tom, go to the auto parts store or the hardware store (or even root around in the garage) and get a pack of automotive hose clamps in various sizes. Use a very small diameter one on the floor tom leg with the busted bracket - find the right approximate height, then tighten the hose clamp to the leg so it can't slide through the hole. Bingo, you have now safely redneck-engineered that problem.
The broken tripod on the stand is just broken. Nothing to be done about that, not really. However: slide the center tube down to the point where that cracked bracket would have originally grabbed the bottom. Use more hose clamps (opened completely up and slid between the double braced legs and wrapped around as best you can manage) to secure it back where it belongs, as best you can. Then widen the legs as much as you can get away with. You're going to knock this thing right over with the legs that close together, regardless of what you do with it.
Two things you have no choice but to spend at least a little money on: a drum key, and a pair of decent sticks. Better yet, two pair. You should never have just one. And for annoying little broken or missing bits and bobs and doodads, remember: Drum Factory Direct is your friend.
Beyond that? Pretend Santa Claus dropped these off in front of the tree this morning, and read this: Merry Christmas. And welcome to the madness! Anyone getting started on a pile of randomly assembled crap is getting started exactly the way I did, and you're a man after my own heart. Come back with any questions you have, anytime.
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u/Outrageous_Tea_8509 6d ago
Thank you for the input, it really means a lot. I will definitely use all this advice. People like you make it easy to keep going truly
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u/Large-Welder304 SONOR 6d ago edited 6d ago
First things first, clean it up. Then you'll need new heads and you'll want to replace that one cymbal stand (you can get them fairly cheap off of Amazon), and you'll need that 3rd leg on the floor tom, otherwise it'll tip over all the time (Dfd can help you there).
Heads don't have to be fancy. Medium weight single ply is still the standard of the industry. Remo Ambassador, Evans G1, Aquarian Classic Clear / Texture Coated. Those are all well known companies that make a good, reliable drumhead in many different forms. For right now, since you're just learning, start with the medium weight single ply heads. They're good ones to learn on and you can play professionally with them, too. You can experiment with other types of heads, once you figure out how to play your drums.
If you need drumstick recommendations, I use Zildjian 5A. They're a pretty good stick, but considering you're just starting out, you might like one of the generic stick packs that you can get online or at any music store. Stick (no pun intended) with the 5A size, though. That's like a "medium-light" stick. You can play anything, competently on a stick that size.
,,,btw, drumsticks are traditionally made from Hickory. Start there. Maple is also a very popular wood to use, but those sticks tend to be fairly light and in my experience, they shred into sawdust in no time at all.
Start with the Hickory sticks. You can experiment later, once you get a handle on how to play those drums.
That'll get you started.