Hey, I've been looking around various catalogues and I bumped into a few brands that I've never heard anyone talk about before, but I'm a newbie to drums so there... Anyway:

Dixon. What about them anyway? They're supposed to be very cheap, but what about the sound?

DW? I heard that their hardware is awesome, especially the double kickers, but what about the drums?

How good are Yamaha at making drums?

Are pro mark sticks any good? What about regaltip?

Thank you in advance.

__________________

Dixon, never heard of them. DW makes pretty good drums. I tried out a set at the guitar center. I personally dont like yamaha(i dont know why) but i hear they are pretty good. I just buy like any sticks, it doesnt realy matter who their made by to me so i can't help you with that.

__________________

Ive never heard of Dixon. DW fucking rules but is very expensive. I dont like Yamaha because all of the Yamaha sets ive played on have sounded like shit. And about sticks: Sticks are sticks just find a set you like. I just use about any kind of stick, right now im useing promark 747s.

__________________

About sticks:
I am a newb so I only have two sets, both are the same size but are different brand sticks, one set is Vic Firth and the other one is a no name brand. The no name sticks make my wrists feel quite bad while the same size Vic Firth don't and feel a lot better in my hands because of the varnish, so I guess that stick brands do matter.

__________________

Dixon are shit.

utter tit wank bollocks.

DW make nice sounding kits and pretty good hardware but IMO it is over priced, their kicks are meant to be good but I have never tried them and my Axis would probably slaughter them in their sleep/

Yamaha if you can cough up the cash they are good kits if not, they are shit, Yamaha Stage customs are BLOODY nice (my mate has a set) but the cheaper shit isnt good, interesting to note that the Yamaha flying dragon kick pedal is a direct drive pedal (like Axis.

Promark sticks are meant to be REAL good for gravity blasting (their logo is right were you want to place you stick on the rim of the snare) and are pretty good sticks in general, I still like my AHEADS though....

dw is awesome, not the absolute best, but one of them... i think the kick pedals are way nice, i have the dw 7000 it's pretty great, smooth and heavy sounding... axis is great for smoothness but they sound pretty pussy if you're not mic'd or triggered. the dw double chain drive titanium 9000's imo are the best all around. the tama iron cobras are amazing, yet unreliable, the newer pearl eliminators are similar in feel yet more reliable to the tama's imo.

never heard of dixon...

yammaha,lower priced sets are just like any tama or pearl low priced set, but the top notch stuff is amazing... in fact, like 9 of 20 top notch studio's that have there own kits have a yammaha studio custom... they're very nice kits.

personally noble & cooley is my favorite "boutique" brand for drums. spaun,pork pie, and orange county are tied for 2nd.

sticks, i love promarks... vic firths are good, but they break more with me then the oak promarks.
vader and sound percussion ones are fine because i can buy them in big bundles for dirt cheap, which is only good if you play alot and break sticks.

i like to play promark 5a's backwards for a powerful sound(like if you're using bigger sticks like the rock or metal ones) but with a lighter feel and they almost never break that way.

__________________

Ya, i have a peace drum set. They came out about a year and a half ago i think. They are pretty good also if you wanna check them out.\m/

__________________

How does Trans know what your drum kit sounds like?

__________________

dixon...first time I have ever heard of them.

DW...pretty high quality stuff. not inexpensive by any means. Their pedals are good but not as good and mine. (axis)

Yamaha...Like someone said before the lower priced stuff is shit but you get that with all brands. But my stage custom is GREAT.

Sticks...as far as they go Pro mark 747's are all I've used for ages, I like sticks that aren't as thick, for speed reasons I don't need a fat stick to get a big sound.

__________________

peace drums are horrible imo...

__________________

Were in a band What the fuck are you talking about.

__________________

Cool, you guys should post your songs once Nilly has his FTP up and running.

__________________

Peace started quite a while ago not sure when but back in 96 my bro had a Peace kit and it was a "peace" of shit. So unless you spend alotta money on that Peace kit you got a piece of shit.

__________________

Oh, I thought they were newer. Well they must have recently started making good drums or something.

__________________

You guys must have heard or saw cheap shity peace sets cuz i just put new drum heads on my set today and my drums sound fuckin amazing. Im going to go play them now...

__________________

i think that cheap yamah setz are not too bad. the yamaha rydeens are pretty sweet for entry levelz

I would suggest going to the Modern Drummer,and Drum magazine websites. They review equipment every month, even stuff like sticks. I think it will mostly come down to your personal preference. You'll just have to try out stuff and figure out if you like it. There is alot of crap out there too, though.
I wouldn't buy anything that's really cheap, because that usually means the hardware sucks. The best way to do it (unless you're rich) is to buy a good name brand set like Pearl, the Export sets usually are not too bad price wise. The one I had sounded great, I even recorded a demo with it. Then start building the set up, as you can afford it. Save up for a good Hi-hat, then for a good Ride, then a double pedal, and so on. It's worth it in the long run because then all of a sudden you've got a killer kit, and not a good drumset with alot of mediocre sounding and functioning cymbals and stands.

Word, my Pearl export is 7 years old and has been continually updated and even hot rodded recently.

__________________