Guitarist New To Cocktail Drums

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Telecaster Pignose
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: Austin Texas

Post by Telecaster Pignose »

Excuse me for bumping this thread. So Hi, like Vic, I'm guitarist by trade and got interested with cocktail drums for their possibilities. So I guess to get the conversation started, I'd like to ask a few questions and I would love to hear everyones take on them. So...

First, what would be a reasonable priced one for a beginner? Specifically if there is one or model/type that I can sit down to play. While I can stand and play guitar for hours, I'm too much clumsy dork to drum standing up.

Secondly, since I mostly play rock/metal/punk, is there something I should be aware of with that harder style of playing? I have went through the forum and read some of the discussion in which loudness was discussed and that isn't a issue for me?

Third, can I get a decent kit for around 500? Government refund says I should help the economy :P


Please feel free to ask me questions. I'll gladly answer them.
Dinkus
Posts: 145
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 1:17 am
Location: Alberta, Canada
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Post by Dinkus »

Hi Tele, to answer some of your questions. You can sit down on any cocktail kit, it doesn't make it any less cool. If you stand you might find that your knees, thighs, heels and hip hurt after a long night, but once you condition it's not too bad. I find sitting down on a regular kit gives me great back pain after long nights so it's nice sometimes to have different pain. I have to say about quality of kit to always buy the best you can afford. There is a difference between cheap and quality in both construction and tone. I'm all for quality and tone over coolness and shit gear. Make sure that the kit you're after has a very sturdy leg setup if you're playing rock/punk. The snare will be plenty loud when tuned properly but you will lose the kick in the mix so it will absolutely have to be sound reinforced (mic'd). Over time playing hard will break the internal snare wires and you'll end up with a killer Van Halen snare sound but it's only great when Alex does it. Not sure you'll find a decent kit for 5 bills but I do know that if you come across a Club Jordan used that you won't be disappointed. The Phattie drums look pretty decent too. Have fun

Dinkus
vic
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:29 pm

Post by vic »

Hey Tele,
I'm by nature a cheap sob so I found one on ebay used for $100. It appears to me that there are a ton of these cheaply made cocktail kits out there that all look to be made in the same place, but sold under different names. Mine is called an HB but looks identical to all the one you see on ebay for a couple hundred bucks.

The sound it kindof trash cany but i'm sure if I was better at tunning it could be better. The cymbals are crap.

That being said, it is pretty fun to band away on them, and I am picking up a few simple beats and can play along with loungy swing stuff with the brushes, and drive my wife crazy for hours.

enjoy
Telecaster Pignose
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: Austin Texas

Post by Telecaster Pignose »

Thanks for the advice guys.

VIc, thats what I thought. What I was looking for doesn't have to be the best so long as I can practice on it. Can you sit down at these kits? It is a 100% personnel comfort thing for me.

Dinkus, thanks for the advice. I don't know if I clarified it very well, but I'm REALLY POOR. 500 would be the max only because of my tax refund. I did look at the club jordan and phattie and even the one sold by cocktaildrums.com and they look killer but I don't even have the job security to finance them. The advice about mic-ing the bass drum is something that I;ll remember.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep y'all updated. Anymore question or advice is certainly welcome.
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