Advice needed - Looking to buy an Electronic Drum Kit

Mark Ward

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I'm looking to buy an Electronic Drum kit for my 16 year old son to learn on.

He's a talented guitarist and proficient on keyboards, now want to learn drums so that he can record playing all the instruments.

One that has caught my eye is the Rock-Jam DD502-J, I'm wondering whether any drummers here have any knowledge of the Rock-Jam? or can suggest a good alternative at a reasonable price.

He plays mean drums at "Expert" on Rock Band, but somehow I'm suspecting the real thing will be a little trickier.

Looking to buy this week so any advice, or even suggestions for a 2nd hand alternative would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Mark.
 
Nobody?

Can anyone suggest a site to look for second hand alternatives?

There's a Yamaha Dtxplorer local to me, but they guy's asking £400 (£57 less than you can buy them for new).

£350 is my budget here, the Rock-Jam I mentioned comes in under that new, but if I could find a Roland TD3 (just missed one for £350 in local classifieds) I'd do that instead.

Thanks,

Mark.
 
He plays mean drums at "Expert" on Rock Band, but somehow I'm suspecting the real thing will be a little trickier.

Afraid I can't help with the drum suggestions but I have read in numerous blogs/mags that the drums are very realistic and people who regularly play on expert can actually take to a set of real drums easily.
One of the blogs I read had a guy from there play with CoCa (their song off Rock Band) and they recorded a video - will try find it a little later as it's an interesting article.

Have you got a local music shop near you that will let you demo kit just to get an idea of price and how it feels/works etc?
 
I spoke to the guy selling his DTXplorer for £400, he'll drop to £360, but I'll still need to buy a stool & sticks.

The kit I originally mentioned is Actually a Gear4Music DD5025J. I found a Review here, and another less enthusiastic one at Music Radar.

I'm now wondering whether the Yamaha DTXplorer 2nd hand may be a better bet? Although the DXplorer has been around for quite a few years apparently, so I'm wondering whether it's old tech?

Thanks,

Mark.
 
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Have to agree - the Roland kit's are the ones to go for, but they can be very expensive.

With your budget I would look for a DTXtreme. Much better than the cheap and cheerful kits that are on the market.
 
I have the rock jam kit. It is quite nice to play, the sound module is a bit weak though, most of the kits have reverb on them and you cannot edit the sounds. as a starter kit it's good for a reasonable price though and you can update module and cymbals later if needed. It is a generic kit form China and is sold under various names, legacy; medelli, and shops put their own labels on them. Just look for dd502 on ebay
I think the best price new is about £249. Yamaha will be a lot better if you want to spend that much more
 
I think sitting him down behind some e-kits at a good music store would be the best bet.

Let him try a few different models etc
 
DTXplorer is the way to go. The low end Roland kit is a real wobbly affair in comparison and not as adjustable.

I bought my daughter the Yamaha kit for Christmas as she had used both the Yamaha and Roland kits for several months at her classes. The guys running the classes confirmed this choice as anything less will fall apart with any serious use. If you can afford the V drums kits then good luck, too rich for me/her at this stage.

Don't forget you need a mat or large thick offcut of carpet (the pedals are spiked) big enough for the whole kit and throne or it will all be wandering all over the place!

Long cables (1/4inch plugs at the DTXplorer end) also needed to get to your amp, hifi or whatever if it isn't going to be headphones only. Watch out neighbours....

I hope this isn't too late to help. Good Luck.
 

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