Small drum set for small basement?

And by small drum set, I mean small drums as well as a small number of drums.

My first inclination was to get a cocktail kit, of which some decent models abound and I figure it would cost me about $600 for a decent set-up after cymbals and new heads. However, I still have space issues even with that, so now I'm thinking about just getting a bass drum and a snare, along with a hi-hat and a crash-ride. That way, I can tuck everything out of the way when I'm not using it. The issue with this is that once I price individual drums on Craigslist or Amazon, once I buy hardware (NOBODY on Craigslist sells their hardware along with their drums) and cymbals, I'm well beyond $600, which is my top-most budget limit.

So now I'm looking at various "junior" kits and I'm finding a lot of rebadged mass-produced stuff with no real way of knowing what's any good. My thinking is I can buy a junior kit, get the bass drum and the tom, and buy a nicer snare, along with cymbals. I'd still have to buy hardware, but I think I could get this to come in at $500 or better. Here's one on Amazon that boasts birch shells:

http://www.amazon.com/DeRosa-Bridgecraft-Child-Kids-Drum/dp/B0026C5T1K/ref=sr_1_20?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1294982114&sr=1-20

Is there any way to know if these are any good? Any other suggestions? I refuse to use samples on principle, so please don't suggest those. If all else fails, I'll get the cocktail kit and try to make the room. Thanks!

I think you'll be very disappointed by the sound.
You should investigate these sets:
Pearl have an interesting 18"x 8" kick in their PRT705 Rhythm Traveler. Toms are single-head so you can stack them. And they come with mufflers that are claimed to not interfere with your touch...all this for less than $500.
Tama have an 18" kick in their IS58 New Imperialstar set at $600
Now, if you really want to accept the akwardness of a 16" kick, the Ludwig LJR106 Accent Junior at $300 may be your ticket.

Also the Yamaha Hipgig (I think) kit is quite small & folds into nothing.  The trouble with some of these shallow kits is that they sometimes aren't quite a full sounding as deeper sizes.

Hi,


    cocktail kits are great fun, but will not deliver the full Monty in my experience. I absolutely love them for bits of groove, but for the main show they are just too lightweight.


        Kindest regards,


        ANdyP

small drums? will give you smaller sounds usually. Look for jazz size drums like an 18 inch diameter kick, 14 inch diameter floor tom, 10 or 12 inch diameter rack tom. They will work nicely, are relatively small and can still give bigger sounds. But you really want big sounds gotta have a big kit. Bonham didn't have a 26 inch diameter kick drum for nothing.

I don't want big sounds, actually. I've always been fond of the subtlety of smaller jazz kits. Really, I just want something decent that won't sound like samples. I also find that I like the sound of single-headed toms, as long as they're shallow.

Thanks for the tip on the "travel" kits. I had forgotten about those. It doesn't look like the new Pearl ones are available yet, though.  :-\ My other concern is the "mahogany" shells statement, which these days usually means "cheap luaun" that doesn't have very good acoustic characteristics. But does that really matter when 90% of the sound you're hearing is the head anyway?

My other thought with the cocktail kit has to do with live performance, and the fact that I will likely be both drummer and frontman. Doing that sitting behind a full kit is a little disappointing from the audience POV, in my opinion, so I like the idea of being able to play out front and standing. And yes, I know Andy Sturmer has done this already, but he had a customized stand-up system designed around what were essentially regular drums. In the end, though, I'm more concerned about studio use, and live performance is still a far-away dream that I'll deal with when I get to it.

Thanks all for the help!

I play a Pearl Masters Maple kit 18" 14" 12", small sizes, big sound that I would recommend.  It's probably 15 years old, & sounds like the kits you hear on Blue note records, I really love it's sound & it was quite cheap second hand.  More experienced drummers I know say it's like an old Gretsch Bebop kit, but without the price tag. 

I think a lot of the sound has to do with tuning & the skins used. I don't have any holes in the Kick front skin, & use a felt beater, so it has a lovely warm round tone to it rather than the clicky dead sound you get with a port hole.  I have the toms tuned so they are just a round warm resonant sound, rather than the rock tuning where the toms droop in pitch when hit. 

I'm sure many other makers do similar kits, but having not used them I can't make any comparisons.

+1 for maple drums. good maple shells  with proper bearing edges sound good

I don't think buying used is going to be an option, as various Craigslist posters seem to have lost touch with reality. I really don't want to spend my whole budget to get one bass drum because all I can get are shells, then I have to get hoops and other hardware. And the shells aren't even anything special. If these people really are selling this stuff, they're making a fortune from fleecing people.

One person was selling a cheapie TKO junior kit, used, for more than the new ones on Amazon.

Long story short, I just don't have the options I need on the used market. All of the affordable stuff sold by the sane people are your bog-standard 13"-14"-16"-22" kits that I have no hope of finding room for.

Where's a used Sonor Jungle kit when you need it?  

Oh well, the search continues.

Weird that you can't buy second hand  I literally don't have anything that is new in my kit, including all the hardware & cymbals.  About the only thing I buy new are sticks !

Maybe you're a canidit for electronic kits & samples

Only if I can record or otherwise make the samples myself. Admittedly, that is a possibility.

  I've had some very tight same space constraints (once used a rv as a improvised studio/practice space) and found a standard kit and put the 16" tom on its side (stole the spurs off of the 22" which I discarded)
no Bonham kick sound but not bad for the space  and cost and sound a hell of a lot better than a cocktail drum (wish I still had it around as my 4yr old cant reach mounted toms on a full size kit yet)

You should go to... http://musicgoround.com/  and search the Troy, MI location.  They have some random individual drums in their inventory.  (partial kits, toms, kicks, etc.)  I'm sure you could piece together something to work for you.  

I've thought about buying some crappy drums to pull the resonant side heads off, to get some dead 70's kind of tones.  That way, I don't have to disturb my good kit for that duty.  It's just not a priority right now, though.

And of course there is mic selection & placement
most drums can be loud

Hello !

What i would do in this case :

Get a really nice 2nd hand drumset. Full sizes, 12/13/14/16/22 or 12/14/14/16/22. Get something like this :

http://www.indoorstorm.com/Danmar_Bass_Drum_Cradle-p-756.html

Toss the 22" kick (or save it so you could use it when you upgrade your space !)

And use lots of clamps to save floor space. Be creative !

Today, i just ended restoring my beautiful Mapex Mars Pro 96 and i was struggling putting it together on a limited space (my master bedroom, i dont have any other place ATM). Lots of clamps, works a treat.

BTW, ive recorded some incredible kicks with 18" and 16" kick drums (not only jazz)

Sometimes, they sound even bigger and punchier than a 22. I love small kick drums, and a FET47 and most important, drumhead selection and careful tuning is your best friend.

I finally gave up. I need to stop agonizing over "what else to buy" and just get on with being creative.

I've taped a contact mic to a punching balloon, whacked it with a mallet, and got a huge orchestral bass drum kind of sound.

I've stretched balloons over ramekins and hit them with chopsticks, for cool accents and tom-like sounds.

I'll probably pick up a proper snare drum and crash cymbal, since those are kinda hard to fake, but beyond that, I think I've finally stopped caring.

Thanks for all the suggestions, anyway.