Drumming is fun and healthy. Yet, it’s a serious quest when you need to get the best beginner drum set. You need to find the ultimate choice, which could be one in a million.
Don’t worry, we got your back. We made a special list just for you. You’ll find the top drum sets on the list with pros and cons for easier comparison. We also provide you with a buying guide, should you wish to start your own quest.
Drums are easy to play, perhaps the easiest to start on. You just need to learn the basic beat and you can play the drums. It allows you to just immerse yourself with the beats and just express your heart out without any pattern or style.
Without further ado, here are the ten top choices of drum sets in the market. Choice wisely and remember, the best beat of the drum is the beat of your heart for music.
Contents
Here are the best drum set for beginners in 2024
- Pearl Roadshow
- Gammon 5-Piece Drum Set
- Mendini Junior Drum Set
- Pearl Export Drum Set
- Mendini MDS80
- Ludwig Questlove Drum Kit
- Yamaha Stage Custom Birch
- Tama Imperialstar
- Lagrima Drum Set
- Best Choice Products 5-Piece Drum Set
Runner Up | Editor's Choice | Also Great |
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Pearl Roadshow
A drum set that makes you play right out of the box, Pearl Roadshow is a decent drum set for beginners. It’s a five-piece drum set, complete with double braced hardware and cymbals. The bass drum, the snare, and the toms feature a 9-ply Poplar shell to allows you to get powerful tone.
Students and beginning players will enjoy playing this complete drum set because of its interesting sound qualities. The snare has crisp and snappy sounds, which contributes to the overall clear and solid drum sound.
This drum set is ideal for heavy banging, even though it’s a little cheaper than premium maple drums. Poplar is a robust material that last for several years with distinct tonal characteristics. That’s why it’s good material drum set that’s best for beginners.
- Easily upgradable to achieve better sound quality
- Accommodates any genre and skill to produce warm sounds
- Great finish with sturdy construction
- May have overtones, particularly the snare, when not properly cared
- Setup could be a little challenging for complete beginners
- Though the drums are good, the cymbals in this set need replacement
Gammon 5-Piece Drum Set
Everything you wish to have in a drum set is already in the Gammon 5-piece drum set. Yes, it’s a complete 5-piece drum set made of real wood with steel stands. All drums have a high gloss black finish, so who would think that this is a very affordable drum set?
Gammon Percussion has been a great help to a lot of beginning musicians, and it’ll be of help to you, too. This drum set includes a bass drum, snare, floor tom, and two mounted toms. With its cheaper price, you wouldn’t believe that it still has full product support from the manufacturer.
- Everything you need is right here in this drum set
- Has a decent sound quality, even though the price is quite low
- Easy to setup and easily upgradable
- Cymbals included are not in good quality, you need to upgrade
- Not the drum set for pro, only for beginners
- Craftsmanship isn’t admirable, only the finish is good
Mendini Junior Drum Set
Starters and small drummers don’t need a fancy set of drums. A beginner drum set is best for them, especially the Mendini Junior Drum Set. Such fully functional drum set helps beginners hone their skills and level up faster than those who use other drum sets.
The Mendini Junior Drum Set has a bass drum, a matching snare drum, two tom-toms and a floor tom. It’s also packed with cymbals, accessories, and other necessities to start playing out of the box.
You can’t expect the drum set to have good sound output. Additionally, pros find the set easy to setup, but the instructions manual might be quite misleading. So, it’s better to check some YouTube videos or a pro at your side.
- Good construction quality of all drums
- Sound output is excellent for an entry-level drum set
- Among the cheapest useful beginner drum sets in the market
- Professionals find the setup easy, but the instruction’s manual seems difficult
- Not the high-end type, but something playable by kids
- Good for children only up to 5ft
Pearl Export Drum Set
The most expensive set on the list, the Pearl Export Drum Set is made with a blend of Poplar and Asian Mahogany to achieve great volume and better sustain at low frequencies. Tom drums are fixed with an Opti-loc suspension system to achieve better resonance and wobbly-free performance. The drum set can take on heavy beatings and extended practice hours.
Though it might be beyond your budget, it’s worth it. As the best-selling drum of all time, this drum set has something more than the price tag. It offers the overall great sound quality, construction, and playability.
- Great drum set with solid construction quality
- Has better sounds, comparable to high-end drums
- Can take on any playing styles
- The joints aren’t that tight, but they are still good
- Needs serious tuning when you use it for the first time
- A bit expensive and the priciest on the list
Mendini MDS80
Adults and teens will surely love the Mendini MDS80 for its price and its quality. Made of poplar shells, the drums have black powder coated triple flanged hoops and lugs. Since poplar is a very good drum shell material, you’ll definitely get that warmth, versatile, and deep resonance of each drum.
Mendini has been very good to offer an affordable entry-level drum set with everything you need to start playing. Assembly is quite straightforward, given its easy-to-follow setup guide. More importantly, you’ll enjoy the sound and playability of these drums.
- Sound good and the toms have nice tonal character
- The overall quality is impressive, like high-end drums
- Toms are sturdy and good at thrashings
- Very loud, in general, needs extra head pads if you want to reduce the loudness
- Bass drum won’t stay in place for long despite all screw tightening
- Cymbals included aren’t good, like your hitting the bottom of a frying pan
Ludwig Questlove Drum Kit
If you need a compact drum set for your gigs, the Ludwig Questlove Drum Kit is the perfect one for you. Though it has a small footprint than standard full-size drum sets, this is a 4-piece set with a 16-inch bass drum, snare, a floor and a rack tom.
Designed for kids four through 10 years old, this portable drum set is very handy. Some say that this is the best drum set for beginners because of the amazing sound quality when tuned properly. However, complete beginners might find it challenging to get a straightforward and comprehensive manual.
- Sounds decent out of the box
- Very easy to gig around
- Easily tuned in just a few hours
- Drum heads aren’t bad, but could be better
- Setup might be difficult for starters, especially with the lack of comprehensive instructions
- Might not tolerate serious banging on the drums
Yamaha Stage Custom Birch
High-class drums made of 100% birch, the Yamaha Stage Custom Birch gives you the ability to shine on stage. With the six-ply birch construction, you’ll get more efficient resonance so you can achieve an overwhelming performance. You’ll get the standard set of a bass drum, snare, two rack toms and a floor tom.
What professionals like about this drum set, also my favorite, is the mounting system. It provides minimum contact with the hardware, so you’ll get great vibrations. It offers open sustain to the floor tom, while keeping all drums in stable positions.
- Great quality for such an affordable Yamaha drum set
- Compact construction and the hardware are very reliable
- Toms have great resonance
- Requires proper tuning to get the drum sing
- Snare drum can be better if replaced
- No cymbals included, that means you need to buy them
Tama Imperialstar
Tama has been serving drummers for more than four decades, so it already knows what drummers really need. The Tama Imperialstar drum set is a 5-piece standard set that incorporates high-end features at a fairly low price. All drum shells are made of 6-ply Poplar, which is a good material use for more affordable drum sets.
So, if you’re weighing budget versus quality, the Imperialstar has the balance of both. The next exciting thing about the drum set is the high-quality cymbals, and there are five of them. With Tama’s cutting edge processes, you’ll surely get a great impression while you play with the drum set.
- Very affordable drum set, especially for the brand and the overall construction quality
- The finish is really nice
- Tone is good enough for an affordable set
- Stock heads aren’t that good, needs replacement for better tuning
- Tom mounting system makes yours a bit awkward to play
- Might be too loud and punchy
Lagrima Drum Set
Made with real wood shells, these high-grade, yet affordable Lagrima Drum Set surely sets you apart in the competition. Its solid design and setup help you achieve better playability. The bottom of the drum has a ringing chord, that causes good resonance when the drums are played. Thereby, giving wonderful sound quality.
One particular feature that you may like is the adjustable angles of the drums. This will help you play comfortably, at the same time, get an enhanced resonance. The snare drum gives full attack and power, while the bass drum offers chest-thumping low frequencies.
- Easy to put together and sounds really well
- Just the right size and has a good value for the money
- Better construction than expected, especially for the price
- Professionals might not like it because of the sound of the cymbals
- Cymbals are not of good quality
Best Choice Products 5-Piece Drum Set
A quality and adjustable drum set that allows you to express your true self, the Best Choice Products 5-Piece Drum Set is a great choice. You’ll get a snare drum, bass drum, two rack toms and a floor tom, together with everything you need to start drumming. This full-size drum set is crafted with excellence with high-gloss finish, giving you an eye-catching equipment for a pleasant performance.
All drums are made of solid wood and metal giving you a reliable drum set. So, you’ll enjoy the warm sound of the bass drum and the pumping rhythms of the snare.
- The set is nice, especially the glossy finish of the drums
- Has good sounds revealing the solid wood material used
- Impressive complete full-size drum set with lots of potential
- Setup might not be that easy for complete beginners
- Might need hardware upgrade to get the most out of the drum set
- Needs more maintenance
Factors to Consider When Buying a Beginner Drum Set
Having a new set of drums is exciting. However, if you don’t choose it well, it could be the opposite. Aside from giving you the best beginner drum sets in the market, we’ll also give you tips and guide to really pick the best.
4-Piece vs 5-Piece
If you’re eyeing for a beginner guitar, the first dilemma you’ll encounter is choosing between a 4-piece and a 5-piece drum set. And, if you look closer, the only difference between these two is the additional rack tom of the 5-piece drum set.
The 4-piece or 5-piece drum set refers to the number of drums in the pack – not including the cymbals, stands, and other accessories. So, the 4-piece kit might be easy to navigate, says School of Rock. However, since some drummers likes adding more tom drums to the set, why settle for a 4-piece when you can have the 5-piece?
Also Read: 10 Things Every Beginner Drummer Should Know
Drum Woods and Construction
You might have observed that we include the material used in the descriptions of the products above, it’s because it’s a great factor to consider. There’s not just one wood used for build drums, but there are a lot including:
Maple – the most popular drum wood that offer warm and balanced tone
Birch – a tough material for brighter sound quality, great for recording and easily cuts through mixes
Mahogany – great in achieving vintage tone and slightly warmer than maple with more enhanced low-end response
Poplar – low-cost material with the same tonal character as maple or birch
Hardware
This is an essential component of a drum set, which includes bass drum pedal, snare stand and cymbal stands. Having a reliable hardware including will definitely help you save more money than buying it separately.
Drum Heads
These has a great role in the sound quality you’ll get, as well as the playability. Drum heads are present in all drums – top head or the batter head and the bottom head, which also referred to as the resonant head.
Commonly, drum heads nowadays are made of plastic called Mylar in various colors. The coating and the thickness are two major differentiators to the sound quality produced. Jazz players, for example, prefer thinner heads to achieve livelier sounds, while rock players want thicker for fatter sound.
For more information about the budget range and what you’ll get for the budget that you have, this YouTube video is a great help to you.
Additionally, you’ll also learn more about what to get for a specific age range of your child or the one who’ll use the drums. Lastly, you’ll enjoy some practical tips offered that are really quite useful.
Also Check Out – Best Drum Set for Kids
Our Top Pick
Our top pick for the best beginner drum set is the Pearl Roadshow. All drums are made of 9-ply poplar shells which offer a powerful tone of the affordable drum sets. The sound is amazing, too. The snare drum has a crisp and snappy tone that perfects the overall clear and solid tonal quality of the drum set.
The construction quality is at par with maple shells, so you don’t need to worry about heavy beatings. At a price every beginner can afford, Pearl Roadshow drum set is the best choice for the money.