Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I picked up this set for my little girl who had gotten used to having a kit around that the previous owners of our house forgot to take with them. When they remembered and came to pick it up, I knew I needed to get her one of her own to fill the gap.
I DID NOT want a toy, but at the same time didn't want to spend a ton. I had done a decent bit of research on this and other similar kits and had heard time and time again that these were not toys but "real" drum sets. Every time I head down to the basement to play around with the girls, I am a little more disappointed.
First, the positives. It looks great (though some dings and dents in shipping caused a little cosmetic damage). She loves the candy apple pink. Also, it comes with everything you need, including sticks and a throne. That's about it really.
Now for the negatives. The instructions were basically useless. The seller obviously knew this as well and sent me some additional directions which, though for another kit, and a 3-piece kit at that, were still much better than the terrible stuff included.
The pedals for the bass drum and hi hat are basically as cheap as they could be and still be acceptable - for some people. While the kit is aimed at the 3/4 to 8/9 age group, many of the younger in that range will struggle to actually use those pedals. Furthermore, they will not stay in place for long.
As for the drums themselves, while there are three toms and a snare, it might as well be four "drums" because there is very little difference. They can be tuned fortunately, to achieve some sort of differentiation, but not much. But worse than that is the snare which has an essentially useless snares inside that, regardless of how tight or loose I adjust them, fail to make any significant "snare" sound. I actually had to open up the drum and bend the snare mechanism down, away from the drum head itself. It was pressed against the head and created a "hot spot" on the drum where if you struck the drum slightly off center you would just hit the metal snare arm. I have adjusted and bent it in all directions. It either makes no snare sound at all and just sounds like another tom or it makes terrible rattle.
Now, I want to say that I am fully aware that this is NOT meant to be a high quality drum set. I was not expecting it would be. Honestly, if the snare was any where near the quality of the "cheap" junior kit that was left at the house I would have given this one four stars - probably. My problem is that I HAVE seen/used some of the kits considered "toys" which had better pedals, or a more snare sounding snare. One of the distinguishing aspects of a drum set is the snare. If it just sounds like another tom, then it pretty much ruins the whole set. At least in my opinion.
One last point I would like to make is that while this kit is aimed at a certain age range, approximately 3 or 4 to 8 or 9 depending on where you read it, I would never consider this to be an acceptable kit for someone in the upper limit of that range or for anyone over 4 or 5 who might actually be trying to learn the instrument. If my girl(s) keep up their interest I will be getting them a much better kit in the next two years. For another $100-$250 I could have got a proper junior kit, which could have truly lasted until the girls were 8 or 9. Some might consider this more than adequate for young children who just want to hit something, and that's fine, but that's also the problem. It is acceptable for kids who just want to hit (barely), but there are much cheaper options out there for hitting, and many of them are actually better than this one in some regards. I suppose a lot depends on what your/your child's goals are. If they are trying to learn the instrument, then get invest a little more. If they are just looking to bang around, then don't need to spend $175-$200 on this. You should be able to spend quite a bit less than this for something that will do the trick.
My problem: My girls REALLY wanted the hot pink. LOL!
As a side note, I bought this from Vintage Drums (here on Amazon) and they were great. Good communication and were very interested in my concerns, etc.
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