[Seanzzie]

Hey, I'm looking for a beginner set and found this pulse pro 5-piece drum set on musician's friend. It's $349.99, would this possibly be a good buy? are there any other suggestions on what to get?

	Pulse Drums Shop for Pulse Drums at Musician's Friend

[UPSTROKE]

My son bought one a couple years ago. I set it up for him and the sound was amazing. The hardware that comes with it is worth about $4.00 The Pulse Pro-line hardware is very well built. We have bought him the cymbal stands, hi-hat stand and throne. He purchased both the Pro-line single and double bass pedals. They were so good, with so many adjustments on them, that I bought some for myself. I am using a PDP CX kit, but all the hardware is Pulse Pro-line. I'm a happy camper with everything they make.
You will probably end up changing the heads in time to either Evans EC-2's or Remo pinstripes or Aquarian??? But take your time. Enjoy the drums. My Son sure does. I gave him an old Mapex Venus kit a while back. The Pulse set kicks it's butt.

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	Remo Drumheads Shop for Remo Drumheads at Musician's Friend

[shazaam]

Yea, I was actually thinking of one of them for my new set, but eh' I decided no an dwent through a friend. But for a beginner I say yes, heck, even intermediate. Just get decent cymblas and new hardware probably like upstroke said along with new heads probably perty soon and it'll be a perty decent setup I'd think. Another brand that's decent and half way new I guess is Verve Music123 carries them and has a really nice lookin kit for $500 and comes with zildjian planet z's I also was really close to getting that kit, but went local.

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[Seanzzie]

All right thanks, I'll probly check out that Verve then.

[UPSTROKE]

By all means, check out the Verve sets from 123. A couple of things to look at as they offer a wide variety of sets at a wide range of prices. It's really simple, Just count the lugs on the bass drum and snare. Reason- Generally the sets with more hardware per drum are better built all the way through. Also look for "Rims" type of mounting system on the rack toms. They make a world of difference in sound quality. Some of their sets come with all hoops "die cast". Another bonus. For example most truly "upper end" kits have all "die cast" hoops. The Pulse kits are mahogany shells and the Verve kits are Maple shells. I would think the Maple would be a better sound. Unfortunately, I have not been exposed to any of the Verve drum sets yet. I am curious myself.
Both brands are probably very good. Like I said, down line, changes heads, etc. Best of luck.

	Pulse Drums Shop for Pulse Drums at Musician's Friend

[shazaam]

Yea, I wish I coulda heard the Verve I was almost gonna get, O well. From the guy that I was gonna buy from, he said it was a really rock solid set, new heads and cymbals of course but yea that's expected. But the one verve I really like though I never heard it,just really seems like a nice set is this guy... http://www.music123.com/Verve-Maple-...-i229036.music ... or the standard version. Iono, just really liked it since I first looked at it. And the planet Z's are a nice little bonus over standard Verve cymbals.

[Seanzzie]

Yea, that looks like a pretty nice set. Bonus with the Zildjians too. Not to expensive either, it may be a good one to look into.

	Zildjian Cymbals Shop for Zildjian Cymbals at Musician's Friend

[shazaam]

WOW, I just seen this Gretsch kit yesterday I think. Honestly, there's some competition for that Verve to me now...
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Set?sku=446746
Iono how good the BlackHawk series is but it seems perty nice. Doesn't sound like you get heads though, just shells and hardware, but still a decent deal I think.And that color, OMG is it ever BEAUtiful.

	Gretsch Drums Shop for Gretsch Drums at Musician's Friend

[UPSTROKE]

I really appreciate the great Gretsch drums and their history. But I think I need to disagree with you on this one. Compare the hardware between the two sets.
Surprisingly, a lot of the price on entry level equipment has to do with the quality and quantity of the hardware. Take a close look at both kits.
The Verve kit has a 10 lug bass drum, the Blackhawk has 8. How many lugs on the toms of each kit?? What is the shell of the Blackhawk made of? Verve is a combination of Maple and Birch. Look at the stands. How many sections tall are the cymbal stands? 2 or 3 sections? If it's only 2 sections, the entire stand is made lighter and more fragile. That is the major problem with the Pulse kit from Musicians Friend. The hardware that comes with the stock kit sucks. If it is replaced with their Pro-line, that stuff is great. Of course, new heads, different hardware, etc. all make a positive improvement. But the better the basic construction you start out with--the better kit you end up with. This, of course is just fodder to soak into your brain. The ultimate decision is always yours. Best of luck. Just enjoy playing whatever kit you end up with
Verve has another kit. It's a standard configuration with larger sized drums. The good news is ALL the drums have "Die-cast" hoops on them. The bad new is, they have never posted a picture of this kit. Also, the info is severely lacking. Sounds like a well built kit. I wish they would post more info and a picture. Theyre selling it for $425.00, down from $499.00.

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[shazaam]

O yea, I'd get the Verve I linked to over the gretsch, it was just another kit I seen that looked perty decent for the $$$ and for $300, well, you can't expect an ungodly kit. Well, it depends cause I really like that gretsch kit too =P I feel like I'm getting/looking for a drumset again lol.

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