Best Acoustic Drum Sets

Acoustic drum sets have been the foundation of music for a long, long time. Today they are still an essential part of just about every actual band out there. The purpose of this guide is to introduce you to some of the best acoustic kits out there, show you what to look for in a kit but also show you some tools you can use to record drums at home. Those are just some of the things we will talk about as soon as we go over our picks for the top 10 best acoustic drum kits on the market.

Top 10 Best Acoustic Drum Kits:

Image	Acoustic Drum Set / Rating	Summary	Check Price
+ -	Pearl Masters Maple Complete Total of 4.88/5	Great set for those who want something more at a reasonable price.	Amazon
+ -	Gretsch New Renown Total of 4.83/5	This kit from Gretsch represents what higher end performance is all about.	Amazon
+ -	DW Design Series Total of 4.78/5	A pretty great shell pack that has an already proven track record.	Amazon
+ -	Pearl Decade Maple Total of 4.88/5	One of the best all wood kits in this particular price range.	Amazon
+ -	Yamaha Stage Custom Birch Total of 4.83/5	One of Yamaha's most popular and definitely most respected workhorse drum kits.	Amazon
+ -	Pearl EXX725/C Export Standard Total of 4.80/5	A model that defines the meaning of bang for the buck value.	Amazon
+ -	Tama IP52KCHLB Imperialstar Total of 4.65/5	A competitive kit that brings everything you need at a reasonable price.	Amazon
+ -	Pearl RS525SCC706 Roadshow Total of 4.55/5	Affordable yet very impressive kit that offers good sound and good performance.	Amazon
+ -	Drum Craft DC805043 Total of 4.85/5	Definitely one of the best jazz sets on the market right now.	Amazon
+ -	Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz Total of 4.75/5	A reliable and very capable jazz set from Gretsch that doesn't disappoint.	Amazon

Category Breakdown:

Best Beginner Drum Sets – Getting started with a new instrument is always hard, especially if you aren't familiar with it. Same applies to drums although some could argue that it's even worse since there are so many things to look for. This category is reserved for kits which are meant to get you started down the right path. Most of these come with all of the hardware and accessories an average beginner needs. Additionally, these kits are pretty affordable on average.

Best Drum Sets Under $1000 – Drums that cost under a grand are still more or less considered an entry level segment. This is where you will find your beginner kits and low mid range models. The quality is pretty good all things considered and this is the first category where you are introduced to a variety of options when it comes to shell design and hardware in general. Overall, this is a great starting point.

Best Professional Drum Sets Under $2000 – Drum sets from this category represent the true mid range segment of the market. We are talking about semi professional and professional kits that feature advanced shell design, advanced materials and rock solid hardware. One thing to note about this category is that not many of these sets features any stands or other hardware. In other words, you are looking at shell packs for the most part.

Best Drum Set for Jazz – Despite a widespread misconception, jazz drums are definitely a category of their own. A jazz drum features different shells, different materials and generally a different drum layout. There is a very good reason for all of that as well. Jazz drums need to be much more balanced and in tune with the rest of the band as not to over power the other instruments. If you need a jazz kit this is where you should start.

Best Snare Drums for Your Set – Snare drums are by far the most important component of any drum kit out there. Because of that, most drummers have a very distinct taste in snares. Naturally, different genres of music require different snare designs but there is a lot more to this. Shopping for snares can be difficult as there are numerous things to watch for, which is what this particular category is all about.

Best Cymbal Packs – Cymbals are a part of a drum kit that allows you to truly express your style. While you can add only so many shells to your kit, you can go crazy with cymbals. Because of that, cymbals are a topic of their own. Cymbal packs represent an easy way to find a good combination of cymbals that will work for your genre of music and your preferred playing style.

Best Overhead Drum Mics – Overhead mics represent one of the easiest ways of recording or amplifying your drums. In most cases you are looking at one or two condensers positioned above the cymbals. However, just like it is the case with any kind of recording where mics are involved, positioning is everything. Recording techniques aside, finding a good overhead mic is essential if you want to get the job done the right way.

Best Drum Mic Kits – Using microphone kits to record drums is by far the most precise and effective way of recording or amplifying this instrument. Mic kits include microphones for just about every component of your drum set. Complicated to use, these kits allow you to exert full control over the way your drum set sounds and projects. We have chosen some of the best kits for you to check out in this category.

What Makes a Good Acoustic Drum Set?

This question requires us to look deeper into the basics of acoustic drums if we are to give you a worthy answer. In reality it is very hard to come up with a short definition. There are numerous factors that come into play which need to be accounted for. That is exactly what we are going to do right now. We will start this guide off by covering the basics of acoustic drums starting with different drum layouts, shell designs, hardware and so on. Without further ado, lets jump right into it.

Drum Layout

If you are completely new to drums, you have probably noticed that not every kit is the same. Some have a different number of shells on them while others may have more cymbals. This wide diversity of elements hints at one of the best things about acoustic drums. You can pretty much do anything you want to as long as you have the bare essentials. Speaking of which, the most essential part of any drum kit are the kick drum, snare and hi-hat. Naturally, you won't find too many of such basic kits around these days. Most will have the bare minimum of 4 or 5 elements right out of the box. Since every drummer has their own taste and style, you will see some pretty impressive drum sets which push the boundaries in terms of shells, cymbals and so on. With that said, there are a few standardized layouts you will run into the most.

Rock Kits

Rock kits are what many consider to be the base value, the default layout. In other words kits which feature a kick drum, floor tom, mid and hi tom as well as a snare fall into this category. However, it is also necessary to consider the size and diameter of shells when defining different layouts. Since rock kits are meant to be used with rock and heavier genres, most will feature wide shells such as a 22″ kick drum or a 16″ floor tom. This real estate and volume give you the aggressive attack, presence and overall power which rock as a genre demands.

Jazz Kits

Next to rock kits, jazz oriented drum sets come across as tame. Contrary to popular belief most rock drums don't really satisfy the standards of jazz all that well. A 3-piece kit doesn't make a drum set suitable for jazz. What does is a warm sounding shell that is made of wood preferably. This is why most jazz kits are made of maple or some other tonewood depending on the brand you are going with. Standard jazz kick drums are anywhere between 18″-20″ in diameter, which makes them less powerful than the rock kits. The idea is to not overpower the other instruments in your band and work with just around the standing bass.

Shell Design and Hardware

Aside from a drum layout, shell design and hardware is also very important. As we have already mentioned just now, shells come in different sizes depending on what genre of music the drum set is intended. Dimensions aside, materials make a huge difference in drum set quality and sound. You will mostly see drums made out of wood laminate or metals with a sprinkle of acrylic shells here or there. Wood is still the most popular choice, especially now when laminates have become incredibly good. There are a few things that will impact the sound of a wooden shell. One is the number of plies and whether you are using solid wood or laminates. Number of plies implies laminates which doesn't necessarily mean a bad sound. On the contrary. With that said, solid wood is still the best option out there, albeit quite rare unless you are willing to invest large amounts of money in your kit.

Drum hardware is what we call the metal components mounted on the shell. This is where your hoops, tuning lugs and shell mounts belong. These are quite important for a number of reasons. A good set of tuning lugs will make tuning the drum so much easier. On the other hand good hoops will hold that tuning for a long time. Ideally you want hardware that doesn't interfere with the sound of the shell, or at least does so in a very limited way.

Heads

Drum heads are by far one of the most important components on any kit. They are also your main input surfaces. Investing in a good set of heads can literally transform a crappy drum kit into something that you can take out on stage and not have any issues with. If you read our reviews, you will find that most of the kits we are talking about use Remo heads. Remo is just one of the top tier brands out there although they are arguably the best at the moment. If you are getting a beginner kit, doing a head swap is probably the best way to immediately improve the sound you get

Hardware

Fortunately for us drum sets include much more than just a set of shells. They also come with a whole array of available cymbals. The problem is that those cymbals need to be mounted somewhere. This is where hardware comes into play. It is essential that you use proper hardware if you want to enjoy consistency and good performance. Cutting corners on hardware can render the best set of cymbals practically useless. Not to mention the damage your gear could suffer in case a stand fails and drops your cymbals or shells. However, hardware goes beyond just cymbals stands.

Kick Pedals

Kick pedals are arguably a very important part of any kit. Most of modern drumming can be reduced to a pattern of snare and kick drum beats. Being able to be precise with your kicks is essential. That is why you need a good kick pedal. Kick pedals generally come in two flavors. You have single and double kick pedals. Singles are what you get to see on an average run of the mill set. Double kick pedals are already a fairly niche item that is mostly used in metal music.

Snares – The King Of Drum Sets

With all due respect to every other drum component and element, snares are by far the most important piece of kit on a drum set. The reason for this is quite simple. Snare is what you hear driving the drum line. Sure, bass drum is there as well as the other drums, but snare is what you use to keep the rhythm going. Because of that, you can easily change the way an entire kit sounds simply by buying a different snare. Many drummers have more than one snare available, with different snare wires and hardware. If you are serious about drumming, there is simply no way that you will be able to function with just one snare.

Choosing the Right Accessories

Aside from drums, cymbals and hardware, there is a number of accessories which you need have. These are often left out of the budget, which in turn leads many to just get whatever they can and call it a day. That's not a good way to go about doing this for sure. The accessories we are talking about mainly come down to the drum throne and sticks.

Drum Thrones

One of the fundamentals of proper drumming technique is comfort and proper posture. If you can't match these two requirements, you are at risk of either developing bad habits or simply injuring yourself by straining your body too much. A good drum throne takes care of this entire problem. Investing in a proper throne is the best way to ensure a healthy learning and playing environment. There are many throne designs out there as well as types. However, we suggest that you stick with a proven brand and a simple design until you get some experience under your belt. Later on you can decide which throne design best suits your needs.

Drum Sticks

As far as sticks go, the situation is pretty straight forward. Everyone starts out, or should start out on 5A sticks. These are the most neutral sticks you can find. They are fast, very easy to manipulate, easy to balanced and generally easy to run. Once you develop your own playing style and get your hands used to sticks, you might decide that you need a different stick profile. However, starting out with heavy stick which are niche designed for a specific role is a good way to set yourself up for failure. Also, count on the fact that drum stick are going to break. That is just the way things are. Even the best drummers in the world break sticks on the regular. Sure, proper technique greatly reduces the chances of that happening, but sometimes it just comes down to material fatigue.


Conclusion

Drums are a very exciting instrument to get into. Despite how overwhelming and complex drums can be, you don't really need much to get started. The models we have listed above are by far some of the best you can find on the market right now. We have included kits from various price ranges as well as niche models designed specifically for jazz. As always, it is highly recommended to get the best kit your money can buy, just make sure that you are getting shells, hardware and cymbals. All of those are necessary even for the most basic use.