Musical Escapists - Could do with some help!

[Crack_The_Skye]

Hey, ive been drumming for about 1 and a half years now, though not regularly on a real kit. I bought Rock Band 1 and played drums until i got to expert and wanted to try the real thing, so try i did! I've only ever played a real kit at my school.
I've recently been looking into getting a real kit for myself seeing as christmas is almost upon us and one of my friends has offered me his kit that he used to play gigs with. He said he didn't gig much and it has just been sat there.
The kit hes offering is a Mapex V series, either a rock kit or a fusion kit(not too sure if thats exact). Hes including a bass drum, a single pedal, a snare and its stand, 2 toms that are suspended from the bass drum and their stand that connects them to the bass drum (i think that they are a high and a mid tom), a floor tom with its legs, a hi-hat stand (no cymbals), 2 old crashes with their stands.
He's offering me £450 for the kit and i have absolutely no idea whether or not its a good deal or not.
Should i accept his offer or should i go to a proper drum store and see what happens?

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Sounds like a great deal considering how large a drum set is (I play saxophone and even the cheapest one is more than $700), but I'd still either check the closest music store for a comparison, ask if you can test it out for wear and tear, or both.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

If you're looking for a good starter kit, Mapex V Series is a good one to go for (it was my first kit too). My biggest piece of advice is to find out more information about the offer before buying it.

First of all, you may want to check out fully whether or not it's a Rock or Fusion kit, Rock kits are usually only suitable for well... rock music, whilst Fusion kits can be more suited to a wider variety of sounds, so you should try and find out what type it is and decide what you would be more likely to play. I for one went for a Fusion kit as I just playy a very wide variety of music, and whilst this is still accomplishable on a Rock kit, it isn't as easy to do. Other people, though would pick a Rock kit because they are more likely to play rock music than anything else.

Secondly, check the types of the crashes he's offering you. As I have already said, Mapex V Series kits are mainly used for starter kits and generally cost about £450-£500 as a result. This kit I'm guessing will be at least a few months if not years old so the price may have dropped then, depending on the condition it has been in. Seeing as this friend said he used to gig on it and now it just sits there, the wear of it may be a case here to look into, as that would change the price of the kit. And seeing as my suspicions are that since it comes without hi-hat cymbals and a second crash instead of a ride I would expect it to be a bit less than originally at least, so what would bring the price up would probably be the crashes and their quality. Also there's the fact that the V Series kits generally come with a crash cymbal, hi-hats and a ride cymbal, not two crashes, so at least one of them isn't standard on the kit.

Which bring me onto my next point: check how well it has been looked after. As I have already said, since your friend said he has mainly used it for gigs and has just had it sitting there for a while, it may have had its fair share of damage to it. Especially check for any cracks in the cymbals, and any water-logging in the drums, as otherwise you could be looking at having to replace a whole drum before being able to play it.

This information may seem a bit general but the problem is that I really don't have enough information to work here. From what you have written it can seem like quite a good deal as the V Series kits are good first kits to buy and what you have described is most of the stuff that comes as standard on the kits -- I still use mine regularly, though I have added/ replaced quite a few things now. Also go try out your local music stores and see what's available there, as they'll probably know a lot more about it than I do and they will also have quite a few other possible offers for you. Just remember that you should try out as many offers as possible before laying your money out on the table.

If you do choose to go for a music store, try to make sure they have the kit in stock. If they have it in stock or in the store itself that means you can buy it, take it home, set it up and start playing on the same day, whilst the alternative is they order it for you. Whilst there is nothing wrong with getting it through order it can have serious issues -- my drum kit came six months late via ordering it through the store. Don't rule out ordering altoether, though, just be weary that getting one in stock will be a lot more practical when it comes to buying it.

Oh, and you can thank this guy for sending me to this thread.