Customer Reviews

Groove Percussion BD-3164MA Travel Kit 4-Piece Drum Set with Hardware

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are looking for a second kit for small gigs, or a first drum kit give this one serious consideration.

Sound: even with stock heads each drum has the perfect balance of warmth, projection and tone. I always replace stock heads on new drum kits, but after a first tuning I discovered that the bass drum and snare drum heads that came with the set were more than adequate. I did replace the batter-side heads on the two toms with medium weight Remo FiberSkyn heads (ASIN B0002F7J52 for the 10" mounted tom and ASIN B0002F7J5W for the suspended 13" tom). My motivation for replacing those two heads was to get a warmer, more subdued sound for jazz. The stock heads on the toms are more than sufficient for rock and project a lot of sound if that is the style of music you play.

Construction: the quality of the drums and hardware is amazing. This kit is noticably superior in every way to my Tama Stagestar kit, and considering that Tama is one of the top brands that is saying a lot. The shells are maple lined and have heavy duty hardware. The snare drum is one of the highest-quality snares I have had the pleasure of playing in quite some time. It tunes perfectly, has a 20-strand snare, and projects a bigger sound than any 12" snare drum I've ever played - it can hold its own with many 14" snare drums.

It comes with a cymbal stand that is better than the one that came with my Tama, and the bass pedal and hi-hat work smoothly. The bass pedal in particular has features I appreciate, such as the ability to make all adjustments with a drum key instead of requiring a hex wrench for adjusting cams. This pedal - a single chain drive type - also comes with a full bottom floorplate and a dual sided beater, which are features that "cheap" kits do not have.

The snare drum stand, like the cymbal stand and hi-hat, is double-braced and as good as anything made by Tama or Pearl. Moreover, this kit comes with memory locks for the tom holders, cymbal and hi-hat stands, and the snare stand. Those are nice touches that one usually only finds in high-end kits.

One final thing to love is the finish, which is beatuifully done in a natural wood decor that adds visual beauty to this kit.

The following are some issues I have with the kit: the 16x16 bass drum is difficult to tune. This drum is a floor tom tom that has been converted into a bass drum by adding spurs, a riser and tom holder. There is nothing inherently wrong with the drum itself, but any square bass drum (same depth and diameter) will present tuning challenges. I would have preferred a 14" deep x 16" diameter size.

The suspended floor tom is not a feature I like. I would have preferred legs, which would have given me more flexibility in where and how I placed it.

Despite the issues this kit is professional quality in every respect and makes a great second kit for acoustic of jazz gigs and small venues, or a perfect first kit for drummers of all age and experience ranges.

I agree with the prior review from Mike. This set is an awsome little kit. The toms and snare really project and have a nice tone. I like the 12" snare better than any 14' snare - has a better crack and is really responsive to buzz and ghost notes. The hardware is top notch and the finish on the drums is beautiful. For less than $400, this is a great kit for anyone - beginner to pro. Seriously, 10 years ago, only the top notch kits looked and sounded this good. If you're into "status" and have to have the big name brand on your bass drum, this sets not for you. But if sound and quality are your first priority, look no further.

I've had this kit for about 5 years and have used it for gigs and practice. Like another reviewer wrote, it has pluses and minuses.

The sound: The toms are great. I never expected to get a rich tone out of either when I first bought the kit but immediately out of the box, with minor tuning and head replacements I was very pleased with the projection and full tones. The snare is ok but it required alot of tweaking and dampening until I got a sound I was satisfied with. I eventually replaced it with another snare that I was much happier with. The most difficult sound to get right is the kick. A 16" kick is tough no matter how you slice it and I have never been happy with it. In some rooms it sounds better than others and I had to resign myself to the fact that a 16" kick just isn't going to get the deep thump I want. What makes it even worse is the projection. It just doesn't have much of a presense. This could be due to the size of the drum but it could also be the woods in the shell. I sold this kit recently and traded up to the Yamaha Manu Katche hipgig kit which has a similar sound to this kit but I think has a better kick drum tone.

The hardware: The kit comes with a hihat, single chain drive kick pedal, snare stand and cymbal stand. Like another reviewer experienced, I had the kick pedal leg adjustment wing screws strip on me in the first year of owning this set. Very frustrating as it makes adjustment to leg height useless and worse, the legs telescope inside and collapse or the bottom leg drops out. This happened to me at a gig and while I was in the middle of a song, the kick drum started to fall down. I somehow was able to finish the song but I wasn't happy. I had to go out and buy replacement legs which worked fine. The rest of the hardware works well but sometimes feels cheap. The snare stand in particular with it's aluminum snare holder adjustment piece that opens and closes the 'arms' around the drum seems like it will break if I twist too much and it has a very jerky action when adjusting. The spring on the kick pedal broke on me in the first year which needed replacing. Yet it's hard to complain too much. The stands are double braced and the adjustable kick drum ball mount for the high tom works perfect as well as the floor tom mount holder that fits on the cymbal stand making the kit that much more portable. All the repairs I made cost me probably less than $50 total.

I'm not completely satisfied with the overall sound of the kit and it has some hardware flaws but for everthing you get for under $400 new, it's a decent kit and worth the money.

I Own this kit for a couple of years now and every time I've used it in public someone always have a possitive remark about it.
In my ipinion the set has it's pros and cons, for example the floor tom still has the original heads and I have always loved the sound it comes out of this drum, I preffer suspended floor toms and on this one actually helps great deal on that amazing sound it reflects. The bass drum needs quite some tweaking to get the sound right and definitelly the heads have to be replaced but once you get it right you'll be amazed the sound it comes out from this little drum. The rack tom like the floor tom carries same carasteristics in sound( it's like you can't go wrong with this two). Now when it comes to the harware, in my opinion is quite fragile, the bass pedal clamp broke in less than a year of very light use, the hi-hat stand pedal broke as well because they used a plastic bracket to attach the chain to the rod, the bass drum legs(not very good quality)thread striped already and the butterfly nut in the leg striped also.
The set over all is a great buy for the price with a fantastic sound. With the right harware and head configuration there is nothing to envy from the big guys.

Make sure you go to a music store web site, like www.samash.com, to see what is included in this drum set. The pictures on this page are misleading and just downright wrong.