gasman

Guess what doesn't fit in any closet in my house. Yep, a fully assembled bass drum. Looks like he will have some drum assembly coming his way...

Yep, PDP. He can get DW on his own dime when he is an adult. I actually planned to have him assemble them. Unfortunately, the shipping tag said inspect and if anything is missing you have 10 days to report it or you are SOL. I looked for an inventory list, assembly instructions etc. Nothing. So I figured the safest thing to do was to assemble the heads, make sure I had all the screws etc. I'll leave everything separate and he can assemble the kit on Christmas. I didn't want missing stuff on Christmas morning and especially didn't want to be told "sorry, you should have told us sooner" if I was missing a hoop, leg or some other part. I'm doing the little stuff and he can do the full assembly himself.

The boy is away at a class trip, so this is happening. Zero instructions. Thank you YouTube university.

I think the ear plugs are a great idea. He has mentioned how loud drum line practice at school can be. Conversation with the wife last night went kinda like this: Me: Well, I ordered the boy a set of drums today. Should ship tomorrow. Her: What? He hasn't mentioned drums to me at all... Me: Well, he's talked to me about them. Do you remember me taking him all day Saturday to go look at drum kits? I talked to you about getting him a kit for Christmas. Her: Well, yeah. How much were they? Me: ...........It was a good deal, blah blah $150 off. $729. That includes all the hardware, free shipping , no tax.... Her: Really? That much? Me: It's a lot of parts. 5 shells, hi-hat stand, cymbal stands, throne, bass drum pedal. Her: Ok. I just hope he plays them. Me: Well, he loves drums and is getting really bored practicing on the practice pad. It's the next logical step. I decided to not even tell her about the cymbals. That's the reason the gear stash exists.

For me or him? Again, I can't thank you guys enough.

I reached out to Sigler music today. They were willing to honor the previous price jimmyjazz posted earlier on the blue sparkle set. I’ll be reaching into the gear stash fund for some used Zildjian A’s. Thanks everyone. Will post real pics after Christmas.

Not sure if a good price, but they look awesome. https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/msg/d/vintage-1970s-ludwig/6688466119.html

I have an email out to jimmyjazz’s link to see if they will price match the blue sparkle with the old red hot code. Wish me luck.

I'll keep my eye on CL for the cymbals. Will try and wait for Black Friday drum specials (fingers crossed...)

He is a pretty solid mix of current Alternative (Arctic Monkeys/Twenty One Pilots/White Stripes/My Chemical Romance....) and older (for him at age 14) rock like AC/DC, GnR. We looked at a few sets today at Lone Star Percussion. Their recommendation was the Yamaha Birch Stage Custom (5 piece) and the Mapex Armory. His instructor likes the PDP Concept Maple 5 piece. They had nothing bad to say about that set, just stated it was personal preference for the most part. All were solid upper tier beginner sets. He was not a fan of the Gretsch appearance at all. We couldn't play at Lone Star, so we hit a Guitar Center on the way home and he was able to play on the Yamaha and PDP. From his perspective, both were equal but he liked the color selections on the PDP better. Sparkle blue..... He also liked the Mapex Armory a lot-purple haze. I know it is silly to pick a set based on appearance, but if they are all solid kits, I want to get him something he wants. We tried out a Roland electronic. He liked the mesh heads, but when he went for the cymbals, he immediately lost interest. Hated them. At this point I am leaning towards the PDP as it seems to be a better price and I can toss the extra cash to cymbals. Hopefully some Holiday prices will roll my way soon.

That is a good deal. With it being a Christmas gift, I would prefer to go new. We are going to "end up" by Lone Star percussion tomorrow and I plan to turn him loose. After that, I should get a feel for what he likes and will go from there. I want these to be drums he wants rather than the drums I want to get him. At the same time, the advice here has been awesome. At least I am not going in blind about sets to look for, cymbals to avoid etc. I'll keep everyone posted as to what we end up with. Of course, now I want to call up the CL guy and get me a set too......

Thanks for the advice guys. After talking to my son, his suggestion about an electronic set was so he would not disturb me. He would prefer acoustics. I have no issues with him playing, so the electronics are now out. I will check out the Gretsch Renown. I also reached out to his drum instructor who also recommended the PDP set JimmyJazz listed above. I didn't even think about cymbals. Crap, there is so much stuff to budget for. It's a Christmas gift, so I have some time to hopefully find a good deal. We have a LoneStar Percussion in DFW, so I plan to loop by at some point. I don't even want to know how much that Ludwig set is... My kid is pretty psyched about the idea, I don't think he actually believes he will get them though. Christmas morning may be pretty loud!

I ended up missing out on the set above. Can the drummers here give me some solid advice? My son is 14, has dabbled in guitar but lost interest. He has been playing on the school drum line this year and has been taking lessons on the side. He is wanting a drum set for Christmas. Electronic vs Acoustic? Buy a full set or shell pack and hardware separately? I am looking for something all in around $1000-$1200. My fear is him losing interest like the guitar so I don't want to go crazy, but he has taken to drums and is actually practicing of his own volition. I don't want to be replacing a cheap set in 6 months because he is looking to upgrade. I'm totally out of my element here so any help is appreciated.

I thought the "new" was just to avoid CL issues. You are right that Yamaha would likely be the best "new" option. However, it seems like every GC has a couple of barely touched used S6's ripe for the picking. Now, if he was willing to wait a month for Black Friday deals.... but once new guitar fever hits, waiting is usually an impossibility.

See what GC has available in their used section. You may find a Seagull S6 or another gem sitting around your $250 mark.

Link? I may jump on these

Go in with cash and negotiate the best deal you can right now on the IWC. When you go back, negotiate the best deal you can on the VC ("Hey, still love the IWC I got here last year." -points to watch on wrist). I think trying to tie a potential future sale to the current one is a fools errand.

Check out You Need Pie in Estes Park. Great pies and the wait staff are all foreign exchange students. Get a National Park pass if you don't already have one. Go early to RMNP and you can avoid the lines a bit. Parking can be a bit of a hassle, but if you go early enough, you can avoid much of it.

We installed a mesh fence with a self locking gate while the kids were young. It's a modular design so The fence could then be removed and the holes plugged once the kids got older. There is no substitute for a fence around the pool with young kids. Any alarms (assuming the splash guard works) just tell you that the kid is already in the pool.

My son is in the same boat. We got him a practice pad kit from DW on the recommendation of his instructor. It has worked well so far and was inexpensive. If he sticks with it, we will step up to a full set later on.

I haven't been in one, but most reviews seem to be solid. I think the hatch/sportback makes it a pretty practical option as well. Maybe also consider the Genesis? If you are willing to go with the turbo 4, the G70 will offer a MT option for 2019.

If that doesn't pan out, find the local air-cooled club and attend their next meeting. There is bound to be someone there with what you are looking for. Usually a good group of enablers there to help you spend your time and money.

Fort Worth. I'm finally getting the last of the fluids changed (never trust the previous owner). Got some upholstery tears fixed. Replacing and fixing bits and pieces here and there. Corrected the paint as much as I can. The goal was to have a truck to teach my teenage son how to do drive a MT and learn basic repairs and maintenance. It's been pretty solid so far.

I certainly had some emotional swings (both high and low) as my internal brain chemistry normalized. It will improve. I think you are on the right path regarding finding something productive to do with your time. Exercise, AA meetings, reading, working on a home project or hobby.... Whatever you find that constructively occupies your time and mind is a good choice. Looking back now, I get so much stuff done in that idle time were I was too toasted to do anything before. Sounds like you are on the right course.

Your experience sounds a lot like mine. My rock bottom may not be as low as some in here, but it was low enough for me. Once I started drinking, my “off switch” was non existent. My wife also had “the talk” with me which was a true eye opener. I remain tremendously grateful to her that she had the courage to speak up. I took a few breaks and found out I always ended up where I left off. Along with what Dewey said, as you take a break, consider downloading a copy of the AA Big Book. The Doctors Opinion is a good starting point. See if you happen to relate to any of it. Good luck and keep us posted. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk