Let’s face it – music gear is expensive. This is especially true for high-end electronic drum kits that offer you enough playability to keep you happy.
A great way of saving money on gear is by buying used. Most drummers are strongly for the concept of buying used acoustic drums, but is it a good idea to buy used electronic drums?
Read on to find out!
The most prominent benefit of buying a used kit is that you can save money. You can either spend less than you budgeted for, or you can spend the same amount and get a better kit than you expected.
It’s also sometimes easier to buy used gear. You can travel to someone’s house or garage sale to pick the kit up, and you don’t need to deal with shipping.
The benefits stop there when it comes to electronic drums, though. There are far more benefits to buying a used acoustic set.
You need to remember that you’re dealing with technology here. It ultimately fails over time. An electronic drum kit that was made in 2010 would most likely not work too well right now, whereas a used acoustic set made in 1950 may still sound and feel fantastic.
So, a big drawback of buying a used kit is that it may not be very reliable. The quality may have degraded before it got to you, and it’s highly likely that the problems are internal.
That means that you won’t see the lowered quality before buying the kit.
The main places are Facebook Marketplace, Reverb, and secondhand sections on popular music gear sites.
You may find a few sweet deals at garage sales, but we’d suggest steering clear of those, especially for electronic sets.
The first thing to look at is pad quality. You need to make sure that all the drum and cymbal pads still look in good shape. If they do, the kit has probably been taken good care of.
If they look nasty, it means that the kit has been neglected, and it probably has other faults too.
You should also hear the drum kit being played if possible. That will give you an idea of how responsive all the drum and cymbal pads are.
Some drummers require these sounds for performances, so they integrate electronic drum kit pads within their acoustic setups. Those are called hybrid drum sets.
If you want to use and play electronic sounds, you’ll need an electronic drum kit to do it.
This depends on how much you’re willing to spend on a brand-new electronic drum set. If your budget is around $200 to $500 for a new e-kit, we’d suggest spending a max of $300 on a used set.
If your budget is between $500 and $1500 for a new set, you shouldn’t spend more than $1000 on a used option.
If you’re willing to spend even more than that, then you need to take it on a case-by-case basis. You may find a sweet deal for a high-end kit that you can’t refuse. You can check our guide on how much does an electronic drum set cost.
It depends on how old they are and how well they’ve been looked after. Just note that new electronic drum kits typically don’t have a lifespan of over ten years.
Technology is always upgrading, and drum companies phase their electronic kits out far quicker than they do with acoustic drum kits.
If you’re keen on an electronic drum kit that is five years old, it will most likely only last another five years once you buy it.
A big rule of thumb in the drumming world is to only buy a used electronic drum kit if it’s from Roland. Roland has the best build quality out of any brand, so their kits tend to last much longer.
They also have excellent support systems where you can easily get your kit fixed if you ever need to.
We strongly suggest that you don’t buy a used Alesis kit. While they’re great for beginners, no Alesis kit has been known to hold up over several years, so it’s far riskier to buy a used one.
Yamaha kits are sometimes just as durable as Roland ones, but they don’t hold the same reputation.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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