V-Drums

My V-Drums arrived on Saturday. Yet another eBay purchase. eBay is pretty good for musical instruments. Maybe cause musical instruments tend to get bought and sold fairly frequently. The TD-20 drum kit I bought is used, but that saved me about $2,000 from buying new. The TD-20 is Roland's flagship electronic drum kit, their top of the line. It has the largest diameter snare and what would normally be floor toms (PD-125s, so 12" heads), and it has the most realistic hi-hats on the market I think. Same with the crash and ride cymbals: they're heavy, rubberized discs with two triggers each: top and edge. They can also be hand-choked, which is pretty unusual for electronic cymbals. The ride cymbal has a third trigger for the bell. Meanwhile, the drums' mesh heads have probably the most realistic feel of any electronic drums. Playing them feels like playing acoustic drums. But only a fraction of the noise of the real thing, so I can play these fairly freely at home. The TD-20 drum module ("brain") has a bunch of pre-programmed drum kits on it and can model various aspects of a drum (shell diameter and depth, mic position, etc.). My old Pintech electronic kit with the Alesis DM-5 drum module is going to another home in trade for the Tama Rockstar kit that I play on with the rock/80s band I'm in. The V-Drums kit is my 4th kit.

I have to say I think I've been pretty lucky with my eBay purchases. Of the six TD-20 kits I was watching, I paid the least for my kit. One thing I was worried about with the used kit was the kick pedal. Felt beaters tend to rip the mesh head for some reason, although the manual states that plastic beaters should be used. Although they didn't say so on the eBay auction description, I think they sent me a new KD-120 kick drum. In its original box. In fact, three of the drums looked like they were brand new. About the only component that was in the worst condition was the actual rack stand. It seems a bit rickety, but after setting it up and tightening the nuts it seems solid enough. I also bought a DW 7000 double bass pedal with DW 5000 hinges, so it feels as solid as the DW 5000. Playing this kit sounds and feels great, really close to my acoustic kits. Once I bring the manual home I'll start goofing with the TD-20's modeling features.