Ludwig LC125 Accent 5-Piece CS Power Series Drum Kit

Feature:
excellent hardware - as good as set costing twice as much

Quality:
highly impressive at any price, but it is hard to believe this set cost under $500.....

Value:
nothing even close for the price -

Sound:
for the money this set sounds highly impressive - I imagine with a skin upgrade it would sound even better

Ease of Use:
I had no instructions and still had the entire set up and playing in a couple hours

Feature:
All the manufacturers seem to market the identical set of Chinese-made, entry-level shells & hoops with slightly varying hardware and tom mounting. The high hat & kick pedals aren't bad and the stands are addequate. The major ommission is a boom stand for the ride cymbal - I can't imagine why they don't include this. One more gripe is the tom mounts. You can't really get them closer than about 4 inches, and need to angle them quite a bit do do that.

Quality:
Great for the money. No issues.

Value:
When I shopped for these (late '04) they were definitely the best value. Having played them a little, I still consider them a great deal.

Desirability:
I got the red. They're pretty "normal" looking. But with a decent set of cymbals and some new top heads they're stage-worthy.

Sound:
Not too bad straight out of the box. I'd recommend immediately replacing the top heads with something less twangy (depending on your style, maybe Remo Powerstrokes?), especially the kick. The kick drum needs a good pillow and you need to cut a hole if you'll be miking it.

Support:
N/A

Overall:
I got these for my daughter, who's just starting seriously playing. No doubt she'll upgrade hardware as she goes along, but I expect the shells to last until she's ready (to spend her own money) for a custom-finish set.