Don't let the hybrid shells scare you. The drums sound great! I switched out the Reso and batter heads to my preferred brand and the toms truly sing. Easy to tune as well. I play my drums open and these toms have plenty of resonance without any fruity overtones if tuned correctly. The real surprise for me was the snare drum. I had no expectations and did not plan on using it, but I switched out the stock head and put a Remo control sound batter on and a couple moongels just to see what would happen and wow - I got a big Rock sound out of it. I've got quite a few snares, but I would not have a problem using this snare at gig - very big sound! That's unusual because the snare drum is almost always the weakest link in a shell pack at this price. The bass drum is a keeper. I put a clear powerstroke 3 on and tuned it and got a deep, rumbling growl that made the entire room vibrate. Just a note - my kit shipped with the newer WHITE coated logo bass head rather than the black logo head shown in the picture - kind of a nice bonus!

As far as features, the ITS mounts are really a nice bonus and a feature you won't find on other kits at this price point. That goes for the lacquered finish as well - very well done!

For those more experienced drummers the ease of use is....well, pretty easy. For those new to drumming there is an included DVD that does a really good job of explaining everything thanks to Dom Famularo.

At this price point I think this kit is made extremely well. There were no flaws in the lacquered finish. The bearing edges were done well. Overall, very solid. As mentioned earlier, I ordered the Transparent Midnight Black and absolutely love the look - looks like it means business!

Amazing value! I've had kits that cost much more, but didn't sound as good or have the features this kit has. The extra tom only adds to the value!

Have not dealt with support, but again, the included DVD was a very nice touch. I didn't need it, but would be very helpful to someone new to drumming.

There are several factors that add to the wow factor of this kit. All of which I've covered. This isn't a Starclassic birch/bubinga, but it IS a solid kit at a great price that any beginner or semi-pro would be glad to have and use. If you want top of the line then pay the extra $2,000 and buy top of the line. If you want an overall solid kit that sounds and looks good at a very reasonable price then you need look no further - you won't be disappointed!

Drummer of 25 years

Everything Rock

been playing music for about 12 years started out on guitar and switched to drums 7 years ago been playing drums since

pretty much rock