Performance Percussion 5 Piece Drum Kit, Blue

Product Information

Since its introduction a few years ago, the Performance Percussion PP300 5-piece drum kit has been the #1 selling kit in the competitive UK & Eire market of entry level starter kits. Going through the manual we find some amusing Chinese/English translation issues, ie: "Press [DRUM KIT] constantly" which actually means 'Hold down [DRUM KIT] button'. Once you suss these and other anomalies with a little common sense interpretation of your own, using the kit is actually quite intuitive. These Chinese-made Remos can and do sound equally as good as their USA counterparts but we find they have tendency to dent rapidly so they don't hold their tone quite as well, ageing them prematurely. Adjustment does give the pad more sensitivity but there is some cross-talk if taken to its maximum.

The lugs on the toms and bass drum have been refined since 2007 - they're now a small teardrop shape reminiscent of the Gretsch Catalina lug, rather than the oval tower design of yesteryear. The drum gives a thoroughly respectable performance. Tweaking the tuning brings about a tight, punchy thud that is destined to have the neighbours banging on the wall. Kids drum kits are extremely popular as a great choice for musical learning - after all, few activities can be as fun and healthy as playing drums... it's a great way to make children spend all that energy! Beginners drum kits for kids are also much cheaper than standard 5-piece kits, so parents can rest assured it's not a particularly costly investment! BUY DRUM KITS IN-STORE!The PP300R kit is sourced from China - the shell wood is unspecified but the shells are competently made. They stand at six plies deep and the bearing edges are accurately cut. Inside, the shells have been evenly sanded in a consistent manner. The steel shell of the snare drum contains four lines of beading and is polished to a shiny finish. As we strike up the first of the pre- programmed songs, we can't help being impressed with the song construction. Though they are of the sort you would normally hear in an airport lounge or an elevator, we are sure the choice will prove good introductory material for any beginner. We use a few different delivery couriers, depending on the items being sent, your location, and the delivery service you've chosen: With the exception of the pre-fitted heads of the snare, the others have to be fitted on the rest of the kit. First up it's the toms where the only slightly worrying aspect is that the floor tom has only six lugs per head - eight would have been preferable for a drum of this size. It takes some careful and diligent tuning methods but each tom produces a deep but wide open and acceptable tone.

The tried-and-tested tom mounts allowed us to get the kit set up with the minimum of hassle, although the depth of the toms could potentially limit adjustment - younger or smaller players may have to tweak it before they get the best set-up.The felt beater of the bass drum pedal rounded the edges off, leaving a pleasing 'dooosshhh' sound before a small towel, placed against the batter head, focused the bass enormously. The lugs are a commendable detail worth drawing attention to - where you might expect to find clumsy or weighty shell architecture there are instead rather neat low mass lugs that wouldn't look out of place on kits costing a good deal more. The distribution of lugs is not bad either. The toms are all furnished with six pairs (fine for the 12" and 13" toms, not great for the 16" floor tom) while the snare and bass drum contain eight per head (the snare's double-ended lugs means it technically has only eight as opposed to the bass drum's total of 16). The stands all came together with ease, and once set up to your liking it's apparent that this is a kit that means business - the new lugs complement the metallic sparkle wrap to give an air of quality far beyond the price tag. For the PP300R, Performance have chosen Remo heads. This is an area that conventional budget kits often treat as an afterthought and, as the choice of head makes an enormous contribution to the sound of a drum, it´s certainly a good move.