Traps Drums A400 Portable Acoustic Drum Set

I had been eyeing these on Amazon and other retail sites for at least one year before purchasing. I was unwilling to spend $800, and that price is very consistent with other retailers. However, in mid-February (2022) I observed the following purchase option on this listing:"$508.39, Condition: Used - Like New - Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged."I placed the order. The box arrived and had obviously been opened but had been repackaged well. The previous (and brief) owner had played them, but other than the modest stick marks on the heads, all the hardware was as new. The stands had not actually been unpackaged and set up. The high hat stand and kick pedal are of a generic origin found all over Amazon, but they are solid and very playable. The two built-in cymbal stands are slightly awkward and excessively heavy-duty. I think the manufacturer could have engineered a lighter hardware solution for the cymbal stands, but they certainly work and have enough adjustability. The assembly instructions were missing, but I was able to zoom in on the images and put it together rather quickly. One important omission of the included parts (which should be added) are memory locks. Anyone ordering this kit should get THREE memory locks which will speed up reassembly even more. The tubes are of the standard 1.5-inch diameter, and memory locks are offered by Gibraltar, Drum Workshop, etc.These drums sound great! They tune up very easily and stay where you leave them, pitch-wise. The 14 inch "floor" tom sounds fantastic, with a modest sustain and full body. The included heads are very similar to Evans Hydraulic. They have the "thin layer of oil between two plies of film to suppress unwanted overtones", but also a light dampening outer ring. I do not have any impulse to switch them out before they wear out, and I do not have any muffling on the heads.I do wish the snare drum was 14 or even 13 inches, rather than 12 inches. The snare drum tunes up nicely, but I personally have difficulty obtaining a solid "side-stick" on a 12-inch snare drum. I would have no hesitation using this kit out on a gig where the performance space is particularly small. I'd likely substitute a 14-inch snare, maybe a piccolo? The snare drum basket will accommodate up to a 14-inch drum and the rack system will handle the additional weight.I've also placed an order for the 8-inch tom, in order to match the configuration of my other kit. I had to order it directly from the manufacturer in Germany, because no one in the US or Canada had the 8-inch tom in stock or was able to order it. I contacted the manufacturer and advised them that I couldn’t place an order anywhere. They made a fair offer on the price and shipping. It shipped from German two days ago, and USPS has already been provided notice of it. I had also contacted the US/Canada distributor weeks earlier asking them where to find the 8-inch tom, but I had not received any response. AFTER the manufacturer responded to sell me the drum, I did receive a reply from the distributor. They made me an offer for the 8-inch tom, but it was unreasonably high.In conclusion, I am very pleased with the playability and sound. However, I personally would not have spent $800 on this drum set. Whether it is worth $800 is subjective to the buyer. I know I'm lucky to have spotted it at almost $300 less than the market price, and I'm glad I was able to acquire this kit.Update, 2022-05-25: I received the 8” inch tom approximately ten days after ordering. I’m glad to have it. Mounting it on the rack was a tricky process and I’m not finished fiddling with it. Most notably I had to not use the left side rack cymbal stand. I believe with some additional adjustment I may be able to utilize that cymbal stand… we’ll see.The mount on the 14” inch tom needs to be really tightened to keep it from sagging, and there is a significant amount of bounce to it. I’m considering mounting a single floor tom leg to the rim, closest to my right foot in order to provide a boost of stability.Oh yeah, I will likely be selling the 12” inch snare drum. I really don’t like it for the purposes of side-stick. If you like a 12” inch snare, it’s a FANTASTIC snare drum, but the inability to perform an effective (to me) side-stick is a deal-breaker. I found a used 14” inch piccolo snare to use and the basket holds the snare with complete stability!

I like the drum set, but Amazon didn't send me the cymbals with it. Now it looks like I have to rebox it to send it back for a replacement, when all I want is my friggin cymbals, man.

The media could not be loaded. It's decent enough if you're a beginner and don't have room for the real thing, I think the price for it shouldn't be that much. The under shells for the toms, the bass shell, and snare and clamps are all made of plastic. The only thing made of metal are the hoops, lugs, and rack. To tell you the truth it doesn't look like something worth $800 I say $300 or $500. If it came with cymbals than maybe.But all in all they're great.P.S. I think you should replace all the drum heads

I play in smaller covers/orginals bands in the Ohio Valley and Columbus, Ohio area. Just last weekend while setting up in an outdoor bar type venue, some guys came up to check out the drums and simply couldn't believe the sound that was coming from my Traps. To put it mildly, they've been awesome. I can't complain at all for the price. I've played out with then numerous times and they sound incredible. They also make load in/out very, very easy. Plus, they're pretty easy to dial in soundwise. I will say that the snare will become loose after hitting on it a while, but with these, you'll probably be carrying a drum key with you anyway, so you can tighten it up pretty easy. In short, if anything happens to them at this point, I would definitely buy them again. They're awesome and I can't even count how many compliments I've had on them. For reference, I play a lot of 90's grungy type stuff and some doomier stuff like Sabbath. When our soundguy dials them in, you can't tell a difference. Heck, they're pretty awesome when they're not miked as well. If you're on the fence like I was, watch some vids on youtube, then buy them. You'll thank yourself. Trust me. Great kit. I really can't believe more people aren't playing these.

I never had drums before , since I received It I can't stop playing,If you tune It , your gonna love the sound,It doesn't take too much space so you can set It up against the wall. I play It with brushes, in this way the sound is not high, like 54 dbs(decibels) at 10 feet from the drums when playing , I had to purchase the cymbals, I recomend to hear the cymbals your gonna wear with this drums because in this way you can ensure what sound you wanna get and the decision It's important cause some cymbals are too expensive but maybe your gona have It for years and some of them sounds amazing, in my case I went to the store and I spoke with the seller and he live me to play all of them to ensure the best purchase. This drums also aren't too loud like the regular acoustic drums are, this feature It's good too avoid sensitive neighbors and have a relax playing ,remmember I play It with brushes, If you play It with regular sticks It sounds louder. The transportation It's the best, you can go with It anywhere, you don't need a big car. I don't know what the regular drummer or the beginer spect but It Is a real thing with a real sound and I love It!.

I wanted to like this kit, I really did. Nothing is as portable as it is. After buying a bunch of unreturnable accouterments (e.g. replacement head for the bad stock heads that come on all kits), I find one day that the plastic shells are split open at the tuning lugs. No way to fix it. Can't replace single parts, or even single broken drums, just have to send the whole thing back "for a refund or exchange" Uh, I'll take the refund please. They're making about $450 profit on this kit, but it's not even worth they $100 or $150 bucks they've got into it. Drums that break when you play jazz on them aren't drums.