Gammon Drum Set Review: Budget-Friendly Drums for Beginners

By Contributing Author Dango

Read our comprehensive Gammon drum set review to find out if this brand is a good fit for you!

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The internet is a big place to look for musical instruments and when you’re choosing your first drum kit, it can be overwhelming.

A lot of companies offer beginner setups, but most options are missing some hardware, or cymbals, or some other pieces.

For a true beginning student you may often find yourself somewhere between buying a toy setup and the student’s first real drum kit.

This is where Gammon enters the picture and has a complete setup to offer that is affordable, and efficient.

Quick Overview of the Gammon Drum Set: Full-size and Junior Options

Gammon offers this beginner kit in a junior size and an adult size.

The adult kit includes a 5-piece setup, a couple of cymbals, plus hardware, throne, sticks, and a key.

This isn’t the kit that you want to start gigging out on, but it’s a way better setup than most kids started on when I was learning, and it’s only around $250.

The junior kit is a slightly smaller version of the adult setup and is geared toward kids or shorter students.

It’s really closer to a toy configuration and not the most practical setup unless it’s for a toddler. 

At a Glance: Key Features of the Gammon Drum Sets

The best part of this kit is that it includes enough stuff to start jamming on immediately, without extra purchases required.

The hardware is relatively sturdy as well and should hold up under normal use. Sound really isn’t the goal of this kit, but for a beginner kit, it’s pretty neat.

It’s even available in 4 different colors including: black, wine red, metallic green, and metallic blue. 

What Configurations are Available:

• The adult setup has a 22×14  kick, 5.5×14 snare, 12×10 & 13×10 mounted toms, and a 16×16 floor tom on legs. Hardware includes: a hi hat stand, 1 cymbal stand, throne, pedal, 2 tom arms, 1 pair of sticks, and a drum key. 
• The Junior Setup consists of: a 12” bass drum and two mounted toms, 1 cymbal arm with a cymbal attached to the kick, a throne, pedal, sticks, and drum key.

The Pros OF A Gammon KIT:

Let’s take a look at the aspects that bring the biggest value with this kit.

• This kit has everything to get started. It’s not the highest quality set, but it’s definitely not a toy.
• Four different finishes are impressive for a super entry level set.
• The drums don’t sound awful. If you upgraded heads and cymbals, that would improve the sound quite a bit.
• There isn’t much competition in this low price range, so this is a great value.
• The hardware is pretty durable for a child or small adult.

The Cons of a Gammon Kit:

With the reasonable price of the kit comes a few tradeoffs, so let’s take a look at those.

• The sound is definitely not the goal of these drums. They are for practice and not for recording or gigging. The heads and cymbals aren’t great quality, though I would have been thrilled to play them at age 10. 
• The pedal and throne are most likely not going to last a long time, as the metal is fairly thin and cheap. An adult will likely not enjoy this throne no matter how lightweight they are. 
• The Junior kit doesn’t come with a snare or hi hat. It really won’t teach a small child anything except targets to swing at. 

Who is a Gammon Drum Set Best Suited For?

This kit is truly designed for the beginner, and especially for kids.

Most of the reviews really praise the durability of this kit, especially the hardware. If you are going to practice on this kit for hours at a time, it really comes down to how much force you are putting on it.

The heads will need to be replaced eventually due to normal wear and tear. The hardware may hold up for a while but it’s not going to last forever with use.

The drums themselves, though cheaply made, should last.

The bearing edges aren’t even something that was a thought during this kit’s production so don’t expect any kind of clean tones or easy tuning. If you can get the 3 toms to descend in pitch at all, I would say that’s pretty successful.

However, if you’ve been playing for a while or are starting to gig, I recommend investing in a higher quality kit.

This kit is strictly a practice kit, and it’s a really great option for that. 

Gammon Drum Set Pricing

The adult setup is around $250 which is super impressive for including everything.

I would eventually add another cymbal and stand if I bought it for my child, but I teach several students who only have hats and 1 other cymbal.

The junior setup is $100 which seems reasonable, but I can’t justify spending that on a toy. When you create a drum kit with no snare, the most important part of the kit, then it’s a total waste of time in my opinion.

I would completely skip the junior setup and opt for the adult setup instead.

Alternatives to Gammon Drum Kits

There are a few options competing with the Gammon.

Honestly, they are all import kits made in factories at very low cost, and they’re all going to be similar in quality. Some of these brands might even make their kits in the same factories as each other and just change the labels.

None of the bigger drum companies are putting out drums this cheap, or this low of quality. So you will see new companies pop up every year that may not be around very long.  

The Eastar kit has the exact specifications as the Gammon kit.

The Ashthorpe is a similar setup but in a smaller size. This is more similar to a toy, but it does include everything needed to start, so it’s more useful than the Gammon junior kit.

This Mendini kit is similar to the Ashthorpe and the Gammon junior kit.

In my opinion, the Gammon full-size set is much stronger quality than these other options.

If you want a higher-end option that still has a small footprint, check out our Sonor Martini review.

However, if you really want a smaller kit for a young child, then these alternatives might be a better fit. They at least include the snare and everything you need. 

Final Verdict: Are Gammon Drums Worth It?

For a beginning student on a budget, this is really a realistic option. In today’s world, $250 isn’t that much to spend on your child to figure out if they really enjoy drumming.

Any kid should be excited to play this kit for a year or two and then you can decide if you want to spend closer $1,000 to upgrade your setup!

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