Best Professional Drum Sets in 2024

Pearl Reference One 4-piece Shell Pack

A new standard for stage and studio

Fans of Pearl’s Reference and Reference Pure kits can now have their cake and eat it, too. The Pearl Reference One 4-piece shell pack brings the best of these two iconic series — along with some extraterrestrial shell hardware — to a beautiful, all-season kit. A curated concoction of Masterworks maple, birch, and mahogany gives every tom, kick, and snare its own space in a mix.

Says Ray Luzier of KoRn: “I love the [Reference Pure] for sessions. I use the Reference Series in my touring rig. Reference One is like a perfect combination of the two.” Sound City uber-producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters) gushes: “The smaller toms have a brighter and spittier sound, and then as you get around across the lower toms, the bottom note is really nice and warm.”

Along with Pearl’s mythic MasterCast hoops and self-centering STL100 swivel lugs, the Reference One boasts a rock-solid new tom suspension system. Pearl’s R2 Air mounts and GyroLock-L2 tilters are an ideal solution for players who refuse to compromise on tone or stability (seriously, you can virtually hang from these things). Factor in a battle-ready set of Remo USA heads and a candescent Kobalt Blue gradient finish, and the Pearl Reference One makes a strong contender for the year’s best drum kits.

Ludwig Legacy Maple 4-piece Shell Pack

A production kit for vintage tastes

The sounds of Ludwig drums have been celebrated by pros and fanatics for their bold voice and versatile nature, making them standout, small-footprint choices for professional, live-performance applications. Today, Ludwig introduces a modern kit with a Golden Age voice: the Ludwig Legacy Maple 4-piece shell pack. Breathable 3-ply maple/poplar shells — a throwback to a legendary ’60s/’70s Ludwig recipe — crowned with roundover bearing edges and 1-inch reinforcement rings supply warmth, fullness, and focus by the truckload. Vintage Black Oyster wraps and Keystone badges give this modern kit a vintage-minded look that even the most devoted Ludwig collectors will appreciate. If you’re searching for a production kit with definitive Luddy looks and tone, look no further than the Legacy Maple.

Gretsch Drums Brooklyn GB-E6246 4-piece Shell Pack

Timeless Gretsch tone and charm

Gretsch has been in the drum game since 1883, and every inch of the Gretsch Drums Brooklyn GB-E6246 4-piece shell pack represents those 140 years of top-tier drum craftsmanship. Quite a few elements of the Brooklyn kit, along with other advanced Gretsch kits, have proven preferential for pros throughout the decades, like the classic, open-sounding 302 double-flanged hoops and fat tone–favoring, 30-degree bearing edges. A 6-ply blend of maple and poplar pins that traditional maple tone against poplar’s smooth and balanced nature, delivering a well-rounded sonic result characteristic of “That Great Gretsch Sound!” This Brooklyn 4-piece is handmade in Ridgeland, South Carolina, coming ornamented with gorgeous and stage-ready hardware, including USA Custom lugs, brackets, floor tom legs, and GTS tom mounts. Topped with ultra-classic Gretsch Round Badging, there’s scarce a kit around with such timeless appeal in sound and style.

Roland V-Drums TD-27KV Generation 2 Electronic Drum Kit

Powerful pads and Prismatic Sound Modeling

For the eDrum pro, there are few finer options than Roland — and the Roland V-Drums TD-27KV Generation 2 electronic drum kit is tough to ignore! Powered by the incredible Generation Two TD-27 sound module, this 5-piece eDrum uses Prismatic Sound Modeling to give you complete and in-depth sound-sculpting control of every instrument sample in your setup, from drum and cymbal dimensions to room response. But the quality isn’t just in the brain! A beefy, 4.3-inch x 14-inch snare with eight sensors and a 3-ply mesh head steals the show, playing with stunning realism and backed by three dual-trigger tom pads, hi-hat pads, a pair of chokeable crash pads, and a 5-sensor ride pad for legitimate and ultra-sensitive bell cuts. A super-stable KD-10 kick tower rounds things out with expert stability so you can give it your all during gigs and studio sessions!

Noble & Cooley Walnut Classic 3-piece Shell Pack 

Rich, defined, and horizontally plied walnut shells

America’s oldest drum manufacturer has been churning out masterpieces in Granville, Massachusetts, since 1854. The Noble & Cooley Walnut Classic 3-piece shell pack clearly demonstrates that long-lasting quality. Featuring the Witt Percussion technique of horizontal plying, this pack’s walnut shells exhibit vibrant and dark tones with a playing definition that few others can match. The hardware on this kit oozes class with black-nickel-finished brass tube lugs that perfectly channel the energy of historic kits but with a reliability that can keep up with the demands of modern players. And speaking of hardware, the Walnut Classic boasts Coolmounts that effortlessly slide into place while supplying extremely resonant playability, allowing for easy setup and maximum sustain. For the professional player seeking stunning tone and a healthy dose of that old-school elegance, Noble & Cooley is the tried and true solution.

TAMA STAR Walnut TW42RZS 4-piece Shell Pack

Expert-level appointments all around

Around every curve of the TAMA STAR Walnut TW42RZS 4-piece shell pack is a premium appointment that ensures endlessly dependable drumming and prioritized tonality. It should go without saying that these handbuilt walnut shells with Japanese chestnut veneers sound like a dream, offering a deep and warm tone that deserves attention in stage spotlights and studio mixes. Adorning these shells are rock-steady die-cast zinc hoops that rest atop unique, rounded-peak bearing edges to provide a champion combination of unbeatable intonation, pronounced attack, and pure drumhead vibration response. The toms are configured via TAMA’s Super Resonant Mounting System (SRMS). This revolutionary design creates three points of contact with each drum to reduce strain on the shell and hoops while generating a more prominent and natural resonance. Ask our drum pros here at Sweetwater — the results are astounding!

Yamaha DTX10K-XRW TCS Electronic Drum Set

Drum smarter, not harder!

The large shells of the Yamaha DTX10K-XRW TCS electronic drum kit bring real-deal playing feel into the spotlight, which is perfect for the pro who doesn’t want to sacrifice the acoustic vibe when going electronic. Its impressive DTX-PROX module offers ample kits with faders that let you balance every component of your mix at once — it’s the EQ you always wish you had! With room for up to 1,000 USB-loadable samples plus connection to USB devices and shareable, app-controlled smart features, playback and recording of your favorite effects are closer and more convenient than ever. With 3-zone cymbal pads at your disposal, realistic bronze surface effects and impeccable stick response are guaranteed. Each shell also boasts lifelike depth and playability thanks to dual-zone Textured Cellular Silicon heads. All you need is your favorite kick pedal and throne — this beast is ready to rip!

DW Collector’s Series 5-piece Shell Pack

Handbuilt in the California Custom Shop!

The DW Custom Shop delivers some of the finest and most inspiring shell packs on the market, and the DW Collector’s Series 5-piece shell pack is no exception. Utilizing the 333 plying process, both long and short plies of hard rock maple stack up to create a super bassy, punchy, and definitive tonal foundation that live drummers will absolutely adore. Because this kit is a Collector’s Series shell pack, you can expect hardware that optimizes performance and provides peace of mind for countless shows. That includes graduated True Hoops and True-Pitch 50 tension rods for unwavering intonation and a set of gorgeous DW tom mounts designed to enhance shell tone while giving off an unrivaled elegance. Not only does this mean you’ll always sound your best, but it also implies fewer headaches while touring and loading in, minimizing setup time, pesky tuning imperfections, and the like.

Sonor SQ2 Maple 4-piece Shell Pack

This marbled maple kit scores a perfect 10

Our final example comes from Germany’s finest — the Sonor SQ2 Maple 4-piece shell pack. This one-of-a-kind shell pack uses Cross Laminated Tension Free (CLTF) maple. There’s a laundry list of reasons why it succeeds in any setting, the foremost being a balanced and projective tone that’s just as befitting for a headlining soundstage as it is for a top industry recording studio. You can count on Total Acoustic Resonance (T.A.R.) tom brackets to preserve the sustain of your rack shells, while rattle-free Advanced Projection System (APS) grommets seek out the utmost tonal purity every time you play. Even the TuneSafe lugs are painstakingly engineered to prevent tension-rod movement for lasting intonation under even the heaviest-handed drummers. The bottom line? We’d be hard-pressed to find a professional percussionist who wouldn’t have the SQ2 Maple at the top of their wish list!