As a drummer, you never know where the gig will take you. You could be playing anywhere from festival grounds and large theaters to cozy wine caves, art galleries, and hole-in-the-wall jazz clubs. For the large venues, you definitely want to bust out your big kit, but when you’re playing the small gigs, there’s nothing better than a club kit in terms of portability and convenience. Now that the gigging season is coming into full swing, we compiled a list of some of our favorite portable kits for drummers on the go — let’s check them out!
- Yamaha Stage Custom Hip 4-piece Shell Pack
- Ludwig Questlove Pocket Kit 4-piece Complete Drum Set
- Sonor AQX Jungle 4-piece Shell Pack
- Gretsch Drums Catalina Club CT1-J404 4-piece Shell Pack
- Ludwig Breakbeats by Questlove 4-piece Shell Pack
- Pearl Midtown Series MDT764P/C 4-piece Shell Pack
- PDP Daru Jones New Yorker 4-piece Shell Pack
- DW DDLG2004SG Design Series Frequent Flyer 4-piece Shell Pack
- TAMA Club-Jam Flyer LJK44S 4-piece Shell Pack
Yamaha Stage Custom Hip 4-piece Shell Pack
When big sound and effortless portability are your goals, turn to the Yamaha Stage Custom Hip 4-piece shell pack for results that consistently deliver the goods. Its 6-ply all-birch shells pump out incredible depth and presence that sounds just as great in the venue as it does in the drum room. Yamaha made sure to give this pint-size set plenty of tonal variety, equipping the floor tom with a snare strainer, while the small-form-factor bass drum easily doubles as a sub-kick extension to standard-size bass drums. Best of all, everything can fit in a 20-inch kick drum case and a 14-inch floor tom case, making it easier than ever to load in quickly, hit the stage in style, and load out without a snag.
Ludwig Questlove Pocket Kit 4-piece Complete Drum Set
From legendary drummer and bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the Ludwig Questlove Pocket Kit 4-piece complete drum set is designed as a rock-solid intro kit for young players. However, drummers at Sweetwater have found that it’s an eminently capable set for café shows and small club gigs. This 4-piece set includes a 5-inch by 12-inch snare, a 12-inch by 16-inch kick drum, a 6-inch by 10-inch rack tom, and a 10-inch by 13-inch floor tom. Plus, it comes equipped with a full complement of hardware, including stands, drumheads, hi-hat and crash/ride cymbals, a kick drum pedal, a drum key, and a throne — all at an unbeatable price!
Sonor AQX Jungle 4-piece Shell Pack
The Sonor AQX Jungle 4-piece shell pack shines in intimate settings, boasting vintage-flavored poplar shells for a medium attack, vivid top end, and a chest-whapping thump. Balancing portability and superior sonic performance, the Sonor AQX Jungle provides discerning, on-the-go drummers with an ultra-compact kit, sporting AQX series die-cast lugs and Sonor’s innovative SmartMount tom and cymbal mounting system for maximum resonance and sustain. Whether you’re laying down the Purdie shuffle at a hip craft cocktail joint, propelling the insistent rhythms of your artsy post-punk band at an all-ages venue, or busking to fundraise for your band’s next release, the Sonor AQX Jungle 4-piece shell pack has got you covered!
Gretsch Drums Catalina Club CT1-J404 4-piece Shell Pack
A club-sized kit with an old-school soul, the Gretsch Drums Catalina Club CT1-J404 4-piece shell packradiates class and character. Mahogany shells imbue the Catalina Club kit with a robust, organic low-end heft and a punchy, present mid-range attack. And their period-correct sizes are perfectly suited for vintage-inspired rock, indie pop, neo-soul, and other genres that draw influence from the past. A standout component is the 14-inch by 20-inch floor tom, which pushes oodles of air with ease, inviting expressive, fleet-footed playing. On top of that, the Catalina Club kit is offered in a variety of finishes, from luxe glazes to eye-catching retro wraps.
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Ludwig Breakbeats by Questlove 4-piece Shell Pack
The second Ludwig drum set on this list designed in collaboration with Questlove, the Ludwig Breakbeats by Questlove 4-piece shell pack, offers a step up in size from the Questlove Pocket Kit yet remains an exceptional choice for gigging around town. Seven-ply hardwood shells, populated with throwback Ludwig hardware and featuring Remo Pinstripe heads, pack a wallop, despite their scaled-down dimensions. Additionally, the 14-inch by 16-inch kick drum comes equipped with riser hardware for optimal beater alignment. Drunken grooves, boom-bap beats, Motown-era swagger — the Ludwig Breakbeats by Questlove drum kit is chockful of attitude and ready to hit the scene.
Pearl Midtown Series MDT764P/C 4-piece Shell Pack
Another jungle-sized drum kit, the Pearl Midtown Series MDT764P/C 4-piece shell pack, fits the bill when you need a drum set that will easily snug onto a cramped stage or in the back corner of a tight practice space. Inspired by the drum sounds created by speeding up sampled breakbeats, as used in jungle and other EDM genres, the Pearl Midtown Series MDT764P/C relies on 6-ply poplar shells, Pearl’s OptiLoc suspension system, and a kick drum riser to push out full, resonant tones, with plenty of bite for cutting through a dense stage mix.
PDP Daru Jones New Yorker 4-piece Drum Set
A hip-hop drum luminary, Daru Jones has supplied the beat for a list of legends both in and beyond the genre, including Raekwon, Digable Planets, Black Violin, and Jack White. The PDP Daru Jones New Yorker 4-piece drum set is a reflection of Daru’s innovative approach to the instrument, allowing you to reconfigure the kit in different ways to highlight your personal playing style. With “short stack” shells made from a tasty maple/poplar tonewood combo, DW Ultralight hardware, included drum bags, and a stunning lacquer finish, the PDP Daru Jones New Yorker is the flossiest kit on the list and one of the cleanest-sounding compacts available!
DW DDLG2004SG Design Series Frequent Flyer 4-piece Shell Pack
A portable kit with professional-grade tone, the DW DDLG2004SG Design Series Frequent Flyer 4-piece shell pack transmits the projection and power of a larger kit into a pared-down, travel-friendly footprint. DW poured many of its trusted design elements into the DW Design Series Frequent Flyer kit, including HVLT (kick, toms) and HVX (snare) shell constructions, which use multiple plies of maple in alternating grain orientations to enhance rigidity, thereby increasing projection and attack. What’s more, the DW Design Series Frequent Flyer kit treats you to DW’s mini-turret lugs, True-Pitch tension rods, and low-mass shell hardware, for a true DW experience in a compact kit.
TAMA Club-Jam Flyer LJK44S 4-piece Shell Pack
The ultra-compact TAMA Club-Jam Flyer LJK44S 4-piece shell pack is an easy-gigging acoustic drum set that shines in small venues, houses of worship, and as an at-home practice kit. Crowned with triple-flanged hoops, 6-ply poplar and mersawa shells exhibit a warm and lively sound and can accommodate a surprisingly wide tuning range. The TAMA Club-Jam Flyer’s 10-inch by 14-inch kick drum includes a tom mount with an extra insert for auxiliary percussion pieces and an additional throw off for mounting a cymbal to keep the kit even more compact. Pair it with the TAMA Standard Series drum bag set for Club-Jam Flyer for added convenience!
Conclusion
Which portable kits on the list did you deem gig-worthy? Give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700 and let us know! And remember, this is just a small sampling of compact drum sets available from Sweetwater. We have loads of options to fit your playing style and aesthetics!
