I recently wanted to get started playing drums and ended up buying a used Roland Roland TD-1DMK v-drum kit. It plays great and the price was half of what the newest model would have cost me.

In this article I will tell you my process and thereby save you a lot of time. I looked at many brands, prices, used vs new, mesh vs rubber pads etc.

What brand is best if you want to buy used E-drums?

The general consensus is that Roland makes some of the best v-drums. The build quality is great, most kits can be upgraded and are over all, loads of fun to play. Some people have been playing their Roland e-kit for over 15 years and they are still holding up.

Yamaha also makes some great kits, but in the mid range, Roland is clearly the best option as you get mesh heads instead of rubber pads. Mesh heads feel much more like arcustic drums and using different techniques are also a lot easier.

Buy a kit that only has had on owner

When looking at used drum kits, beware of how many owners there have been. Many kits have had a long life, and you risk getting an old and beat up drum kit.

When buying used, one private owner is definitely the way to go, if at all possible. The kit I bought looked like new and even had the original manuals. I would rather pay a little more and get an instrument I can use for years to come.

Just looking at the pictures made it easy to see how the kits were treated in the past. However, don’t let a little dust scare you off. Many buy instruments, play them for 3-6 months and then they just sit in the corner. These instruments could be an excellent purchase, in many cases you just wipe the dust off, and they look like new.

New Roland v-drums vs. used

As I see it, the only reason for buying the latest model from Roland is the quality of the samples. The samples on the TD-1DMK are decent, but obviously better on the latest versions.

I use the kit with my DAW and Addictive Drums 2, which sounds amazing. For practicing the default samples on the will however work just fine.

Beginner to intermediate – Which Roland models are the best?

When looking for a used Roland drum kit I would go for Roland TD-1DMK, TD17 or perhaps the TD11kv. These kits all have nice mesh heads.

The Roland TD17 has bigger pads, I can see why this would be appealing, but it will probably cost you twice as much as the TD-1DMK. If you have the budget I would definitely go for a used TD17.

I would stay away from older Roland kits, because it can be very hard to find replacements, if for example a cymbal no longer works.

Make sure to test before you buy

Before buying a used kit, make sure to test that everything works first. You don’t have to be a drummer to do this.

All you have to do is hit every cymbal and drum head, from soft to hard, to make sure the Velocity Sensitivity is working on all parts. Also test the hi-hat and bass pedal.

That’s pretty much all there is to it. The Roland kits are built to last and are loads of fun to play.