Hawk Drums

by Laura
(Cullman, AL)

My 12 year old son has saved his money to buy a drum set. I want him to get a good sturdy set like Gretsch or Tama, but he has found a 7 piece set by Hawk for $360 that he wants to get. I want to know if this is a good brand before I let him spend his money on it.
TIA!

ANSWER

Hi, Laura--

I don't know much about Hawk drums. In fact, there is almost no information about them on the internet. There is a "HawkDrums" website, but the drums are made in Spain and the website is in Spanish. They look like very high quality drums, so I doubt that this would be the company (considering the low price for a 7 piece set).

Are you and your son able to view the drums before purchasing? Here are some things to think about:

1. Are cymbals included? If they are, they are most likely not the highest quality, but if they are NOT, they there will be an extra initial outlay of $ for your son. Of course, cymbals and drum heads can be upgraded later.

2. How old are the drums and how much have they been played? I am assuming they are used. If they are NEW, then it is indeed a VERY low price for so large a set.

3. I guess what I am saying is that, not knowing the Hawk brand specifically, I can only suggest things to consider. One other thing is this:

Your son seems to have been responsible in saving the money for his own set and also in looking for a set that he can afford. It might be good to discuss a few considerations (like the above) with him and then let him make the choice.

There is a great deal of pride that goes with saving your own money and purchasing your own instrument. Let's face it, a $390.00 set is not going to last forever, no matter what the brand and the life lessons earned may well be worth a lot more than the drum set.

Best Wishes to you and your son and if you need any
Absolutely Free Drum Lessons, please visit our site again!

Lynne

Comments for Hawk Drums

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

May 21, 2023
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Hawk Drums - made in Japan
by: Lance

I recently purchased 5 piece Hawk kit for R2200 at a local pawn shop in Cape town, South Africa which I would consider as a very good buy. I was initially suspicious about this kit, because I couldn't find any information about it online. However, the price was responsible and wrap was awesome, lol, so I bought it.

Standard sizes: 12";13";16";20" kick. Definitely vintage, I would think around the 60's - 70's . It looks very similar to the Rogers 1965 Black Onyx wrap(black,yellow and gold) and the hardware from the Tom holders, wing and claw tension rods and lugs all looks all the same. The Tom holder has a Made in Japan stamp onto it ,so I assume the kit was made in Japan.

Still very clean kit. Original Hawk badges on all the toms and original Hawk heads. Some missing lugs and tension rods. Some eyebrows at some of the lugs, however, the wrap is still intact. It looks like it could be 7 -9 ply mahogany shells, quite a solid kit. All the toms have dampeners mounted on the inside of it. Original basic Cymbal set,14" hi-hats, 18"ride however, I do like the 2 x 20" crashes with those vibration rivets in it . The stands were in a bad state though. I received a black 14" Peace Snare with.

Very interesting, when I opened the bass drum it was stuffed with news paper dated 1991.

I didn't finish the restoration or play on it yet as I only have it about a week now, but overall, I am happy with this kit. I don't think that this is an entry level kit.

Definitely an exciting project kit can't wait to tune it up and play on it.

NB. This analysis is based on my personal experience of this kit, it might not be all correct according to its original stats.
Apr 06, 2019
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Best set I had
by: alexis ristich

I got my first set at 20 yes old. A used Tama, pd $700. kid down the street had a new sunline set, pd $300. He only played mine. His sounded like trash cans n cardboard. A few years later my husband bought me hawk drums online for $300 after alot of research. They were almost as good as my used Tama. Years later I aquired a cheap pearl set. It was 100% identicle to my hawk set. Every bolt identicle. Both dbl braced hwear. That was 15 yes ago n I'm online today looking for a hawk set again to buy.
Apr 05, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		My Hwak Set...
by: H Garcia

Here's my experience, I got a ready to go Hawk 4 piece set with seat, cymbals, etc... Everything new for less than 300 bucks.

I got this in 2003 and have used if very little. Sure enough the cymbals are horrible, the snare is the cheap-est and some drum adjusting bolts didn't reach the adjusting perch on the set. However once I fiddled with everything a little I got it working and was drumming away in a couple hours. It's been 8 years and the set is very well preserved, the tom's are in perfect shape and now it's using another set of heads and other extras, it works OK. For my first set of drums is still cutting it.
So, not that bad for 300 bucks... (I'm looking for new REMO Heads and some Paiste cymbals (which of course will cost more than the drums) that I can swap if I ever get a dw or a pearl set..
Have a good one!
Dec 17, 2008
Rating
starstarstarstar 		Don't mess around with no-name drums
by: Ryan

Hi There. I've been a drummer for the better part of 20 years and played a lot of pro level sets and very poor quality sets. I recommend steering as far away from the Hawk set and possible. There is a reason you haven't heard of it. On the other hand, I highly recommend the Gretsch Black Hawk 5 piece Drum Set (which oddly enough still has "Hawk" in the name) or the Tama IS52C12 Imperialstar 5 Piece Drum Set with Cymbals and Throne. Both are sets by brands you showed interest in and both are great quality for someone just getting into the drumming game.


***Ryan--I have removed the affiliate links from your post. You are welcome to pose opinions and recommendations here but this is not the place for affiliate links.

Lynne

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Ask Drum Questions.

≡ Click for Menu