Rock Band Drum Kits ship to American and Canadian stores

by Griffin McElroy { Feb 21st 2008 at 1:00PM }

Perhaps you, or an overzealous friend, went into a Buddy Rich-esque fit of drumming rage during a heated round of Rock Band, smashing the delicate bass pedal and impaling one of the drum heads as you flew off the handle. Don't panic -- you won't have to shell out another $180 for the whole shebang to get a new kit. Though they missed their initial ship date of Feb. 12, Harmonix and MTV Games just announced that standalone drum kits are on their way to North American retail stores.

A new drum kit will run you $80, a pittance for that new faux-percussion instrument smell. So whether you're replacing a busted kit, buying a second kit to play head to head against a friend, or building a 28-head, 360 degree drumming monstrosity ala Neil Peart (first person to do this and send in a picture gets a Brush with Fame), keep an eye out for these kits as they begin to trickle into your brick-and-mortars.

Tags: buddyrich, drum, drumkit, ea, harmonix, mtvgames, neilpeart, rockband

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alex S. @ Feb 21st 2008 1:06PM

I saw these in my local GameStop about a week ago.

Moofree @ Feb 21st 2008 1:10PM

Saw them at my bestbuy on saturday.

nerrrrrrd @ Feb 21st 2008 1:17PM

yea these were littering all over best buy's floor. drum kits for ps3, 360 and ps2... i didnt even realize rock band came out for ps2. that will make the person i sold my ps2 to very happy.

vidGuy @ Feb 21st 2008 2:39PM

My Best Buy had two dozen drum kits sitting on the aisle floor last week.

zelderman @ Feb 21st 2008 3:55PM

I saw them at Wal-Mart on Monday I think it was.

umm....hello??? @ Feb 21st 2008 1:07PM

hrm...but another $70 ($149 at Target this week) nets me another mic, guitar and disc which I can sell back to GameStop, where the standalone guitar itself is around $70....

I definitely wouldn't mind a second bass pedal with a y-splitter for those double bass taps...

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 21st 2008 2:59PM

Damn skippy on the DB pedal. How are we ever going to play dragonforce on expert without a DB pedal?

Sam @ Feb 21st 2008 1:09PM

So europeans are still being told that the release date is Q3 2008 due to "hardware shortages", and americans are getting spare peripherals?

Sick of us europeans being treated like 2nd rate customers. Bull tbh.

deaftly @ Feb 21st 2008 1:14PM

Thats what your region gets for hating America. Jerks.

Hey Apples @ Feb 21st 2008 2:19PM

Recent German interview pinned EU launch delay on song licensing for European content... not hardware shortages.

ill trooper @ Feb 21st 2008 1:16PM

I spotted these at the Circuit City in Union Square (NYC) last weekend and I did a double-take - I really thought I'd be seeing guitars before I saw drums.

Void Munashii @ Feb 21st 2008 1:21PM

I saw the drum sets at Frys, but I was surprised not to see individual guitars, especially given the whole cannot-use-GH-guitars issue.

Kumar @ Feb 21st 2008 1:26PM

You can use GH guitars.

Oh wait...you probably bought the PS3 version... :(

Deb Dixon @ Feb 21st 2008 5:17PM

Has anyone heard about the patch for using GH3 controllers in RB on PS3?

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 21st 2008 5:18PM

And how its never going to happen because activision is a bunch of dicks?

No, what patch?

klitorisaurus @ Feb 22nd 2008 12:34AM

Yeah isn't that totally ridiculous. There's over a hundred thousand people who need an extra guitar and maybe a few hundred who would bother with an extra drum set. Who ever made the decision to ship drums and mics first should stop receiving paychecks and have their office moved to the basement.

Ramifications @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:21AM

My xbox 360 rock band guitar did NOT work with guitar hero 3. However, the otherway around does work.

Is there something wrong with my guitar? It says "an unsupported guitar has been plugged in" or something like that.

Sam @ Feb 21st 2008 1:24PM

Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his irony level?

Its over 9000!

What, 9000?!

ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 21st 2008 2:34PM

I did not see what you did there.

Jazzy G @ Feb 21st 2008 1:30PM

Okay, Here's Neil Peart's Latest Drumkit. Can you imagine this for Rock Band?!?! AAIIEE!!!

http://www.andrewolson.com/Neil_Peart/neil_drumkits.htm

FOXHOUND @ Feb 21st 2008 1:41PM

Not to sound like one of those "Why spend money on GH/RB when you could learn a real instrament"-jackasses, but if you're on a Neil Peart-level of drumming skill... you really should just buy a real kit and make serious money with that.

BPM IIDX 8th style @ Feb 21st 2008 1:30PM

Wow, these standalone prices sure make the bundle REALLY appealing, even if to buy a second one. :/

Dan Davis @ Feb 21st 2008 1:32PM

Releasing the drums before the guitar = dumb move. I wanna play some freakin' BASS!

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 21st 2008 3:02PM

I just want a wireless 360 guitar. After that and a DB pedal, I'd be happy.

umm....hello??? @ Feb 21st 2008 6:43PM

Crono-

if you buy the GuitarHeroIII bundle you get a wireless guitar....AND it works with RockBand....

capt_carl @ Feb 21st 2008 1:32PM

I've pulled a Keith Moon on my friends' set, does that count?

baby sea tuna @ Feb 21st 2008 1:37PM

Well, you're obviously still alive, so...no.

capt_carl @ Feb 21st 2008 2:57PM

lol good point. I did kick them over after I finished "Won't Get Fooled Again," so I guess that counts for something. Right, right?

Curtis the Claw Game Master @ Feb 21st 2008 5:49PM

WRONG

DCBlack @ Feb 21st 2008 2:02PM

"So whether you're replacing a busted kit, buying a second kit to play head to head against a friend..."

Forgive the ignorance, but does that mean it's possible to play multiplayer with multiple drummers? If so maybe...MAYBE...I'd buy another set.

Yuccadude @ Feb 21st 2008 2:32PM

You can play versus, like face-off, but not co-op.

DCBlack @ Feb 21st 2008 3:23PM

Thanks for the info, good to know. But now that I think about it I'd be better off just buying another bundle and selling off the disc for $50-60. At least then I would get another drum, mic, and guitar, but I doubt I'd get enough use out of a 2nd drum to warrant the purchase anyway, not to mention the space it takes up when fully assembled. Ah well, maybe when the price comes down.