Hey guys,
 
So I've had Rockband for quite some time, and still have been using the original RB1 drums for a long time.  The individual pads inside the drums seemed to be cracking, and finally this weekend the red pad stopped recognizing hits to it.
 
Anyway, any suggestions on what drum set to pick up?  I was checking out one of the ION sets on Amazon for $134...and then also started looking at the Beatles Rock Band set.  i figure the limited edition set was $120, and that came with the game, guitar, and drums...which is probably the better deal.
 
Any thoughts?  Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks!

You can get the Special Value bundle of the Beatles for $90 on amazon. That has the guitar and mic too, so it's a pretty good deal. 

I wouldn't be able to tell you about the ION kit, but I have a Beatles drum kit, and I would highly recommend it. It is a huge improvement over the RB1 set.

" You can get the Special Value bundle of the Beatles for $90 on amazon. That has the guitar and mic too, so it's a pretty good deal.  "

Any of the new sets - RB2/Beatles/RB3 - are fine plastic instruments :P. The RB3's come with the cymbals for Pro Mode adaption, however, you can also buy those separately for your RB2/Beatles kit, if you so want.
 
As JJ mentioned, the IONs are the best thing in the universe if you're remotely serious about your RB drumming. I've never heard a negative word about the IONs, but all opinions (conveniently enough!) come from serious drumming peeps - not including myself, my poor hand/foot coordination skills would be wasted on them!
 
Good luck.

My RB2 drums are on the fritz as well. I'm going to wait until next year to bother getting new ones. My red drum pad gives out from time to time and just stops working mid song. or the yellow and blue will hit together or they wont work sometimes. they had a good run for 2 years. Id say get those. Those things have taken a beating as well with tons of useage. So if your not serious I'd say gor for those, your get a lot of mileage out of that kit for what they charge you.

Just do what my friend did. I don't condone this as it's shady as hell.
 
Go to Best Buy (or whatever electronics shop you prefer) and buy the RB2 bundle. 
 
Carefully remove the RB2 drums from the box and replace with old RB1 drums. Immediately return to Best Buy.
 
Rock out with your free drums and feel the karma burn your soul as someone opens their new RB2 set (for whatever reason) and be sorely disappointed.
 
I'm sure they play better music in hell anyway.

"  I'm sure they play better music in hell anyway. "

" @wolf_blitzer85: Thats evil. he could have at least complained that the box did not contain drums when he opened it. Which would still be evil, but just barely less so.  Rock Revolution is 10 bucks at Gamestop...  Seriously, any form of RB2 drums are awesome, though you may want to pick up the RB3 ones if you plan to get that game anyway. "

" @nintendoeats said:

" @wolf_blitzer85: Thats evil. he could have at least complained that the box did not contain drums when he opened it. Which would still be evil, but just barely less so.  Rock Revolution is 10 bucks at Gamestop...  Seriously, any form of RB2 drums are awesome, though you may want to pick up the RB3 ones if you plan to get that game anyway. "

So are there actually RB3 drums? I just thought the cymbals were the only thing new about drums this time around. If so what's different about them?  My RB2 drums are still in good shape because I got the silencers for the pads, so they're like brand new, but a cymbal port is starting to shit out on me, which is no good. My crash cymbal to be exact and after lots of playing in that style, it is damn near impossible for me to go back to 2 cymbals and the green pad. It just feels like all sorts of wrong. "

Thank you for all the feedback guys.
 
At first, I was leaning towards the ion drums because I thought it would be fun with the cymbals.  I've been playing the "real" drums for about 10 years.  However, with the Beatles set, I get the drums, the game, and the guitar for roughly a few bucks cheaper.  I was also thinking of picking up the MadCatz cymbal pack as well possibly down the road.  We'll see though.

Hmmm good thread.  We need to pick up a new drumset too, as our red pad keeps coming off during gameplay, and its probably only a matter of time until it stops registering hits like the OP.  Guess we'll have to look into the Ion.