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The bass drum has a black front logo head which is sensibly intact with no miking/damping hole

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• Review

Leedy is one of the oldest and most respected names in American drum history. The company was started by Ulysses Grant Leedy in 1895 and was the front runner for the first couple of decades of the last century. Several major innovations in the development of the drum kit came via Leedy and the company's vintage drums are beautifully crafted instruments, highly prized today.

However, Leedy never made it past the '60s and this kit has nothing to do with that history except in the logo on the badge. Britain's Active Music owns the right to use the Leedy name in all territories except the USA. Over there an upmarket Leedy is available, but Active's kit - reviewed here - is a typical Chinese-made beginner's outfit. But as it turns out, it's a rather good one.

Deep red

The kit is a standard rock five-piece, 22"x16", 13"x11", 12"x10", 16"x16" with 14"x51/2" matching snare drum. It's finished in deep Wine Red - a plastic wrap infused with tiny pinpoints of sparkle that catch the lights rather fetchingly. The overall appearance is up to date, with small oval lugs that look, from a distance, not unlike those on DW's Pacific kits.

As is increasingly the case, the package is complete with everything you need to get started. That includes a stool, three cymbals and even a pair of 5A sticks. This is the way it should be with starter kits, and we once again applaud the drum business for taking this route.

In the past, a weakness of budget kits was the cheap heads that they came fitted with. Many name companies have managed to improve the situation by fitting budget Remo heads. The review kit still had a couple of the cheap shiny plastic heads of old adorning the snare drum and bass drum, but these were upgraded before the kit hit the shelves.

The toms already have clear heads top and bottom and these are noticeably better than the shiny heads on the snare and kick. The bass drum has a black front logo head which is sensibly intact with no miking/damping hole.

Matching Snare

The wood shell snare is in matching red finish with eight double-ended lugs. The throw-off is a pull-away cam design which may not be destined for old age. Pushing the lever up to engage the snare is a rough and ready operation as the lever grates over the retaining pin. Even when engaged there is a bit of play and we can see this wearing loose.

The triple-flanged metal rims are relatively thin gauge steel, which is to be expected at this price, and rim shots and cross stick sounds are correspondingly slight. Despite this, we were pleasantly surprised by the sound of the drum. It is a touch dull in the centre and a mite too ringy towards the edges, but the overall sound is warm and pleasant, if a bit thick and plodding.