I agree, change those silly heads and tune up that snare to a higher tension. Also, they EQ'd the PDP to sound thinner than the DW kits. I've had two DW Collectors kits and loved everything about them except the tone. Went back to playing Yamaha kits.
the pdp are going to sound thinner... the pdp are impressive drums... but they aren't dw's... n like any instrument, they aren't all flawless gems. some dw's are going to sound better than others because of the timber pitches you can choose with them... pdp are engineered to all sound relatively the same. what dw offers is a hand picked, hand selected set up. where you can choose your timber notes and shell structure.
dw's will sound like mixed drums in person... pdp need extensive engineering to get them to sound close, and then it becomes an eq'd sound that musicians can hear and find disgusting. purists will tell a difference and know why dw's are superior.
Sorry for any confusion! We can not speak much on the Ludwig drums you found for $500 but we are sure not all of their drums are $500. We are sure they have series of drums that are at a higher price point. We DW Collector's, Jazz, Classic's, Cherry and Performance Series shells they are made in our factory in Oxnard, CA in the US so the materials and labor are pricier then being made overseas. We hope you can understand or find understanding towards this.
We love your feedback! We like hearing about the drum-heads you chose also. You post proves handy for others who are playing the X7's and need help with head choicing. Thanks so much for choosing DW and PDP!!
dw drums On our X7 kit, I think the best hands are Aquarian studio X on the toms and an Aquarian super kick Two on the kick, ours sound so good in our sanctuary With or without Mics , Caged in or not. But our other location has a Tama kit, they are totally night and day.
You have it. The X7 is a seven piece kit with the option of adding a bass drum only and has a different finish selection while the M5 is a 5 piece kit with the option of 7x8, 14x16 floor tom and bass drum with finish options unique to the M5. We are still currently making the FS series. Hope this clears things up for you!
I've been fortunate to purchase two kits, one acrylic and a performance DW.Needless to say I'm very pleased.I've owned a Pearl, Gretsch and still have Premier. All good kits, but its a matter of preference. Anything of quality is worth paying for..
Hard to comment on that because they are the same shells. The difference is mainly in the features. The have the same sound basically so if you would like to get a smaller kit with different finish options and upgraded hardware you could go with the Concept. If you want a 7 piece kit and like the X7 finishes than you are good to go! Hope this helps!
Interesting. We are happy your kit out working out for you. We suggest single ply heads but we also encourage experimenting with heads to achieve the sound you would like. Hope this helps!
You're right. We are not trying to compare the 2. What we can do is make shells out of the best maple we can find to insure PDP is a good sounding kit.
Good insight for sure. We are not against using any types of drums or Roland drums for church. Gerald has been using acoustic drums for church and we are lucky to have him on our artist roster. :)
I absolutely love the Performance Series. I work in a drum shop and I recommend the Performance Series 9 out of 10 times to people coming in to upgrade drums. The only way I would buy a drum set that wasn't a Performance was if I was getting a custom set from DW, Truth, or Seven.
The drum hardware is almost identical to the older style Performance Series snare drum lugs. The Maple we use is grown close to our PDP factory in Taiwan.
I have owned a PDP X7 kit in the past and I must say it is a very nice kit for the money. I now own a Collectors kit and I am very satisfied with it. I have never owned a Performance kit but I must say they sound awesome. Keep up the good work DW!!
These are the heads we stand by but we are not disappointed if customers choose to use different heads. We do our best to offer different types of heads to accommodate all customer's head requests! The Collector's Series and the Performance series are 2 different styles of shells so you will hear a difference!
Well we can tell you that currently in our showroom we have a combination of Zildjian, Paiste, Sabian and Meinl on our kits. We are not cymbal specialists per say but we do like the sounds of these cymbals for sure!
@TheRokaz The "true tuning" is a reference to our True Pitch tension rods which have a higher thread pitch at 5mm than the standard which is at 12.24's. This gives you more than 20% more then the standard thread count which gives a more finer tuning experience. :)
Well it can be apples and oranges for some for some it is more cut and dry. Because the DW shells can have hoops they will have a more focused tone compared to the PDP shells that do not have hoops. DW shells are made to order as PDP are a production line kit. Both are unique in their sounds so this what you are hearing we believe. :)
@metalopolis1 Just to clear things up guys. Our maple is from the great lakes area(Michigan mostly) and it has been used from everything from DW Collectors to M5 and to X7 series.
The Mag Throw will fit the X7 snare but you will need to drill larger holes for it to fit into the X7 snare. The 3P will not fit unfortunately. The hole spacing for the X7 lugs is 1 1/2 inches. Hope this helps!
It would be nice to see an updated video on this topic! Gerald is obviously a great drummer and is knowledgeable about his craft. But most Praise and Worship bands these days aren't playing Gospel. A more modern anthem-driven, ambient, contemporary style has taken the P&W scene by storm and the drums and cymbals have changed to reflect that. Big, warm, open sounding drums that have big sizes (13/16/24 is popular) and big, thin, crashable cymbals (16" or 17" hats, 20"-24" crashes and rides) are very popular now.
Love the DW collectors kit (in black oyster glass) at our church...They're a pleasure to play and sound awesome! I still gig with my old mapex kit, and just can't get the tone I get from the DWs. can't wait till I can step up to a set of DWs for myself.
DW Performance! all the way! beautiful shells! with short sustain perfect for my style of playing! thank you DW for inventing this beautiful Shell! much love from Australia!
@CuberMan2 Heads are a definite preference from player to player. Your best start is figure out how much sustain or focus you would like to hear. A single ply head will give your more sustain and a 2 ply head will give you more focus. The floor tom being on the left side is also a preference thing too. Some players like have a floor tom on each side because they feel there is an easier reach from that particular angle.
Never get tired of seeing this guy play, i have a dw kit, red sparkle with gold hardware (like neil pearts old dw kit) i wanted a 8" tom and another kick, buuuut i was told you guys cant do that finish anymore :( i need a dw snare terribly though lol!!
A lot of drummers have liked Birch for it controlled sustain amount but Maple can be used just as well if that is what you like overall for tonality. Really it depends on what you like!
this dude is a hard hitting, groove killin, god fearing, straight up skin slamming bad mother jammer! You got a gift son!
Bobby Droback facts...
We are sure this message will find Gerald just great! We wish you all the best for your church!
i feel like that pdp can sound as good as those high dw kits with proper tuning
I agree, change those silly heads and tune up that snare to a higher tension. Also, they EQ'd the PDP to sound thinner than the DW kits. I've had two DW Collectors kits and loved everything about them except the tone. Went back to playing Yamaha kits.
That yanaha stage custom is most def my favorite
Facts. The type of heads you use is what matters
the pdp are going to sound thinner... the pdp are impressive drums... but they aren't dw's... n like any instrument, they aren't all flawless gems. some dw's are going to sound better than others because of the timber pitches you can choose with them... pdp are engineered to all sound relatively the same. what dw offers is a hand picked, hand selected set up. where you can choose your timber notes and shell structure.
dw's will sound like mixed drums in person... pdp need extensive engineering to get them to sound close, and then it becomes an eq'd sound that musicians can hear and find disgusting. purists will tell a difference and know why dw's are superior.
We can talk about the products all day but everyone wants to hear the drums so You-tube has been a great outlet for us. Thanks!
Church's hold some of the best musicians in the world! Full bands with choirs. Really awesome pro level musicianship for sure!
Sorry for any confusion! We can not speak much on the Ludwig drums you found for $500 but we are sure not all of their drums are $500. We are sure they have series of drums that are at a higher price point. We DW Collector's, Jazz, Classic's, Cherry and Performance Series shells they are made in our factory in Oxnard, CA in the US so the materials and labor are pricier then being made overseas. We hope you can understand or find understanding towards this.
And the Design Series, don’t forget that.
@Realdealgear We love all types of music and we were very happy to have Gerald do this video with us for drums for the church!
Our pleasure! We are here to help. Gerald can play for sure!
Keeping it raw for your listening pleasure!
Thanks for asking! Gerald is using a 9991 single tom stand with a DWSM934S in the clamp of the 9991. A resourceful use of this stand for sure!
We can't wait either! Thanks so much for choosing the Performance Series!
that dude guy is drumming like a badass! mad chops
I'd LOVE to see / hear Gerald Heyward play that introductory beat in the song 'Oceans'!!!
We love your feedback! We like hearing about the drum-heads you chose also. You post proves handy for others who are playing the X7's and need help with head choicing. Thanks so much for choosing DW and PDP!!
dw drums On our X7 kit, I think the best hands are Aquarian studio X on the toms and an Aquarian super kick Two on the kick, ours sound so good in our sanctuary With or without Mics , Caged in or not. But our other location has a Tama kit, they are totally night and day.
Thanks for asking. Our Jazz Series kits come with Die Cast hoops and you can always add Die Cast hoops to any Collector's Series kit you wish.
We definitely have had discussions about a birch line for the Performance Series. No plans just yet but your suggestion does fuel our fire.
Thanks for your feedback and choosing the Performance Series! We love OZ!!
You have it. The X7 is a seven piece kit with the option of adding a bass drum only and has a different finish selection while the M5 is a 5 piece kit with the option of 7x8, 14x16 floor tom and bass drum with finish options unique to the M5. We are still currently making the FS series. Hope this clears things up for you!
I've been fortunate to purchase two kits, one acrylic and a performance DW.Needless to say I'm very pleased.I've owned a Pearl, Gretsch and still have Premier. All good kits, but its a matter of preference. Anything of quality is worth paying for..
@xTiguex Thanks! Great to hear the X7 is going well for you. :)
We are very happy to hear you have had a great experience with PDP and DW! We wish you many more fun drumming times with your DW's!! Thanks!
Hard to comment on that because they are the same shells. The difference is mainly in the features. The have the same sound basically so if you would like to get a smaller kit with different finish options and upgraded hardware you could go with the Concept. If you want a 7 piece kit and like the X7 finishes than you are good to go! Hope this helps!
Interesting. We are happy your kit out working out for you. We suggest single ply heads but we also encourage experimenting with heads to achieve the sound you would like. Hope this helps!
Those Mastersound K's sound incredible!!!!
Thanks so much for choosing the X7 series! Enjoy it for your church!
You're right. We are not trying to compare the 2. What we can do is make shells out of the best maple we can find to insure PDP is a good sounding kit.
@Rudare916 Awesome! We are very happy to have you getting into a Performance kit. We look forward to making you one. :)
Good insight for sure. We are not against using any types of drums or Roland drums for church. Gerald has been using acoustic drums for church and we are lucky to have him on our artist roster. :)
@TheSteviebobevie Glad you are liking Gerald! We like him too. :)
We are happy to inform you!
Well said! Er um thanks very, very much. :) We appreciate your kind words.
I absolutely love the Performance Series. I work in a drum shop and I recommend the Performance Series 9 out of 10 times to people coming in to upgrade drums. The only way I would buy a drum set that wasn't a Performance was if I was getting a custom set from DW, Truth, or Seven.
@CallumE245 Thanks for getting back to us with your feedback. Great to hear! Enjoy your X7 and your drumming while playing the X7. :)
We used Sure SM57 for the snare, AKG D112 for bass drum, and Rode NT4 for the overheads. Thanks!
Thanks for watching and your kind words! Gerald is a Gospel style drummer so we figured that would be a good theme overall for this video!
Yes for sure! We are currently working on getting a Concept Series video up as we speak. Look for it on our You-Tube channel by the end of the month.
Mostly room sound with very little EQ. We used Sure SM57 for the snare, AKG D112 for bass drum, and Rode NT4 for the overheads. Thanks!
This is correct! We designed these heads with Remo for our kits specifically.
Glad you are liking them! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the HD sound test Jordan! The White finish looks good on you. Thanks for choosing PDP!!
Awesome! We are happy to hear you are liking your X7 kit. Thanks for choosing PDP!!
You can always buy the DW heads after market for your PDP kit. They do come standard with a sound ring.
@BittenMitten All DW and PDP drum kits come with the STM's included. So good news! You don't have to buy them separate. ;)
The drum hardware is almost identical to the older style Performance Series snare drum lugs. The Maple we use is grown close to our PDP factory in Taiwan.
Welcome to the DW family! Enjoy!
I have owned a PDP X7 kit in the past and I must say it is a very nice kit for the money. I now own a Collectors kit and I am very satisfied with it. I have never owned a Performance kit but I must say they sound awesome. Keep up the good work DW!!
These are the heads we stand by but we are not disappointed if customers choose to use different heads. We do our best to offer different types of heads to accommodate all customer's head requests! The Collector's Series and the Performance series are 2 different styles of shells so you will hear a difference!
You have a valid opinion to us! We are happy to hear you are liking the Performance Series! We can;t wait to make you a kit. :)
Thanks! We are stoked you are liking this video!
Glad to hear your PDP kit is going well for you!!
@cbeatz852 Thanks so much! We are happy this vid has been helpful in distinguishing between the different lines.
The heads are the stock Remo Taiwan heads that come standard on the X7 kits. They are a single ply head. Hope this helps!
Well at least you are here watching! Thanks!
Well said! Just have fun with learning more about drums!
@TheBigBurrito1 15 years old! Nice. That's almost vintage for us. :) Thanks for choosing DW!
We hear you. We're good with people changing even the DW heads. We happy to know that you are playing the X7's and enjoying them!
Yes that is correct! You can get a 7 piece Concept Series kit.
We bought a x7 for our church in Holland, because i watched this video, so thanks for that DW and Gerald Heyward ;)
Well we can tell you that currently in our showroom we have a combination of Zildjian, Paiste, Sabian and Meinl on our kits. We are not cymbal specialists per say but we do like the sounds of these cymbals for sure!
@liamkleckner Nice call! It was similar. Now we got that song stuck in our head. :) Not complaining though.
Definitely very similar types of Maple for sure. More affordable components to PDP for production line purposes.
the snare of the PDP x7 is AWESOME!
@TheRokaz The "true tuning" is a reference to our True Pitch tension rods which have a higher thread pitch at 5mm than the standard which is at 12.24's. This gives you more than 20% more then the standard thread count which gives a more finer tuning experience. :)
Awesome! That finish was a great choice! Thanks so much for playing PDP! Enjoy!
True! We try to make something for everyone's taste!
Well it can be apples and oranges for some for some it is more cut and dry. Because the DW shells can have hoops they will have a more focused tone compared to the PDP shells that do not have hoops. DW shells are made to order as PDP are a production line kit. Both are unique in their sounds so this what you are hearing we believe. :)
@tbonedrumcam We are proud that you are proud to play your PDP's! No shame in your game! Thanks for watching. :)
Alright thanks so much! Enjoy your PDP kit!
Go for it! This would prove a unique upgrade and a very resourceful job done by yourself.!
@RoshanDrummer All acoustic there we promise!
@snooters Thanks very much. It is important that we show the differences so people can see and most importantly hear the variance between them.
Holding it down! Almost a funky hybrid of some U2. Funny the next beat he goes super fast!
We are flattered you would choose us!
@teamsleepnine Anytime! Have a great holiday season!
@metalopolis1 Just to clear things up guys. Our maple is from the great lakes area(Michigan mostly) and it has been used from everything from DW Collectors to M5 and to X7 series.
@kemallett Thank you very much for your honest feedback! We love it!
We want you to have them!
Gerald is the man!
Nice! Thanks for choosing PDP!
@isaacvelasquez31 We used Sure SM57 for the snare, AKG D112 for bass drum, and Rode NT4 for the overheads. Thanks!
The Mag Throw will fit the X7 snare but you will need to drill larger holes for it to fit into the X7 snare. The 3P will not fit unfortunately. The hole spacing for the X7 lugs is 1 1/2 inches. Hope this helps!
Thanks! You know what you like!
It would be nice to see an updated video on this topic! Gerald is obviously a great drummer and is knowledgeable about his craft. But most Praise and Worship bands these days aren't playing Gospel. A more modern anthem-driven, ambient, contemporary style has taken the P&W scene by storm and the drums and cymbals have changed to reflect that. Big, warm, open sounding drums that have big sizes (13/16/24 is popular) and big, thin, crashable cymbals (16" or 17" hats, 20"-24" crashes and rides) are very popular now.
Love the DW collectors kit (in black oyster glass) at our church...They're a pleasure to play and sound awesome! I still gig with my old mapex kit, and just can't get the tone I get from the DWs. can't wait till I can step up to a set of DWs for myself.
DW Performance! all the way! beautiful shells! with short sustain perfect for my style of playing! thank you DW for inventing this beautiful Shell!
much love from Australia!
I watched this video and subscribed. I loved DW for years but could never afford one. But that performance series makes it possible.
Absotuley! We offer a 7 piece for both Maple and Birch and you could always add on a smaller kit to make it an eventual 7 piece also.
@drummaryan Well we are glad you have been turned on to the X7 series! They have been a great drum kit for PDP with a lot of good feedback. :)
@CuberMan2 Heads are a definite preference from player to player. Your best start is figure out how much sustain or focus you would like to hear. A single ply head will give your more sustain and a 2 ply head will give you more focus.
The floor tom being on the left side is also a preference thing too. Some players like have a floor tom on each side because they feel there is an easier reach from that particular angle.
Sweet! Thanks for choosing the Double Drive PDP kit! We are very happy to hear you liking the sound of your kit. Now go practice! :)
Awesome thanks so much!!! Good choice on the Performance Series! They should last you a lifetime of great hours of drumming! Enjoy!!
I love the snare on that collectors series kit
Alright thanks so much! Enjoy!
Thanks for the video specs!!
Thanks so much! Enjoy your Performance Series drums!
@lmatias93 Thank you! It sounds like the X7 kit was a good choice for you. :)
Glad you think so! That is our aim.
We want you to have that kit!
Never get tired of seeing this guy play, i have a dw kit, red sparkle with gold hardware (like neil pearts old dw kit) i wanted a 8" tom and another kick, buuuut i was told you guys cant do that finish anymore :( i need a dw snare terribly though lol!!
A lot of drummers have liked Birch for it controlled sustain amount but Maple can be used just as well if that is what you like overall for tonality. Really it depends on what you like!