Looking back it was such a killer value to own a Pearl Export kit as my first. I paid for it by saving my money from my paper route, which took two years - the same amount of time it took me to get my parents to approve of it! But with my 1989 Ferrari Red Export kit - two 22" kicks, 12, 12, 13, 13, 16 and 18 toms, and of course the stock metal snare drum and excellent hardware, highlighted by the chain-driven foot pedal. I learned to tune drums using them - and boy did they tune up great with Remo Pinstripes on the kicks and toms. The snare was capable of sounding like a Supraphonic, and that pedal was adjustable to where you could easily dial in your Bonham doubles! A 14 year old could feel like Tommy Lee after school for hours every day! BTW once I had the experience of lugging this kit in the Dodge Caravan to my first gig, and the sound guy mic'd one kick with reverb and the other without (and about half the volume) I decided to get a double kick pedal hahaha. Fast forward 35 years and today one of my kits is a late model Crystal Beats with 24" and 22" kicks, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 toms. And man do they sound f'n great!!! Thanks for the info and trip down memory lane.
I recovered a thrift shop Export kit just last year. Pearl knew what they were making with the Export series: the luan mahogany compression molded shell, tough and round, lasts forever. They sound great!. So thanks for the reply and glad we could take you back a few years.
Good stuff. As kids growing up in the 70s, I think we are all obsessed with Peter Chris’ monster pearl drum kit. I still love to see that 70s vintage badge. That era the kits were out of reach for me. When I was 14 I settled on a pearl export kit. Took me till I was 33 to get an MMX kit and since I’ve owned 10 more kits😬
Yeah it is a disease, getting more sets. I think have enough by now. I think the 80s went overboard with the huge sets. But the same is true today, it seems that most drummers sport a 4 piece kit and smaller more portable kits and suitcase kits. That will NEVER be my thing. I like minimalism as much as the next guy, however, every drummer playing a 4 piece is kinda the same thing; current fad.
Keep at it! I am "recreating" my very first drum set; a 1975 Pearl Jazz Rock with White leathertette covering. Took FOREVER to find that material. It is almost done. I found some old Pearl Luan shells and refurbed them, found period specific hardware and badges. They look great. I may have to do another video on the three sets I built since this video! THANK YOU for watch and the reply. Just work slowly and deliberately on the restoration process.
THANK YOU!!! Pearls are great, but I do like the vintage versions of Slingeland, Sonor, and some Ludwigs. Always liked the Gretsch kits too. Thanks for subscribing.
I have an 80's 6 piece DLX kit with a free floating snare that I purchased in 97' from a guy with one leg. The Pearl pedal that came with it is my favorite of any I've owned. We practice in my guitar players studio and they have been his studio kit for the last four years. She is pretty beat up on the outside, but has a big warm sound with a punchy kick, and I love her.
Thank You. Just got some mic and mixer so I hope to do a video of the different sounds of the various kits with everything the same with the exception of the shells.
Thank you for this video. I'm new to this wonderful world of vintage Pearl drums, and I'm loving it. Just bought a BLX kit from 1990 (10, 12, 13, 16 and 2 x 22) in Sequoia Red and it sound and look amazing! I'm looking forward to moren videos from you. Regards from Bergen, Norway.
Thanks Frode! I am a bit jealous of your set. That Sequoia Red BLX kit is the Jeff Porcaro kit I remember so well. Yeah, Pearl got that one right. I am working of a video for the mics I use to mic up the kit, and will have a little of me playing and showing off the sound of these lovely vintage Pearls! BTW I LOVE NORWAY!
My favourite year for a Pearl DLX model is 1983 (Thanks to Big Country's 1983 album The Crossing). Gotta have that after my goddamn Yamaha Recording Custom 1987.
Just acquired a 1983-4 Pearl DX Deep Force 7500 D20-60, and restored it. 3 racks a floor and the first 16 inch depth BDs along with Tama and Ludwig that year. Will be posting a vid on it and the restoration. THEY SOUND HUGE!
I own a 1987 Pearl Export kit in Pure White along with an early 1980's Maxwin by Pearl 14'' X 5 1/2" wood snare with a Pure White wrap as well. Although Pearl still makes great drums & the best hardware around, I believe their best sounding drums came from the 1980s to the mid 1990s. I just love the look of them as well as how deep & full the toms sound. I also have a 1989-1995 26" X 14" Pure White Pearl Marching bass drum that I had spurs installed on to convert it over to a kit bass drum to use with the kit. Proper maintenance of these older kits is crucial to their preservation. I've taken apart all the drums, cleaned them, & replaced all the lug inserts to make them look and sound great. Currently, I'm using a 12" X 10" rack tom, 14" X 14" floor tom, 16" X 16" floor tom, 22" X 16" bass drum, & 14" X 5 snare drum. I plan on switching out the 22" X 16" kick with the 26" X 14" kick drum in the next few weeks. I'm currently using newer Pearl 930 Series Hardware & pedals as well as Zildjian A Series Cymbals with the kit (14" New Beat Hi-Hats, 17" Thin Crash, 18" Crash / Ride, 21" Rock Ride, 8" Splash, & 18" China High. I also use all Remo Heads on the drums.
I am now working on a 1980s Export kit. I have A 1984ish DX kit that I just finished rewrapping. with a 10, 12, 13, 16 and a 22 x 16 bass drum. I want to have the Explorer match it and maybe another tom. I have the 12 and 13 in Power tom sizes for the explorer, just trying to collect the rest of the kit.
I have a Pearl MLX Professional Series...7 piece.. deep drums... I bought them brand new when I was still in the Coast guard in 1986.... Natural Maple finish.... I have several other drum sets so I really don't play them that much but they still sound great... I did put the Pearl opti mounts on the four rack Tom's... Beyond that they are pretty much just like they were brand new.... It came with the matching finish 14x6 and 1/2 free floating snare... I'm surprised the free-floating concept never took off a lot bigger..
I hope you can find one but It was the first I have ever seen. I've restaure it with a lot of passion, look at the result I hope you enjoy ;) ruclips.net/video/49F2OCekukc/видео.html
Hi! Recently I purchased this Pearl Beat Inn Series in Chrome finish. Got it for $200 only. And in good condition. Will restore it this week and will see how it goes! Loving the vintage drums lately. Good content too!
You can go find an 80 or 90s Pearl Export kit and fix it up. They can be had and found for relatively little expense. The real expense in the Pedals, hardware and cymbals. Always spend wisely on those.
Just bought an pearl maple made in USA love it don’t know much about it supposedly was built around the 80s if anybody knows more about it I would greatly appreciate it
RUclips has throttled this video. The resolution is HORRIBLE. Anyway, there are several social media groups that discuss Pearl Drums. On FB it is Vintage Pearl Drums. Anyway, if it has a black badge like those in this video, it is late 1970s early 1980s. If it has the gold badges the it will either say MLX or MX on the badge. anything later I get mixed up with all the versions. Go to Wikipedia and also search for "Vintage Drum Badges" and you can find the rough timeframe yours were made.
I have what I think is a vintage 5 piece Pearl drum set. The only marking that I can find on any of the drums is a badge that says S Series. I have looked all over the place trying to figure out what set this is so I can find original replacement parts. Whoever owned it before me scraped the stickers off that I assume would have been able to identify it. It has a steel snare if that helps
Go over to Facebook and they have a Vintage Pearl Drum group. Join it and post some pictures. They should be able to ID your kit. Many people there with lots of knowledge about those kind of things.
If you can find the W/F, I think they are a good all around drumset. The Fiberglass can be a bit loud. THANKS for taking a look at my video. If you have any questions or need any parts, you can contact me here.
Sgt. Pepper, you can't go wrong. M W/F kit is 22BD, 18, 16, 14, 13, 12, all WFG and the two high toms are Tama. If you need anything just get in touch with me here. Or you can go to the Facebook Vintage Pearl Drums group which has a lot of guys that know a bunch. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned, I have another video coming out how I made a pretty neat practice electronic kit from old Pearl Vintage drums.
I think that it does. It seems to me to "liven up" the sound to me, especially with a 2 inch wide one. I have fiberglass shells and I think a metal hoop on them is OK. But the bigger maple drums and wood shells, I think wood both mellows and enhances the lower end and just the fullness of the sound. I also use the sound horn type holes in the front head and felt strips on the batter side. Found this way the ambassador coated heads really open up. Again, it is my preference. THANK you for watching, I appreciate it!
Refurbished a good ol' black wrap 5 piece Export set last year. The thing's a tank. Huge sound. Looking forward to selling that and getting a World set then selling that and finally getting an MMX someday
MX, MMX, and MLX are all getting scarce. I think your window is good though. Money is going to get tight around end of Aug. 2021, and continue for a while. Some will be selling kits, keep your eyes open save up some cash and be ready to offer cash. Anywhere from Nov. to Feb I think people will start selling things.
What do you want to know? ON the maple set in the video, the 13" and 22"BD are both 1980's MLX lacquered on the inside. I now lacquer ALL the drums I refinish on the inside. Some people hate that, others love it.
Time's Dark Captains I’m more interested in the history. Ive heard that 83 and 84 are the only year you could get coffin lug style with inside paint and lacquered. Mine is piano black. It came this way from the factory. Any info would be awesome
Time's Dark Captains also, I’ve always had trouble getting the 22bd dialed in and sounding low. I’m always fighting a sorta flap sound. Also it’s response and feel is different from any other bass drum I’ve played
Sorry for late reply. I have Powerstroke 3s on batter and an Emperor on front, and I use felt strips on the batter and a KickPort on the front. Big beefy sound.
DW are awesome as well. What kind of Pearl kit do you have? TAMA and Sonor Phonics are the second love of mine and I don't have any except my Sonor Phonic snare. Thanks for commenting.
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 Hi again, i have a Early 90s Blx. With 2 bass drums,one 22" and one 18",not to play at the same time, but to make a kit suitable for a rock musical.or small jazz gig ,mix and match.The 13" can be tuned low and used as a floor tom.The Blx have birch shells,and the Mlx maple,future classics for sure.
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 Vintage Superstar and Granstar have a special place in my heart, and those 70s/80s Sonors (Champion, Phonic, Signature, Lite, Performer MK1) were really special. Btw, how would you compare BLX to vintage Superstar and Recording Custom? I have the chance to buy BLX kit at an affordable price, but unfortunately I have never played it :/ Maybe I'm a little bothered by the power tom sizes, but I don't play jazz anyway, but a full-blooded (post)punk'n'roll.
I think that is true. But a lot of the 19070s sets were made with Philippine Mahogany, kind of stuff the used on door skins, but the Pearl compression shell construction in those days was a game changer and they were thicker. I am now working on a 1975 Pearl kit an they are all the 9 ply luan shells and they are fantastic.
Looking back it was such a killer value to own a Pearl Export kit as my first. I paid for it by saving my money from my paper route, which took two years - the same amount of time it took me to get my parents to approve of it! But with my 1989 Ferrari Red Export kit - two 22" kicks, 12, 12, 13, 13, 16 and 18 toms, and of course the stock metal snare drum and excellent hardware, highlighted by the chain-driven foot pedal. I learned to tune drums using them - and boy did they tune up great with Remo Pinstripes on the kicks and toms. The snare was capable of sounding like a Supraphonic, and that pedal was adjustable to where you could easily dial in your Bonham doubles! A 14 year old could feel like Tommy Lee after school for hours every day! BTW once I had the experience of lugging this kit in the Dodge Caravan to my first gig, and the sound guy mic'd one kick with reverb and the other without (and about half the volume) I decided to get a double kick pedal hahaha. Fast forward 35 years and today one of my kits is a late model Crystal Beats with 24" and 22" kicks, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 toms. And man do they sound f'n great!!! Thanks for the info and trip down memory lane.
I recovered a thrift shop Export kit just last year. Pearl knew what they were making with the Export series: the luan mahogany compression molded shell, tough and round, lasts forever. They sound great!. So thanks for the reply and glad we could take you back a few years.
Good stuff. As kids growing up in the 70s, I think we are all obsessed with Peter Chris’ monster pearl drum kit. I still love to see that 70s vintage badge. That era the kits were out of reach for me. When I was 14 I settled on a pearl export kit. Took me till I was 33 to get an MMX kit and since I’ve owned 10 more kits😬
Yeah it is a disease, getting more sets. I think have enough by now. I think the 80s went overboard with the huge sets. But the same is true today, it seems that most drummers sport a 4 piece kit and smaller more portable kits and suitcase kits. That will NEVER be my thing. I like minimalism as much as the next guy, however, every drummer playing a 4 piece is kinda the same thing; current fad.
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 I absolutely hate everyone’s backline kit is a stupid four piece lol. The more toms the more voices!
You have an amazing collection, learn so much about vintage pearls. I have a president series I’m restoring.
Keep at it! I am "recreating" my very first drum set; a 1975 Pearl Jazz Rock with White leathertette covering. Took FOREVER to find that material. It is almost done. I found some old Pearl Luan shells and refurbed them, found period specific hardware and badges. They look great. I may have to do another video on the three sets I built since this video! THANK YOU for watch and the reply. Just work slowly and deliberately on the restoration process.
yes! love watching people care about drums like this. thank you for your care and knowledge, subscribed
THANK YOU!!! Pearls are great, but I do like the vintage versions of Slingeland, Sonor, and some Ludwigs. Always liked the Gretsch kits too. Thanks for subscribing.
I have an 80's 6 piece DLX kit with a free floating snare that I purchased in 97' from a guy with one leg. The Pearl pedal that came with it is my favorite of any I've owned. We practice in my guitar players studio and they have been his studio kit for the last four years. She is pretty beat up on the outside, but has a big warm sound with a punchy kick, and I love her.
I always wanted a DLX kit. They do have a great sound! Those vintage Pearl shells were really something.
Very nice collection.
Thank You. Just got some mic and mixer so I hope to do a video of the different sounds of the various kits with everything the same with the exception of the shells.
Terrific video- love the enthusiasm for your obsession. Beautiful kits!
Thank you for this video. I'm new to this wonderful world of vintage Pearl drums, and I'm loving it. Just bought a BLX kit from 1990 (10, 12, 13, 16 and 2 x 22) in Sequoia Red and it sound and look amazing! I'm looking forward to moren videos from you. Regards from Bergen, Norway.
Thanks Frode! I am a bit jealous of your set. That Sequoia Red BLX kit is the Jeff Porcaro kit I remember so well. Yeah, Pearl got that one right. I am working of a video for the mics I use to mic up the kit, and will have a little of me playing and showing off the sound of these lovely vintage Pearls! BTW I LOVE NORWAY!
I have the same obsession with refurbishing vintage Pearl drums
I would say it could be construed as a character flaw or a illness, LOL.
I've Been told that 😅
Pearl drums were popular back in the 80s with the hair metal bands. They played the drums loud and women swooned
My favourite year for a Pearl DLX model is 1983 (Thanks to Big Country's 1983 album The Crossing). Gotta have that after my goddamn Yamaha Recording Custom 1987.
Just acquired a 1983-4 Pearl DX Deep Force 7500 D20-60, and restored it. 3 racks a floor and the first 16 inch depth BDs along with Tama and Ludwig that year. Will be posting a vid on it and the restoration. THEY SOUND HUGE!
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 oh ok.
I own a 1987 Pearl Export kit in Pure White along with an early 1980's Maxwin by Pearl 14'' X 5 1/2" wood snare with a Pure White wrap as well. Although Pearl still makes great drums & the best hardware around, I believe their best sounding drums came from the 1980s to the mid 1990s. I just love the look of them as well as how deep & full the toms sound. I also have a 1989-1995 26" X 14" Pure White Pearl Marching bass drum that I had spurs installed on to convert it over to a kit bass drum to use with the kit. Proper maintenance of these older kits is crucial to their preservation. I've taken apart all the drums, cleaned them, & replaced all the lug inserts to make them look and sound great. Currently, I'm using a 12" X 10" rack tom, 14" X 14" floor tom, 16" X 16" floor tom, 22" X 16" bass drum, & 14" X 5 snare drum. I plan on switching out the 22" X 16" kick with the 26" X 14" kick drum in the next few weeks. I'm currently using newer Pearl 930 Series Hardware & pedals as well as Zildjian A Series Cymbals with the kit (14" New Beat Hi-Hats, 17" Thin Crash, 18" Crash / Ride, 21" Rock Ride, 8" Splash, & 18" China High. I also use all Remo Heads on the drums.
I am now working on a 1980s Export kit. I have A 1984ish DX kit that I just finished rewrapping. with a 10, 12, 13, 16 and a 22 x 16 bass drum. I want to have the Explorer match it and maybe another tom. I have the 12 and 13 in Power tom sizes for the explorer, just trying to collect the rest of the kit.
I have a Pearl MLX Professional Series...7 piece.. deep drums... I bought them brand new when I was still in the Coast guard in 1986.... Natural Maple finish.... I have several other drum sets so I really don't play them that much but they still sound great... I did put the Pearl opti mounts on the four rack Tom's... Beyond that they are pretty much just like they were brand new.... It came with the matching finish 14x6 and 1/2 free floating snare... I'm surprised the free-floating concept never took off a lot bigger..
Great vidéo. I'm owner of a Pearl DLX. The sound is amazing.
I want to restore a DLX kit. They are becoming so rare though.
I hope you can find one but It was the first I have ever seen. I've restaure it with a lot of passion, look at the result I hope you enjoy ;)
ruclips.net/video/49F2OCekukc/видео.html
Hi! Recently I purchased this Pearl Beat Inn Series in Chrome finish. Got it for $200 only. And in good condition. Will restore it this week and will see how it goes! Loving the vintage drums lately. Good content too!
Wow iwant to have drums for our church
You can go find an 80 or 90s Pearl Export kit and fix it up. They can be had and found for relatively little expense. The real expense in the Pedals, hardware and cymbals. Always spend wisely on those.
Just bought an pearl maple made in USA love it don’t know much about it supposedly was built around the 80s if anybody knows more about it I would greatly appreciate it
RUclips has throttled this video. The resolution is HORRIBLE. Anyway, there are several social media groups that discuss Pearl Drums. On FB it is Vintage Pearl Drums. Anyway, if it has a black badge like those in this video, it is late 1970s early 1980s. If it has the gold badges the it will either say MLX or MX on the badge. anything later I get mixed up with all the versions. Go to Wikipedia and also search for "Vintage Drum Badges" and you can find the rough timeframe yours were made.
Vintage drums, knowledge, triumph shirt, subscribe
Rock on!
I have what I think is a vintage 5 piece Pearl drum set. The only marking that I can find on any of the drums is a badge that says S Series. I have looked all over the place trying to figure out what set this is so I can find original replacement parts. Whoever owned it before me scraped the stickers off that I assume would have been able to identify it. It has a steel snare if that helps
Go over to Facebook and they have a Vintage Pearl Drum group. Join it and post some pictures. They should be able to ID your kit. Many people there with lots of knowledge about those kind of things.
Been looking into getting a vintage Pearl wood fiberglass or maybe just fiberglass. Thats a hell of a collection you have!
\m/
If you can find the W/F, I think they are a good all around drumset. The Fiberglass can be a bit loud. THANKS for taking a look at my video. If you have any questions or need any parts, you can contact me here.
Nice, me as well, I'm leaning toward FG vs WFG.
In the next few months I'm planning on piecing together a nice big set of Pearl Fiberglass, like 9+ piece.
Sgt. Pepper, you can't go wrong. M W/F kit is 22BD, 18, 16, 14, 13, 12, all WFG and the two high toms are Tama. If you need anything just get in touch with me here. Or you can go to the Facebook Vintage Pearl Drums group which has a lot of guys that know a bunch. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned, I have another video coming out how I made a pretty neat practice electronic kit from old Pearl Vintage drums.
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 Nice, I've been on VPD for a few years, I'm sure I've seen your stuff on there.
nice video. i was wondering what's the deal with maple hoops on kick drums instead of their original ones. does it change a lot?
I think that it does. It seems to me to "liven up" the sound to me, especially with a 2 inch wide one. I have fiberglass shells and I think a metal hoop on them is OK. But the bigger maple drums and wood shells, I think wood both mellows and enhances the lower end and just the fullness of the sound. I also use the sound horn type holes in the front head and felt strips on the batter side. Found this way the ambassador coated heads really open up. Again, it is my preference. THANK you for watching, I appreciate it!
Refurbished a good ol' black wrap 5 piece Export set last year. The thing's a tank. Huge sound. Looking forward to selling that and getting a World set then selling that and finally getting an MMX someday
MX, MMX, and MLX are all getting scarce. I think your window is good though. Money is going to get tight around end of Aug. 2021, and continue for a while. Some will be selling kits, keep your eyes open save up some cash and be ready to offer cash. Anywhere from Nov. to Feb I think people will start selling things.
Can anyone tell me about the early 80’s MLX series that came lacquered inside and out?
What do you want to know? ON the maple set in the video, the 13" and 22"BD are both 1980's MLX lacquered on the inside. I now lacquer ALL the drums I refinish on the inside. Some people hate that, others love it.
Time's Dark Captains I’m more interested in the history. Ive heard that 83 and 84 are the only year you could get coffin lug style with inside paint and lacquered. Mine is piano black. It came this way from the factory. Any info would be awesome
Time's Dark Captains also, I’ve always had trouble getting the 22bd dialed in and sounding low. I’m always fighting a sorta flap sound. Also it’s response and feel is different from any other bass drum I’ve played
Time's Dark Captains The toms sound bad ass and I know the inside lacquered made them louder and project more
Sorry for late reply. I have Powerstroke 3s on batter and an Emperor on front, and I use felt strips on the batter and a KickPort on the front. Big beefy sound.
Blx fan here,DW collectors owner too,but cant part with the Pearl kit.
DW are awesome as well. What kind of Pearl kit do you have? TAMA and Sonor Phonics are the second love of mine and I don't have any except my Sonor Phonic snare. Thanks for commenting.
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 Hi again, i have a Early 90s Blx. With 2 bass drums,one 22" and one 18",not to play at the same time, but to make a kit suitable for a rock musical.or small jazz gig ,mix and match.The 13" can be tuned low and used as a floor tom.The Blx have birch shells,and the Mlx maple,future classics for sure.
@@timesdarkcaptains9170 Vintage Superstar and Granstar have a special place in my heart, and those 70s/80s Sonors (Champion, Phonic, Signature, Lite, Performer MK1) were really special. Btw, how would you compare BLX to vintage Superstar and Recording Custom? I have the chance to buy BLX kit at an affordable price, but unfortunately I have never played it :/ Maybe I'm a little bothered by the power tom sizes, but I don't play jazz anyway, but a full-blooded (post)punk'n'roll.
Vintage drums are made with old growth timber and have thicker plys this is the difference in the sound of today’s drums I think
I think that is true. But a lot of the 19070s sets were made with Philippine Mahogany, kind of stuff the used on door skins, but the Pearl compression shell construction in those days was a game changer and they were thicker. I am now working on a 1975 Pearl kit an they are all the 9 ply luan shells and they are fantastic.