Need help to identify this Export

huangmi

Senior Member
Hi, all. I'm looking to buy some separate drums, just to collect/ upgrade my original kit to a bigger one! There is a guy who offers me $150 AUD for this 3 piece pearl export with extra hardware, stands, stool and drum bags. I want to know which model it is, and whether I should get it? sorry for the photo, when i get home from school today i'll upload some more. the ones on the right is the pearl kit.
 

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I'm no expert but either way $150 AUS is a steal for Pearl Export. Take it take it take it

I end up only buying the bass drum and the stool for $80, coz i can't be bothered changing the skins on the other toms. I will upload a photo tomorrow

Now, i don't know much about the export though, the bass drum i've got looks like it's got a crack on the outside , but the guy said it's a joint(I've never seen a drum kit with joints), it sounds really awesome, and plus it's a custom built kit, which has the jack daniel signs on each sides.

Yeah! I just found out there is a crack on the outside shell, it's not too big though! And it sound cheap to my stage custom bass drum, maybe it's not tuned properly or the wood is cheap. The wood of this bass drum looks like the wood my school use for wood work, it's probably Poplar wood!
 
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Now, i don't know much about the export though, the bass drum i've got looks like it's got a crack on the outside , but the guy said it's a joint(I've never seen a drum kit with joints), it sounds really awesome, and plus it's a custom built kit, which has the jack daniel signs on each sides.

There's no such thing as a "custom built" Export kit. It was an entry level kit basically the same price point as the Stage Custom in its day, except with different types of wood in it. There's about a million of them on the used market because they were sold so successfully. What you have is a kit that someone put stickers or painted stencils on.

Exports were wrapped, so what you are seeing that looks like a crack is probably just where the wrap ends (called a "joint" or "seam"). But then again, it's possible some wit stood on the drum before and cracked it. Post a better pic and we can try to determine that.

As far as the sound goes, if the heads are in bad shape, be bothered to change the "skins". Try tuning the front head up a bit tighter and the batter head a bit looser, and start there, then add muffling to taste.

While Exports weren't bad drums by any stretch of the imagination, I have always preferred the Stage Customs of the time period much more for sound and quality.
 
I end up only buying the bass drum and the stool for $80, coz i can't be bothered changing the skins on the other toms. I will upload a photo tomorrow

Now, i don't know much about the export though, the bass drum i've got looks like it's got a crack on the outside , but the guy said it's a joint(I've never seen a drum kit with joints), it sounds really awesome, and plus it's a custom built kit, which has the jack daniel signs on each sides.

Yeah! I just found out there is a crack on the outside shell, it's not too big though! And it sound cheap to my stage custom bass drum, maybe it's not tuned properly or the wood is cheap. The wood of this bass drum looks like the wood my school use for wood work, it's probably Poplar wood!

If you've never seen a drum kit with joints/seams,you're not looking hard enough.ALL wood ply,steam bent,stave and segmented kits have seams/joints.That's how they're all built,unless it's a hollowed out log.:)

Steve B
 
If you've never seen a drum kit with joints/seams,you're not looking hard enough.ALL wood ply,steam bent,stave and segmented kits have seams/joints.That's how they're all built,unless it's a hollowed out log.:)

Steve B

Hi, Steve, I learnt my lesson, I should always look before i buy. I'm kinda disappointed with this bass drum, it doesn't sound as good as my Yamaha, and I'm having trouble to set it up because there ain't enough space for it.
here are some photos of it, The bass drum doesn't have a badge on it, it's only got the pearl logos, the tom has this pearl export badge

My laptop only upload 1 photo at a time, so here is another one
 

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Hi, Steve, I learnt my lesson, I should always look before i buy. I'm kinda disappointed with this bass drum, it doesn't sound as good as my Yamaha, and I'm having trouble to set it up because there ain't enough space for it.
here are some photos of it, The bass drum doesn't have a badge on it, it's only got the pearl logos, the tom has this pearl export badge

Um... you've got the kick drum turned backwards. You need to swap the batter and resonant heads on that thing and swivel the legs the other way. Might be part of your issues, you've got that thing up off the ground doing weird things.
 
Um... you've got the kick drum turned backwards. You need to swap the batter and resonant heads on that thing and swivel the legs the other way. Might be part of your issues, you've got that thing up off the ground doing weird things.

Yeah, I know it's back to front Lol. The guy sold me this doesn't know much about drums, I just did some tuning on this thing, it actually sound alright. Will i be able to swap the heads around? I don't have experience with changing heads. And could you identify the model of this thing?
 
Yeah, I know it's back to front Lol. The guy sold me this doesn't know much about drums, I just did some tuning on this thing, it actually sound alright. Will i be able to swap the heads around? I don't have experience with changing heads. And could you identify the model of this thing?

Yes, you will be able to turn it around. You take the hoops and heads off, take the heads and switch them to the other ends, and them put the hoops back on and retune. You really can't screw it up, don't be afraid.

The lugs look Pearl Export, so likely that's what it is. Your custom paint job was likely done by the previous owner. No way to tell what color it was when wrapped, he also removed the wrap inlays from the metal hoops. An easy and not quite expensive upgrade would be wood hoops for your kick -- not strictly necessary but might help with the sound a very small bit.
 
Yes, you will be able to turn it around. You take the hoops and heads off, take the heads and switch them to the other ends, and them put the hoops back on and retune. You really can't screw it up, don't be afraid.

The lugs look Pearl Export, so likely that's what it is. Your custom paint job was likely done by the previous owner. No way to tell what color it was when wrapped, he also removed the wrap inlays from the metal hoops. An easy and not quite expensive upgrade would be wood hoops for your kick -- not strictly necessary but might help with the sound a very small bit.

Thanks alot for your help! So I was right about what wood this bass drum was? Is this the first generation of the Export series, and what era was this made? It was weird setting it up with my stage custom because the heads are back to front Lol/
 
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Thanks alot for your help! So I was right about what wood this bass drum was? Is this the first generation of the Export series, and what era was this made? It was weird setting it up with my stage custom because the heads are back to front Lol/

Hard to tell without the original wrap on there, but it's almost certainly one made before 1989; the fittings match, and in 1989 Pearl went to a high-tension-look bridge lug than spanned the shell. So these are older drums, for sure. The Pearl specs don't specify the wood type for most of the 80s, but mid-80s Exports were mahogany (and the slight upgrade, ELX, were mahogany with inner and outer birch plies). That select wood could have been anything, but probably wasn't poplar. See this chart: http://www.labatteria.it/public/file/Export_Series_1982-2006.pdf

So other than saying between 82 and 88, I'm probably not going to be able to hone in any closer than that.
 
Hard to tell without the original wrap on there, but it's almost certainly one made before 1989; the fittings match, and in 1989 Pearl went to a high-tension-look bridge lug than spanned the shell. So these are older drums, for sure. The Pearl specs don't specify the wood type for most of the 80s, but mid-80s Exports were mahogany (and the slight upgrade, ELX, were mahogany with inner and outer birch plies). That select wood could have been anything, but probably wasn't poplar. See this chart: http://www.labatteria.it/public/file/Export_Series_1982-2006.pdf

So other than saying between 82 and 88, I'm probably not going to be able to hone in any closer than that.

Thanks a lot for the help mate. Does it worth anything?
 
Thanks a lot for the help mate. Does it worth anything?

Short answer, no:

- It's from a period where they made literally millions of these kits
- These kits were dirt cheap when they were sold new
- Yours has "custom" redecorating
- For slightly more money, it's possible to buy a new entry-level kit with features that put shame to the 80's vintage Export

Tune it up and play it as best you can, and if you want to unload it, do so, but this is even less rare than your Stage Customs, and as so, is probably about worth what you paid for it and the drum stool you got, and not a cent more.
 
Short answer, no:

- It's from a period where they made literally millions of these kits
- These kits were dirt cheap when they were sold new
- Yours has "custom" redecorating
- For slightly more money, it's possible to buy a new entry-level kit with features that put shame to the 80's vintage Export

Tune it up and play it as best you can, and if you want to unload it, do so, but this is even less rare than your Stage Customs, and as so, is probably about worth what you paid for it and the drum stool you got, and not a cent more.

Yeah, the reason I bought this kick is to just look at it nothing else, I don't expect this to sound too good, and it's my first purchase of Pearl.
 
Yeah, the reason I bought this kick is to just look at it nothing else, I don't expect this to sound too good, and it's my first purchase of Pearl.

It'll sound fine if you take a few minutes with it. Part of the reason those kits sold so well (besides marketing and dealer reach) was the fact that they tuned up easily and sounded as good or better than anything else in the price range. Work with it. If nothing else, you'll learn a lot about tuning and the mechanics of drums, which, forgive me, you need to get your hands dirty with.
 
It'll sound fine if you take a few minutes with it. Part of the reason those kits sold so well (besides marketing and dealer reach) was the fact that they tuned up easily and sounded as good or better than anything else in the price range. Work with it. If nothing else, you'll learn a lot about tuning and the mechanics of drums, which, forgive me, you need to get your hands dirty with.

Agreed on all counts.

I have a lot of experience with Exports and they are fundamentally good drums. They were a real game-changer in the industry. Priced lower than most other kits (imported) with the equivalent quality of construction of most higher-end drums of the time. The shells are well-made, the hardware is solid and they are capable of sounding very good if you take the time to work out how.

They're worth very little (you probably paid about the going rate for a set in reasonable condition) but they are good drums. I would still recommend an old set of Exports to a beginner drummer on a tight budget, even though the industry has moved on.
 
I had 2 friends in high school with the same green set in rock sizes (12, 13, 16).

Neither of them ever had them sounding good.

A bass drum is easy though, good heads, bit of a muffling and any cheap piece of crap can sound great.
 
I had 2 friends in high school with the same green set in rock sizes (12, 13, 16).

Neither of them ever had them sounding good.

A bass drum is easy though, good heads, bit of a muffling and any cheap piece of crap can sound great.

In my experience, it tends to be down to the owners. There is nothing in the Export's design that would lead to an inherently poor drum. They just tend to be owned by inexperienced players.
 
In my experience, it tends to be down to the owners. There is nothing in the Export's design that would lead to an inherently poor drum. They just tend to be owned by inexperienced players.

+1, especially if the Tom Angles thread is any indicator...
 
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