New Pearl Reference Series Drum kit

walkera1962

Senior Member
I just bought a new Pearl Reference series drum kit, I have never owned a Pearl kit but I just could not pass this deal up. I should get them in a few days. The sizes are:

22 kick, 8,10,12,15,16 and 6.5x14 snare.
Does anyone have any feedback on this line. I will post pictures soon.
thanks!
aw
www.awdrums.com
 
Great choice! Please describe each drum and the type of wood and the plies.

KBadd
 
I always find it weird when there's a 15" tom, instead of a 14". Curious for pictures though, Reference kits are usually beautiful :).
 
WAIT ....

You just plunked down $3k+ and you're asking for opinions NOW ???? Hmmmmm

Pearl Reference drums are customized, ...each size tom has a certain 'ply' combo that can be found on Pearl's site.

15" wierd? Hell no ....what I found wierd was the 16" next to it. the 18 would make more sense giving you 3 inches between 3 toms....but ....

Remember, ...numerous people have quoted the 15" tom as one of thier faves!!!!
 
I'd also like to hear from someone who owns a set of these. Pearl must be discontinuing some of their finishes in this series. There seems to be some good deals out there right now.
 
I own a Ref kit in Granite Sparkle - 22x18", 16x16", 12x9", 10x8". They're really great sounding drums but they're very LOUD. I realize that your drums are only as loud as the guy playing them...but these drums are loud, regardless.

They're also very heavy. Heavy mounting hardware, die-cast hoops, and thick shells. I can't stand taking these drums anywhere and it's the single biggest drawback, IMO. The bass drum has got to weigh 3x more than my Ludwig kick.

The kick sounds great but IMO, it likes to be tuned up higher than others that I've had. I attribute this to the thickness of the shell. Same w/ the 16" floor tom. The 12x9" is the best sounding drum to my ears...I haven't used the 10x8".

What I'm finding, now that I've had a couple of years around Pearl shells is; they're not overly warm. Pearl's general sound is more of a loud, projecting "DONK". I can see why they've found a niche w/ metal drummers. I definitely prefer the sound of a Classic Maple kit and play that one 99% of the time, these days.

But...Pearl's quality control is insane. There isn't a single notable flaw on these drums. Hardware is top shelf, everything is literally perfect on them.
 
I own a Ref kit in Granite Sparkle - 22x18", 16x16", 12x9", 10x8". They're really great sounding drums but they're very LOUD. I realize that your drums are only as loud as the guy playing them...but these drums are loud, regardless.

They're also very heavy. Heavy mounting hardware, die-cast hoops, and thick shells. I can't stand taking these drums anywhere and it's the single biggest drawback, IMO. The bass drum has got to weigh 3x more than my Ludwig kick.

The kick sounds great but IMO, it likes to be tuned up higher than others that I've had. I attribute this to the thickness of the shell. Same w/ the 16" floor tom. The 12x9" is the best sounding drum to my ears...I haven't used the 10x8".

What I'm finding, now that I've had a couple of years around Pearl shells is; they're not overly warm. Pearl's general sound is more of a loud, projecting "DONK". I can see why they've found a niche w/ metal drummers. I definitely prefer the sound of a Classic Maple kit and play that one 99% of the time, these days.

But...Pearl's quality control is insane. There isn't a single notable flaw on these drums. Hardware is top shelf, everything is literally perfect on them.

So, with the kick and the floor tom, are you saying that the sweet spots aren't the low tones that are advertised? Isn't that why Pearl varies the shell composition? To summarize your response, it seems like: they are very well made, and sound good, but not the exact sound that's pleasing to you. Would that be accurate?
 
So, with the kick and the floor tom, are you saying that the sweet spots aren't the low tones that are advertised? Isn't that why Pearl varies the shell composition? To summarize your response, it seems like: they are very well made, and sound good, but not the exact sound that's pleasing to you. Would that be accurate?

The kick retains a fairly low note, even while being tuned up relatively high. They're just not warm enough for my tastes. Pearl's shells seem to emphasize the attack. I basically had to remove *all* muffling to get it to sound decent and I typically like the sound and feel of a DW-style kick drum pillow. I ended up putting a thin Evans EQ pad inside the kick, not touching either head. Even then, the kick was mostly attack and very little "boom".

I wouldn't say they have much tuning range either. Thinner shells can be tuned down lower and also not choke as easily when tuned up. These Ref shells, and indeed other Pearl shells I've tried, seem to have a single sweet spot. The floor tom needs to be tuned up higher than I prefer, but it sounds good once you hit the spot. The 12x9" (the thinnest) was a bit more flexible.

I'm not trying to bash Reference drums, I just found them to be "OK", personally.
 
The kick retains a fairly low note, even while being tuned up relatively high. They're just not warm enough for my tastes. Pearl's shells seem to emphasize the attack. I basically had to remove *all* muffling to get it to sound decent and I typically like the sound and feel of a DW-style kick drum pillow. I ended up putting a thin Evans EQ pad inside the kick, not touching either head. Even then, the kick was mostly attack and very little "boom".

I wouldn't say they have much tuning range either. Thinner shells can be tuned down lower and also not choke as easily when tuned up. These Ref shells, and indeed other Pearl shells I've tried, seem to have a single sweet spot. The floor tom needs to be tuned up higher than I prefer, but it sounds good once you hit the spot. The 12x9" (the thinnest) was a bit more flexible.

I'm not trying to bash Reference drums, I just found them to be "OK", personally.

Ok, thanks. There are some really great prices on these right now. Its very tempting, but I don't know. I'm like you; I need to hear resonance and fullness. I get that from my Yamaha RC's. If its all attack, and a bunch of 'clicking,' then I probably wouldn't like them.
Thanks again.
 
Ok, thanks. There are some really great prices on these right now. Its very tempting, but I don't know. I'm like you; I need to hear resonance and fullness. I get that from my Yamaha RC's. If its all attack, and a bunch of 'clicking,' then I probably wouldn't like them.
Thanks again.

It's not that dramatic, they don't sound terrible. But I do need more of a balance and Classic Maples do that for me. The shells are still thick enough to project but are very warm, too. They also don't weigh a metric ton and are easy to haul.
 
I don't mean to interfere with a solid topic but. Pearl MMX 4ply! It has to be the most balance of any high end pearl shell ever made! There, I said it and I feel better (He-He).
 
I think the general purpose of the refrence kit is not understood by most drummers. The reference kit is a basis for which propective buyers of Masterworks kit REFER to. Think of it as a "consensus" kit, not neccessarily a "best" kit (although from the hype that Pearl endorsees like Dennis Chambers heap upon it, you'd think that it was the single greatest thing to ever happen in drums). You're supposed to get your own opinion from REFERING to the REFERENCE kit and then come up with your own specs as to what you think a perfect kit would be and how it would be constructed. If you want more high end attack in the 12" tom for example, you'd take out plies of maple and substitute in plies of birch. If you want a bassier tone, you'd sub in plies of of mahogany. By doing your homework and finding out about shell composition, size and depth, and bearing edges and by REFERING to the REFERENCE kit, you should then be able to conceptualize your dream kit and then send in a custom MASTERWORKS order for the builders at Pearl. If you consult the Masterworks webpage, it explains in depth the concept of varying wood plies and bearing edges.
 
I think the general purpose of the refrence kit is not understood by most drummers. The reference kit is a basis for which propective buyers of Masterworks kit REFER to. Think of it as a "consensus" kit, not neccessarily a "best" kit (although from the hype that Pearl endorsees like Dennis Chambers heap upon it, you'd think that it was the single greatest thing to ever happen in drums). You're supposed to get your own opinion from REFERING to the REFERENCE kit and then come up with your own specs as to what you think a perfect kit would be and how it would be constructed. If you want more high end attack in the 12" tom for example, you'd take out plies of maple and substitute in plies of birch. If you want a bassier tone, you'd sub in plies of of mahogany. By doing your homework and finding out about shell composition, size and depth, and bearing edges and by REFERING to the REFERENCE kit, you should then be able to conceptualize your dream kit and then send in a custom MASTERWORKS order for the builders at Pearl. If you consult the Masterworks webpage, it explains in depth the concept of varying wood plies and bearing edges.


Good post, and I have another take. I *think* that the Reference series was born from the most often-requested Masterworks specs. That is, Pearl noticed that many customers were ordering the same shell/bearing edge configurations for their Masterworks kits and decided to build a new series based upon those. Thus, the 'Reference' series.
 
I think the general purpose of the refrence kit is not understood by most drummers. The reference kit is a basis for which propective buyers of Masterworks kit REFER to. Think of it as a "consensus" kit, not neccessarily a "best" kit (although from the hype that Pearl endorsees like Dennis Chambers heap upon it, you'd think that it was the single greatest thing to ever happen in drums). You're supposed to get your own opinion from REFERING to the REFERENCE kit and then come up with your own specs as to what you think a perfect kit would be and how it would be constructed. If you want more high end attack in the 12" tom for example, you'd take out plies of maple and substitute in plies of birch. If you want a bassier tone, you'd sub in plies of of mahogany. By doing your homework and finding out about shell composition, size and depth, and bearing edges and by REFERING to the REFERENCE kit, you should then be able to conceptualize your dream kit and then send in a custom MASTERWORKS order for the builders at Pearl. If you consult the Masterworks webpage, it explains in depth the concept of varying wood plies and bearing edges.

So I should buy a $2000-$3000 Reference kit to find out what I want in a $5000-$6000 Masterworks kit? Seems reasonable.
 
So I should buy a $2000-$3000 Reference kit to find out what I want in a $5000-$6000 Masterworks kit? Seems reasonable.

It's good to see you are REFERRING to the earlier post, so you could take it as a REFERENCE on what you were going to post next.
 
So I should buy a $2000-$3000 Reference kit to find out what I want in a $5000-$6000 Masterworks kit? Seems reasonable.

LOL, yeah, I'm sure that's what the people over at Pearl WANT you to do. Or you could just go down to Guitar Center or Sam Ash and pound on a reference kit down there to see/ hear what you like/ dislike. Again, the main purpose of the reference kit is to encourage individuality and inspire those with deep pockets to get creative and order truly custom Masterworks kits. Or you could be part of the herd and fall in line, convinced that the reference kit is the end-all of kits and just buy one off the shelf, save a couple grand off a Masterworks. Personally, i think they're great but i like my kit way better...
 
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