Help choosing rack

braincramp

braincramp

Gold Member
Time to get a rack... but funds are tight..I see Pearl has a low cost rack with 4 vertical legs only..no horizonal supports at bottom ..does anyone use this type of rack and does it support well or is it wobbly...I can be a heavy hitter and this scares me to the point of wanting to shell out the extra 150+ for a heavier duty one with horizonal bottom supports...please let me know your experiences ...and with racks in general...I use about 14-16 cymbals and it takes me close to 2 hours to set-up and mic everything..will a rack knock off say 15 minutes?
 
Holy crap! How big is your kit? Two hours for set-up?

Anyways, I've only ever owned one rack, the Yamaha Hexrack. It doesn't get any sturdier than that. Right now they're not available to purchase new but you can find them used here and there. I've heard rumors from reliable sources that Yamaha will be reintroducing their new and improved model in the beginning of 2011.

As far as Pearl's rack, I know a few guys that have them. Very sturdy and problem free. The main thing is that you never have to worry about slipping clamps thanks to the square bars.
 
braincramp said:
Time to get a rack.........please let me know your experiences ...and with racks in general...I use about 14-16 cymbals and it takes me close to 2 hours to set-up and mic everything..will a rack knock off say 15 minutes?
Click to expand...

I have a large 10 piece with 12+ cyms on a DR-2 pearl rack (old rack), the rack cuts the setup time in half.

I also have 503 Icon rack, If I had to use 2 Icons on a large set, it might add 5 more minutes of setup time for a large set compared to the DR older rack.

Nothing slips, nothing moves, floor is clean of most stand legs, things are in the same place every time.
 
I have a Pearl Icon straight rack with 3 toms and three cymbals on it. All have their own mounting post or clamp. There is no wobble at all. If you add a right and left side it should be like a rock. But for the amount of cymbals you have you may need two sets.
 
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Monique has the rack I want.
 
Fuzrock said:
Holy crap! How big is your kit? Two hours for set-up?

Anyways, I've only ever owned one rack, the Yamaha Hexrack. It doesn't get any sturdier than that. Right now they're not available to purchase new but you can find them used here and there. I've heard rumors from reliable sources that Yamaha will be reintroducing their new and improved model in the beginning of 2011.

As far as Pearl's rack, I know a few guys that have them. Very sturdy and problem free. The main thing is that you never have to worry about slipping clamps thanks to the square bars.
Click to expand...

Its 7 piece 8 counting side snare with up to 15 total cymbals,counting hats (1 pair), gong,then I use tamborine, 2 blocks, cowbell, chimes ,bell I really cant omit anything everything gets hit thru the night at least once...it is way too much I need to scale down....micing takes up good 30 minutes..set up before micing is well over hour... so I figure for 2 it may not always take near that depending on venue...but have never done it in under an hour thats for sure...hoping a rack will cut things down to an hour though. Looks like the icon is the way to go.
 
I have a Gibraltar rack and much like you I also have a lot of drums, cymbals and assorted gadgets that get used. Rack systems don't really cut down on setup time all that much, they give a clean look, more stable and compact setup.
 
Well I own the older model of a Pearl Icon Rack, sturdy as a rock, my kit is fairly small but I got it for gigging and the lack of space in my room :L, It holds up very well, as mentioned earlier the square clamps stop rolling or loosening.
 
braincramp said:
Time to get a rack... but funds are tight..I see Pearl has a low cost rack with 4 vertical legs only..no horizonal supports at bottom ..does anyone use this type of rack and does it support well or is it wobbly...I can be a heavy hitter and this scares me to the point of wanting to shell out the extra 150+ for a heavier duty one with horizonal bottom supports...please let me know your experiences ...and with racks in general...I use about 14-16 cymbals and it takes me close to 2 hours to set-up and mic everything..will a rack knock off say 15 minutes?
Click to expand...

You should ask Bo Eder about racks.He shows the best looking one on this website. Thought you were going to change that, Bo. lol
 
Check out our own Gavin Harrison, his web site http://www.gavharrison.com/index.php He uses a Pearl Rack. A rack could possibly save you a ton of time. Depends on what you drive, and how far down you have to break down the rack, for transport.​
I had a Pearl DR-100 rack that I got a solid 15 years use out of. Cut my set-up time in half ... but I never even pulled the cymbal arms off the rack ... just hung/de-hung my cymbals. The rack, folded, fit in my van, or truck, perfecto.​
Currently, I have a Yamaha hex rack (2, actually) .... and although there's a temporary snafu with maker/supplier/Yamaha ..... the Yamaha hex it the king.​
Photo is of Gavins Sonor drums with Pearl rack​
 

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LOTS of nice racks and good advice it came down to price though like always, went with a Gibralter V with 2 wings, has 2 cymbal stands for front legs and 5 additional clamps will probably leave my toms in bass and just use it for cymbals/acessories got it for 199 used, plus its 1 state away will have it for fridays gig. Will for sure haul in truck folded up with only cymbals off... might even leave wood blocks and cowbell mounted if possible to fold up right. Should be a big time saver for me. I know there's a big thing about Gibralter having round tubes and slippage, but this sounds far fetched as long as clamps are nice and tight. Anyone ever have trouble with a G-rack.
 
I had a Gibraltar "V" Rack for years...(until I down sized dramatically.) I never had any problems...ever. I even had 14" and 16" mounted floor toms hanging on it. It never slipped. I did however always use memory locks on almost all of the clamps.
 
braincramp said:
LOTS of nice racks and good advice it came down to price though like always, went with a Gibralter V with 2 wings, has 2 cymbal stands for front legs and 5 additional clamps will probably leave my toms in bass and just use it for cymbals/acessories got it for 199 used, plus its 1 state away will have it for fridays gig. Will for sure haul in truck folded up with only cymbals off... might even leave wood blocks and cowbell mounted if possible to fold up right. Should be a big time saver for me. I know there's a big thing about Gibralter having round tubes and slippage, but this sounds far fetched as long as clamps are nice and tight. Anyone ever have trouble with a G-rack.
Click to expand...

You did well with that price for sure. Nice find.
 
I can't speak on the other racks mentioned but if you don't want to worry about a rack supporting 100% of your gear, then Pearl Icon will work. I've loaded so much crap on it, even stood on it and NEVER have any problems.
 
Pearl Icon is just amazing! I dont really care for pearl drums but when it comes to hardware, they really know whats goin on. The square tubing REALLY keeps everything in place where it should stay. Durable as an ox. Whoo!
 
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