And I got a rack!

Bo Eder

Platinum Member
In another thread I was debating on drilling the bass drum (and I got the appropriate mount for that), or trying out a rack for the first time.

Well, the rack showed up today - just a stock Pearl ICON straight rack. And I must say, right out of the box, I was able to make it do what I needed it to do. I had even contemplated maybe cutting the cross bar, and shortening the vertical bars to make the rack smaller, and happily discovered I won't have to resort to the hacksaw. It works as it's designed. That's kind of mind-blowing by itself.

More surprisingly, I was able to almost center the toms over the cross bar, giving the impression that there isn't this huge chrome rack in front of the kit since I could drop the crossbar right over the bass drum - I do like that. I had contemplated how I'd move it around, and I could leave it together, cover it with a BBQ cover and put it in the back of my truck, or, since the engineering is done so well (it's not hard to dismantle), all the parts will fit in my 48" hardware bag that has wheels on one end. The better news is, the whole rack only weighs about 22 pounds. Much lighter than TWO tom/cymbal combo stands. And as you can see in the picture, it takes up ALOT less floor space. I think if I had to dismantle this for a gig, it would still be easier to re-build than the two combo stands!

I know as you look at the photo, there's a lot of things that say "Pearl" all over the place. I decided to put the rack's logo badge dead center because it acts as an aid as to where to center the rack would go if I put the bass drum down first. This set-up will work when I take all four toms out on a gig. And I have my flat-based hardware, and the additional 9x13 tom, to take out when I want to go with a 4-piece. So I don't have to take the rack out, or take a tom off, at all. The 10" and 12" toms will live on the rack.

I think this is going to work out. It's nice to find these things on sale so cheap!
 

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Lookin' sharp! I like how the cymbal stands fix directly to the posts. My old Gibraltar rack isn't capable of that.

Your Gibraltar should be capable :) You just need to buy some adapters that fix to the uprights. :)
Rack looks good & does make setting up easier & saves on floor space. I can set mine up identically each time :)
 
I'm jealous! That's what I've wanted to do for a long time.

Did the rack come with the tom brackets & cymbal sections? Or are those add-ons?
 
It looks good and probably functions even better. Way to go. Peace and goodwill.
 
Awesome! Racks are cool, but I am a rack fan so slightly biased.

Do you think you will keep the rack and ultimately close the hardware rabbit hole, or do you need to gig it first and see how it does with load in/setup/tear down/load out?
 
At first I was skeptical when I read your previous thread. But now I must say it is beautiful and simple. Simply beautiful? Yes.
 
I'm jealous! That's what I've wanted to do for a long time.

Did the rack come with the tom brackets & cymbal sections? Or are those add-ons?

It comes with all the necessary brackets as seen. I just added my tom arms and the cymbal booms - which is a 7/8” downtube that manages the boom arm.

But I’m really blown away that the thing worked great out of the box. I kept thinking I’d have to cut the tubes down and shorten the cross bar, but I don’t need to (if I want to cut it shorter, that would be only for aesthetic considerations).
 
Awesome! Racks are cool, but I am a rack fan so slightly biased.

Do you think you will keep the rack and ultimately close the hardware rabbit hole, or do you need to gig it first and see how it does with load in/setup/tear down/load out?

Perhaps. I now have ALL the options available to me depending on what I’d like to do. But, as I’ve said before, I’m wondering why I didn’t try this sooner. It seems so much easier. Transporting it if I have to break it down into a bag is relatively easier than two combo stands and the rack takes up much less floor space. This could be it for this set up for a while. If I got out with just a 4-piece, I have my regular stands and a 13” separate tom. Best of both worlds.
 
Your tom and cymbal angles have a nice contour to them, which provides a nice contrast to the stark angles of the rack. If you were to have your toms and cymbals flat and straight, I think it would all look rather rigid and somewhat sterile. As it is, though, I like it.

But, didn't you have your 10" and 12" inch toms reversed a la Purdie and Aranoff?
 
When I was doing 3 up I used that same rack. Now that I am doing 2 up and drilled the dreaded hole for a bass drum mount. Mine is collecting dust. Trying to sell it with 7 clamps if anyone is interested. I loved how steady iw was with two cymbals and three toms.
 
Great job. Makes me wanna bust out my Yamaha hex rack again.​
 
Your tom and cymbal angles have a nice contour to them, which provides a nice contrast to the stark angles of the rack. If you were to have your toms and cymbals flat and straight, I think it would all look rather rigid and somewhat sterile. As it is, though, I like it.

But, didn't you have your 10" and 12" inch toms reversed a la Purdie and Aranoff?

Thanks! I didn’t even think about the angles, it was just so easy to set everything the way I needed it. But yeah, I did do the reverse thing, but I went back to normal. It was a little weird wanting to do a linear tom roll downward and having to start it on my left.
 
I wouldn't cut anything. Next week you'll want them bacxk and it will be too late. cymbals can be mounted 2 inches above the vertical or so, so I don't see them in the way.
 
Although it works as is, does anyone think I should cut the vertical pipes down?

If they're not in the way, why cut? Nonetheless, that looks great! Nice
 
I don't like racks, but I know you'll be through with this phase soon, so I'll cut you some slack - LOL
 
It’s a small thing, but can the tom mounts be flipped around to inside of the rack? It’d be a cleaner look if that’d work.
 
Speaking of racks, how's Mo been?
 
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