Pearl DB80 3 section rack

blastbeatkeeper

Senior Member
Hello, everyone. Im inquiring about what the title says, the Pearl DB80 rack. Does anyone have one? How do you like it? It doesnt seem like it would be sturdy, but all of the reviews I have found said it is quite sturdy. I have a chance to grab one, with 5 clamps, for $50 bucks. Is it worth it? Thanks in advance.
 
Now, you have to remember, the Pearl rack was invented by Jeff Porcaro and Paul Jameson, around 1980. I had just designed a rack, for my kit, by cutting up $1000 worth of Tama boom stands and welding them to 1x3 hollow metal bar. Went to see Toto play, at Universal Ampitheater, and BAM, there was a pro built rack, the first I'd ever see.​
So no, it's not the "sturdiest" rack out there. It's a 30 year old design. I had the DR-100, big brother to the DR-80. The DR-100 grew up to be the Icon rack.​
Both racks "wobble" a bit. Due to vertical legs with no horizontal feet, and the hinges in the horizontal bars. Since I ran 1 up, 2 down, I never had any drums on my rack. All I ran, was cymbals. And since the cymbals moved, the rack wobble was a moot point. Running 7/8 cymbals, off the rack, was much easier, than individual stands. Set up/tear down was quick. I never took any of my cymbal arms off the rack. Just folded the rack and put it in the van. And placement consistence was great. Align the rack with the kick drum, and everything else fell into place.​
Square tube meant no slippage, ever. And no need for memory clamps. I played hundreds of gigs, with that rack. Never one problem. Never.​
I was gonna get the DR-80, and the salesman pulled me aside, said he had a DR-100 for sale (his own) .... so I bought "used" not new.​
The DR-80 is still an excellent rack, if you can live with it's limitations. It won't give you "unlimited" cymbal arm angles (but neither will a tripod stand). Vertical and horizontal positions is what you get. So you rely on the boom ratchet and tilter for your angles. And, if you're playing in Marilyn Manson's band, you might want a heavier rack. But if your playing force is more akin to Jeff Porcaro, the DR-80 will do you just fine. And for $50, I'd pull the trigger.​
 
I knew from the get go it wasn't the sturdiest, just by the pics. I plan on running 3 toms "up", and a mounted floor "down", in a 13, 14, 15 and 16 config. The toms are pretty hefty, so that's a concern of mine as well.
Another thing, is that I have an older Sonor Phonics kit, and the tom mount arms are small (roughly 3/8" on the mount side, and roughly 7/8" on the tom side), so I have been trying to find a clamp that's small enough for that as well. I'm going to bring a tom/tom arm with me when I go to look at it to make sure the clamps are small enough. Sorry for the long posts, I just want to make sure my bases are covered.
Oh, and I will be running 4 cymbals off of it as well. So I guess Ill just look, fit, and go from there! Thanks, Harry.
 
I think Bermuda's been using a DR-80 for 20 years now. If it's sturdy enough to handle thousands of shows for him, it's probably sturdy enough for you. ;)
 
So I pulled the trigger on the rack, and let me tell ya....Im glad I did! Still got some tweaking to do, but its already making such a HUGE difference. And btw, the one I got was one of the original runs, not even called the db80. Its just called PEarl: The Drum Rack. Underneath that it says invented by Jeff Porcaro and Paul Jameson. Its killer. Thanks guys for the words of advice.
 
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