Add On for my Pearl Reference

BGH

Gold Member
Since buying my Copperfire Reference kit back in 2010, I wanted to add an 8" tom. With the finish being discontinued, they just don't pop-up for sale. I've seen 1 or 2 8x8's but I wanted a 7x8. I like my toms to get deeper as they get larger in diameter. My 10 is 8' deep, so wanted my 8 to be 7" deep. My racks would then be the 7x8 8x10 and 9x12.

Recently, I saw a 7x8 MMX tom for sale, where the seller had swapped all of the hardware out for Reference hardware. He even had Reference/Remo heads on it: clear Emperor over Ambassador. The shell had been repainted by an auto shop guy. I didn't care about that, since I would need to wrap it. The initial price wasn't attractive to me, but I watched the price drop until it became a no brainer for me. I bought it, figuring I could sell the parts for the same price, if my project went awry. The only thing the seller didn't have or didn't include was the Optimount. That was ok. I had several mounting options available. I would start out using a RIMS mount that I already had and see how that went.
 

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To come close to the Copperfire lacquer, the closest wrap would be Champagne Sparkle. The only problem is, that is discontinued also. Precision Drum has a wrap they call New Bermuda Sand, which is the replacement for Champagne Sparkle, which they called Bermuda Sand. So I contacted Gary at Precision, who told me they had some stock of the original Bermuda Sand, and could sell it to me. I ended up having them do the wrap. Since this is not normally available, I didn't want to take the chance and screw it up. They did a great job as usual. Its not an exact match. I didn't expect it to be. Its a bit lighter than the Copperfire, but close enough. I'm very happy with the result.
 

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Looks really good, well done.

How do you find the 8" with die cast hoops? I imagine they could choke it off a bit.
 
Looks really good, well done.

How do you find the 8" with die cast hoops? I imagine they could choke it off a bit.

Thanks! It actually sounds nice and bright. I would say it is more 'controlled' and focused, but it has plenty of projection. My concern was it being 100% maple vs the Reference 10" which is a maple/birch hybrid. It ends-up blending very well, and brighter than I expected. I also have an 8 that Precision made for me a couple of years ago using a Keller 8 ply shell. I have Yamaha 1.6mm triple flange hoops on that tom and it also is wrapped. This Pearl shell sounds different (and maybe better), I must say. The other 8 was built to match a Yamaha Tour Custom kit, which works out well. Since that is a mellower sounding kit, the Keller shell suits that kit better. The Reference small toms are fairly bright sounding, so it worked out well. It wasn't by design; I just lucked out.
 
Yeah, I couldn't imagine it going too wrong tbh.

I've never heard a bad 8" tom. Even the little vision birch sounded awesome.
 
Wow. Great job as usual Bruce. Only you will know that the tom doesn't match. If you hadn't said anything, I would have looked at that picture and just thought it was the same color.
Once again, you're inspiring me - I have a couple of drums I want to rewrap as well (I have somebody else do the work)...I'll have to get to it!

Neal
 
It looks like a really close match in the pictures.
Probably never tell unless you got real up close and studied them.
Looks good.
 
Wow. Great job as usual Bruce. Only you will know that the tom doesn't match. If you hadn't said anything, I would have looked at that picture and just thought it was the same color.
Once again, you're inspiring me - I have a couple of drums I want to rewrap as well (I have somebody else do the work)...I'll have to get to it!

Neal

Thanks, Neal. Didn't I say a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't going to do any more projects? Well, this one's been in the back of my mind for 4 years. I mean, I haven't slept for 4 years because of this ;) I could have had Pearl custom build me a matching tom, but that would have cost $500-$600 and I just couldn't swallow that pill. I love eBay. My patience is rewarded once again in finding this tom.

I could have bought the wrap and tried this myself. But Precision will only warrant the wrap if you use a certain 3M glue, which I don't have and no one locally has. By the time I would have bought the wrap, the glue, paid for high shipping (a quart of glue is heavy), I figured I'd have them do it. If I had bought the glue I might not ever use it again, so it could be a waste. This way I avoid all of the work, except disassembly/reassembly, and I get warranted work by Precision.

Bruce
 
Yeah, I couldn't imagine it going too wrong tbh.

I've never heard a bad 8" tom. Even the little vision birch sounded awesome.

Same here. I love 8" toms. I have one for all of my kits now. Some guys don't dig them. They add a certain flavor you can't get from another tom.

It looks like a really close match in the pictures.
Probably never tell unless you got real up close and studied them.
Looks good.

Thanks, yeah that's the case. Up close, you can see its lighter. From 10' away, you can't tell its different.
 
Very nice job well done,looking great.
 
Thanks, I see you also have a Reference. What finish do you have?
hi well purple craze 12,13,16,18 22 . ,but i only uses 12 or 13 and 16,18 and 22 bass.
depends what i need. for the smaller set up i leave the 13 and 18 at home.
 
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