Some Pearl Vision Porn ;)

M

Matt Bo Eder

Guest
Anyway - when I collected all these mismatched drums, I hadn't spent a lot of time with them. But this weekend I spent some time, changing out heads, putting away drums I wouldn't use and now the kit sounds great - much better than it looks!

I upgraded all the heads - the toms got new pinstripes on top and clear emperors on the bottoms. The bass drum got a PowerStroke4 (I'm hooked on these now) along with the 5" Supra - and this kit sounds almost as good and thuddy as my classic maples! I kept wondering why I couldn't improve the bass drum sound with a PowerStroke 3 at first and discovered that the stock reso head just sucks. I put a smooth white emperor with a 2" felt strip, and combined with the PS4, for a 20-inch bass drum, it's getting close to rivaling the deepness I get with my 14x24 Ludwig (but not that close).

Now I have a kit that can transport in the back of my truck with no cases. I may not use the 14" floor tom all the time, but the rack tom and 16" floor will always be used. These Visions don't sound that bad when you take the time to replace the heads and give them a good tuning. I'm really surprised.
 

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For the record, I never said Pearl doesn't make good-sounding drums.

Just ugly drums. With butt-ugly hardware.
 
Looks good Sir! I had the first gen. Vision shell pack and you are correct, heads and tuning and these hybrid birch ply shells sound pretty amazing! Pearl is a long time fave.
 
Please wrap that abomination

;)

;)
 
I had thought about pAinting them some color. Then I thought about lighting the shells on fire then clear coating them....the possibilities are endless. But there's nothing wrong with them now, is there?
 
Wow, Pinstripes with Emperors for reso's. Those must sound tubby. Are you sure that will sound good in a live environment?

And to agree with others, those are pretty f'n ugly. The maroon floor toms scream cheap. The matte black painted hardware screams cheap. The green rack tom looks nice though.
 
Wow, Pinstripes with Emperors for reso's. Those must sound tubby. Are you sure that will sound good in a live environment?

And to agree with others, those are pretty f'n ugly. The maroon floor toms scream cheap. The matte black painted hardware screams cheap. The green rack tom looks nice though.

I suppose we'd have to define live environment. They're going into a smallish restaurant that's mostly solid wood. The last time I was in there it wasn't hard for the band to blow it out and send the patrons leaving, so I know these tubby drums will work fine.

And in fact, tubby drums might just work in a lot of situations where I want to blend in with the band more than people think. I've spent most of my life believing the marketing hype about "cutting through" and "resonance is important", and have found it to just add to the general cacophony of a loud band. My attitude has changed and I'm all about blend. If I need to be loud, I still want to blend and will mic up if that's even necessary.

But really? Wine red screams cheap? I was debating covering these in some kind of fur or something.
 
But really? Wine red screams cheap? I was debating covering these in some kind of fur or something.

When ever I see maroon wrapped drums it puts the image of a CB-700 kit in my head:

CBset_red_back.jpg


Fur might be a good option for those drums.
 
When ever I see maroon wrapped drums it puts the image of a CB-700 kit in my head:

CBset_red_back.jpg


Fur might be a good option for those drums.

OK you got me there. I think I'll set it up with all five toms (the other two racks are a gold strata and an orange metallic) - that might just pull your eyes away from the wine red floor toms. Make no mistake though, the black lugs are just as strong as the chrome ones though ;)

A friend of mine had a set of Pearls in the strata finishes with each one a different color. But it didn't seem daring enough for me. If you're gonna clash, CLASH!
 
my vision vb drums sound great. very easy to tune from no tension and the note they produce is fat, deep, and very clean. all I have to do on the toms is 1 full turn up from finger tight and all the tension rods are in tune with each other. I didn't have to mess with any except for 2 tension rods across from each other on the 12" tom. the snare is a bit more finicky, but it does have a sweet spot and when you find it it has an amazing crack and effortless breath. I do about 3 full turns on the batter head and 2 1/2 on the resonate head. they also keep their tune for a long time and I'm a rimshot fiend.

does anyone know if the supplied heads are single or double ply?
 
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my vision vb drums sound great. very easy to tune from no tension and the note they produce is fat, deep, and very clean. all I have to do on the toms is 1 full turn up from finger tight and all the tension rods are in tune with each other. I didn't have to mess with any except for 2 tension rods across from each other on the 12" tom. the snare is a bit more finicky, but it does have a sweet spot and when you find it it has an amazing crack and effortless breath. I do about 3 full turns on the batter head and 2 1/2 on the resonate head. they also keep their tune for a long time and I'm a rimshot fiend.

does anyone know if the supplied heads are single or double ply?

Since every drum I got wasn't from a set, all the heads were different. But the Pearl pinstripe-like heads bear no resemblance to real Pinstripes, and their PowerStroke3-like heads are really disappointing next to the real thing, so they all went!

Glad you're having an easy time to tune, I'm finding that is the truth with these, too. My snare however, is a nice 5x14 Supraphonic, so obviously no worries there ;)
 
I don't think they're pinstripes. you can see the heads in my photos. is there a way to tell if they're single or double ply by examining bottom of them or something?

I've always wondered what a metal snare sounds like. do you like it better than wood snare drums?
 
is there a way to tell if they're single or double ply by examining bottom of them or something?
If you press on the head and can see faint rainbow rings in the plastic, they are two-ply.
 
I don't think they're pinstripes. you can see the heads in my photos. is there a way to tell if they're single or double ply by examining bottom of them or something?

I've always wondered what a metal snare sounds like. do you like it better than wood snare drums?

Yeah. I'm a Supra guy. I grew up on that sound. But there are a lot of wood snares I like too, I just don't own any at this time.
 
If you press on the head and can see faint rainbow rings in the plastic, they are two-ply.

thanks, that's good to know. I just noticed that they say ut by remo on them. they sound surprisingly good.

Yeah. I'm a Supra guy. I grew up on that sound. But there are a lot of wood snares I like too, I just don't own any at this time.

gotcha. I kinda wanna try a metal snare now. maybe I'll go check one out in a store.
 
I believe they sound fantastic... I've had great experience with Exports on up in the Pearl line - but please, I beg you, wrap them in a nice silver sparkle or something!! ;-)

Come on now, you don't like this? This is going to be my gigging kit this summer ;)
 

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All you need to play those drums is a big ole 10 gallon hat, with a Hawaiian shirt, and what the hell, a cape for good measure. Guaranteed to piss everyone off.
 
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