Looking to buy a Pearl BLX, any input is appreciated.

dpk204

Senior Member
I recently had a thread on selling my Export drums on eBay. Those drums are about to sell which clears the way for me to finally upgrade my kit. I've set myself on a used Pearl BLX kit. I learned on one when I was in HS and I always liked the sound they produced. There are two available online but I wanted to see if you could tell me anything about them like how they would stack up to today's similar birch kits. I was told that they don't make drums like the old BLX and MLX kits from the late 80's and early 90's. What should I look for in a used kit? What is a realistic price on a 4 piece shell pack? Were there any notable issues with these drums that I should be aware of? And do you have any experiences with BLX kits?


Thanks,
Dan
 
I recently had a thread on selling my Export drums on eBay. Those drums are about to sell which clears the way for me to finally upgrade my kit. I've set myself on a used Pearl BLX kit. I learned on one when I was in HS and I always liked the sound they produced. There are two available online but I wanted to see if you could tell me anything about them like how they would stack up to today's similar birch kits. I was told that they don't make drums like the old BLX and MLX kits from the late 80's and early 90's. What should I look for in a used kit? What is a realistic price on a 4 piece shell pack? Were there any notable issues with these drums that I should be aware of? And do you have any experiences with BLX kits?


Thanks,
Dan

I think I can give you some honest input here but its mostly negative and only my opinion, not to mention that my setup was probably very different than yours.

I owned a 9 pc Pearl BLX kit for 20 years (2 x 24" BDs, 12,13,14,15" Toms, 16,18"FLRs, and 14x6.5" Free Floating snare) and the truth is, aside from the monster attack, the super loud volume and georgeos deep blue lacquer, I never really liked them and I'll tell you why, in no particular order.

They were in what was called "Monster Tom" sizes, too big and too long. That, along with the Pearl BD Tom mounts (that are very much the same today) made the drums VERY hard to set up so that they were comfortable and easy to play.

The sizes and quantity of toms made them a real pain to move, setup, adjust and play but I know I had a bigger than average kit so I do take some of the blame for that. However, the toms were too deep, like I said, making them a Bear to setup properly. I never actually enjoyed playing them like I do the modern "Fast" or "Standard" drum sizes of today.

I didnt exactly love the sound either. They were Thunderous but they always had too many overtones that I couldnt get rid of with Head changes, tuning, muffling...etc, without totally choking them out.

I know this is a really bad review but I did have them for 20 years. I guess I was in denial or something. I payed alot for them when they were new. They were also super High End Pearls when they came out and they are very much in the late 80s/early 90s style and to me are outdated.

They are very beautiful looking however and theyre great for someone who likes their style and sound. They just never really worked for me IMHO.

Any other questions about the BLX are more than welcome.
 
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Homeularis, great review actually.

You are the second person in 2 days to tell me that they did not like the BLX. I don't know what to do now. I just sold my Exports and I have a drum budget for a used set of $700. I want to stick with Pearl but I don't know where I should really go. I saw a Session Studio Birch for $700 but I am not familiar with that kit.

Can anybody please tell me what is the best choice for a 4 piece shell pack for $700 used?
 
To be honest, I don't know if Pearl has a lot of 'cheap' four-piece offerings. A quick search on musiciansfriend finds that only one set if offered as a four-piece with snare, and it's a Reference kit(very high price).

What you could do, however, is buy your kit piece by piece, using add-on packs or another form of separate purchase, to build your kit. I'm sure plenty of places online and possibly on ebay sell individual drums.

If you're still set on getting a birch kit altogether, look into buying a used birch Vision kit. They're supposed to be relatively in the same quality bracket as Exports, but marginally better because of the birch.
 
Homeularis, great review actually.

You are the second person in 2 days to tell me that they did not like the BLX. I don't know what to do now. I just sold my Exports and I have a drum budget for a used set of $700. I want to stick with Pearl but I don't know where I should really go. I saw a Session Studio Birch for $700 but I am not familiar with that kit.

Can anybody please tell me what is the best choice for a 4 piece shell pack for $700 used?

Yeah, but you already did say that you liked the BLX sound. So why should Homeularis's review totally change your mind? If nothing else, you can see if you can locate a set of BLXs, and give them a play before making a decision.
 
The BLX was a very popular seller in the 80s.

They were good high end drums for their time. I never owned one, but I worked at a store that sold a lot of them.

The only "issue" I used to recall is some people used to want them because they had similar specs as the Yamaha recording custom (birch shells, high tension lugs, similar finishes) at a lower price than the Yamaha RCs. But they didn't really sound like the Yamaha Recording Customs at all.

Which wasn't a bad thing, just different.
 
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