PEAVY builds drums?

Destroy1

Senior Member
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In my new bands studio. The bassist owns a huge amp/guitar/drum warehouse here in Nashville, so I can pick any kit. I picked these for last night's session because I was curious. STRANGE looking drums...but they sound great!
 
Peavey built drums, until maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I recall that Bobby Rock was their big endorser. I recorded with a kit once and thought they sounded okay, not quite enough to make me explore them further though.

Bermuda
 
Yeah, bobby rock had some insane publicity photos with an enormous peavey radial kit if I remember rightly.

A music college I used to work for had 3 peavey radial kits (did they make any others) and I, and everyone else there I remember, found them quite awful - they seemed to require incredible levels of tuning to get to even the most mediocre sound, and the hardware and mounts were impossible to get anywhere near where you'd want them. Can't say they looked good either...and thanks to the insanely thick shells they weighed a ton as well....

er...I'll think of a positive about them soon!
 
Huh. I played a fellow's Peavey kit a few years ago at some function or other and they didn't look like THAT at all. I got the impression they were more of a student-level kit. But I guess lots of companies make different lines.
 
Peavey offered at least two lines,maybe three.The ones pictured were the flagship line,Duplex offered drums in the twenties that were similar.
 
I spent about 15 minutes tuning them and the recordings sound great. As far as weight, I don't know, I won't have to lug them, I'm told we'll always use back lined equipment when we play gigs. There are racks and racks of drum kits in my bassist's warehouse, so I'll be using different ones as we go. Tons of cymbals to choose from too, so I'm like a kid in a candy store!

The snare drum is a DK? Punchy, kind of ringy, and I couldn't find a muffler...

Nothing like having a band member with a friggin' warehouse full of stuff!

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Man, there are 20 rows of stuff in there, plus another five of drum kits, DW, Ludwig, Sonor, Tama, Gretsch, Allegra, Yamaha...I've never seen so much gear...., hardware, cymbals...mind-boggling!

3-pc power trio, and the bassist also plays keys with bass pedals.

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One of the Peavey lines is - five hundred series drums.
 
I still have mine...Peavey drum-kit - it rings true and heavy!
 

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Built...

Back in 1999 and 2000 my then band played several Peavy sponsored events, and I had to use a Peavy house kit.

The drums sounded terrible, but it may have to do with the fact Peavy didn't send a drum guy to set up, and they had been tuned by guitar players who didn't bother to change the very dented heads.

hob01.jpg
 
Built...

Back in 1999 and 2000 my then band played several Peavy sponsored events, and I had to use a Peavy house kit.

The drums sounded terrible, but it may have to do with the fact Peavy didn't send a drum guy to set up, and they had been tuned by guitar players who didn't bother to change the very dented heads.

hob01.jpg


Oooooooo! Very dented heads....NOT good.....drums tuned by guitarists..."OK, gimme a "G".....ok...a DROPPED 'D".....ok

'Twang'

OK! Good to go! :)
 
Oooooooo! Very dented heads....NOT good.....drums tuned by guitarists..."OK, gimme a "G".....ok...a DROPPED 'D".....ok

'Twang'

OK! Good to go! :)

Heh...

Each time it was a multi band band event where each band used the same Peavy back line, and there was no time to tune the kit in between bands.
Just get up, make a few adjustments, and go. I ended up playing the same kit three times at three different events.

The video from the above picture is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvavU6C32Z4&feature=player_embedded
 
The kit I played last night certainly LOOKS weird...I wonder what those big honkin' wood rings are for?!?

Here's an overhead shot I took.

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Those "big honkin' wood rings" form the bearing edge profile and tension "lugs" system. Radial Pro's where the Peavy flagship of the day. The idea was to use an independant tuning system that allowed thin shells to be used. A free floating drum, if you like. I think the concept is very smart indeed, but the execution was patchy, both in terms of production & theory. Tuned well, they sound really good, but the bearing edges didn't make life easy, & the use of metal hoops means they missed the mark on tone to some degree. Peavey's other lines were a more standard construction of varying quality.

My new experimental kit actually borrows one feature from the Radial Pro kit, but applies it in a very different way.
 
Yeah, I also noticed that those rings housed the tension rods reciprocal ends...kinda' neat way of blending a thinner shell, but the overall look is a bit disconcerting.

Frankly, I'm partial to the traditional look, but CAN transcend to the transitional...if you get my drift.

I played an even stranger kit once. The ends of the toms curved out in an open bell shape...NO bottom heads....like something from Star Wars....Plastic shells I think...

Crazy damn things were PURPLE!....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx47qrH1GRs&feature=related

WHOOOooooooo!
 
You played North Drums then probably. There were a few others that did similar things, but North were the main makers of the drums that you're describing.

I hear the Peavey Radial drums were really excellent. Just too 'off-the-beaten-track' for most people and too expensive.

There's a saying that I heard once. 'The only thing wrong with Peavey is that is has 'Peavey' written on it'. They got a bad reputation in the 1980's and have been struggling to shake it off since. Some of their PA gear is really good, as are some of their bass guitars.
 
Yep! These are them!

Black-North-Double-Bass-Kit.jpg


Thanks! I could not remember the name...but these are them!

WOW! I played those years ago! My wife and I went to a wedding for a friend of hers...the drummer didn't show...the MC asked if there was a 'drummer in da' houze'...and I raised my hand, and got the gig...LOL

And yes...I tuned these Peavey bad boys up and was AMAZED at the sound last night....Warm, resonant, respondent. Cool kit IMO.

My on-going history of REALLY weird drums....My forte' it seems....LOL
 
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