PDP CX kit

Adam6890

Junior Member
I'm thinking of purchasing a used PDP CX kit, it's in very good condition as I can tell from the pictures, and a steal at $950 with some cymbals thrown in too. Can anybody give me some feedback on the quality of this kit? E.g. where would it lie in the range of beginner to pro? Is it above an M5 series for example? What is it comparable to in other brands?
Thanks for any info you can provide me!
 
The CX is a wrap finish maple kit. The 5pc kit sold for just under $600 new 5yrs ago or so. The M5 would be comperable to the former MX which was a high-gloss lacquer finished maple shell also.

They are great sounding drums for the money. That sounds a bit high unless the cymbals are pro level pies. What cymbals, specifically are included in this $950 price tag?

Not sure what to compare them to because I have not owned another mid level kit to offer an educated suggestion.

The CX tunes well, records great and doesn't break the bank. It's a great mid-level kit to gig with.
 
Thanks for the encouraging words :)
The price to you (living in America) might seem steep, but here in Australia drums are very expensive, and even more so in my state where there is only 2 decent music shops. Here is one of our national music stores, you can see the prices of them: https://www.billyhydemusic.com.au/shop/browse/45/drums-and-percussion/drumkits/
Used kits come along rarely let alone one's that are good value, so with that in mind would you consider this to be a good deal still?

The guy who's selling them hasn't got back to me yet with regards to my questions about the cymbals, the heads, age, condition, hardware etc, so a lot can still change, I was just wondering about the quality so thanks very much for that. Where would they lie in pdp's current range then? Below M5s and above FSs? Just so I know if I can barter a lot or just a little :p

Thanks for any help you or anyone else can give me.
 
I own a CX. The things to look for are:

Are all the drums "in round" and with smooth edges? Pull the heads off and check.
STM mounts or older version rod mounted? The first edition of the CX line did not have the STM mounts.
Does it include the 16" floor tom? For the price you mentioned, having the 16" is a must. The 14x12 can be a bit finicky and the 16x14 is a great drum.

The CXs were all wraps. Which wrap does it have. The best looking of all (IMO) were the blue onyx (Delmar's original Vintage Sky Blue Pearl - all late 60s and early 70s Gretsch, Slingerland and Ludwig offerings) or the white pearl. The darker blue onyx and black onyx are the least desirable of the wrap finishes.

I've had mine for 6½ years and back then I got the 22,10,12,14 & 14x5 snare shell pack for $600 and that included the 16x14 floor tom during a promotion they had. I picked up the 8x7 rack tom to complete the kit. When I received it, DW had tried to pawn off the older 5 lug version on me and I returned it and they sent me the 6 lug version right away. Good customer service.

Also it did not have an 18x16 floor tom option so I bought a shell and some of the same wrap from Jammin' Sam in Arizona and DW let me buy the lugs and rods and I made my own 18" floor tom.

For the money, they're as good as DW collectors, sound wise, they're just not custom so finishing and options are not there.

If you tune them well, they sound great and I've never had any complaints from anyone ever on there sound.

List the specs on everything you'll get for the $950.
 
I have a CXR kit. Bought just after the line up change that eliminated the CX/CXR/LX lines. Nice kit. Good edges, except the snare. decent hardware nice looking wrap job. Very nice maple kit. Sounds good live, records nice.

Shortly after, I picked up an 18 FT from the platinum line. Same wrap came original. Took the legs off the 14 and put it in a snare stand. I am running Force 1 & 2 on the kick. No other muffling. Toms have G2 over G plus. I don't use the snare that came with the kit. Between the drums and the head choice, I can say I have never had it so easy getting the sound I want out of a kit. Too me that says the shells are holding up their end of the bargain.
 
I own a CX. The things to look for are:

Are all the drums "in round" and with smooth edges? Pull the heads off and check.
STM mounts or older version rod mounted? The first edition of the CX line did not have the STM mounts.
Does it include the 16" floor tom? For the price you mentioned, having the 16" is a must. The 14x12 can be a bit finicky and the 16x14 is a great drum.

The CXs were all wraps. Which wrap does it have. The best looking of all (IMO) were the blue onyx (Delmar's original Vintage Sky Blue Pearl - all late 60s and early 70s Gretsch, Slingerland and Ludwig offerings) or the white pearl. The darker blue onyx and black onyx are the least desirable of the wrap finishes.

I've had mine for 6½ years and back then I got the 22,10,12,14 & 14x5 snare shell pack for $600 and that included the 16x14 floor tom during a promotion they had. I picked up the 8x7 rack tom to complete the kit. When I received it, DW had tried to pawn off the older 5 lug version on me and I returned it and they sent me the 6 lug version right away. Good customer service.

Also it did not have an 18x16 floor tom option so I bought a shell and some of the same wrap from Jammin' Sam in Arizona and DW let me buy the lugs and rods and I made my own 18" floor tom.

For the money, they're as good as DW collectors, sound wise, they're just not custom so finishing and options are not there.

If you tune them well, they sound great and I've never had any complaints from anyone ever on there sound.

List the specs on everything you'll get for the $950.

Can you tell me the difference between the STM mounts and the usual rod mounts? Sorry, I've never owned a decent kit before with anything other than rod mounts. As far as I can tell from the pictures, he's either using a 10 or 12 inch rack tom and the 14 inch floor tom, but he did say it comes with another two toms so hopefully one of those includes the 16 floor.

It's in white pearl, kinda white oystery looking. Looks great. That is an awesome deal, makes me very envious of you American's and your decent prices!

To be fully honest with you, I really don't care about the custom finishes or sizes or other options that DW provides over pdp, considering my price range, so that's great to hear they're as good as them in terms of sound.

The guy is actually a guitarist and the kit he's selling he provided to his band mates for when they jammed, so unfortunately he's left me with very vague information. I asked him a ton of questions about it all but he hasn't got back to me yet.

I have a CXR kit. Bought just after the line up change that eliminated the CX/CXR/LX lines. Nice kit. Good edges, except the snare. decent hardware nice looking wrap job. Very nice maple kit. Sounds good live, records nice.

Shortly after, I picked up an 18 FT from the platinum line. Same wrap came original. Took the legs off the 14 and put it in a snare stand. I am running Force 1 & 2 on the kick. No other muffling. Toms have G2 over G plus. I don't use the snare that came with the kit. Between the drums and the head choice, I can say I have never had it so easy getting the sound I want out of a kit. Too me that says the shells are holding up their end of the bargain.

Thanks for more encouraging words, doesn't take a lot to please me with a snare though, I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever it sounds like! Thanks for mentioning what heads work well with it too, I'll be sure to check them out if I do get this kit.
 
The CX line was also made in Pacific's factory in Mexico, not outsourced to China like their lower lines. Compared to their current offerings I don't think any drums other than the Platinum line is made in Mexico anymore.

As already mentioned, they're solidly built drums, and pretty high quality. The bearing edges on the CX kit I owned weren't great, but after having them recut the set tuned up beautifully and had a very powerful sound.
 
I used to have a Cx kit. Perfectly gig worthy with good heads except the snare. It was an older kit where the rims mounts were held on by the tuning rods instead of going around the lugs like the newer ones. Bit of a pain when changing heads but tolerable. If you like setting the toms flat, they can wobble and tip a bit. A little angle and they are stable.

They were fast sizes. I had G2 coated on them and they sounded very similar to the DW custom kit a drummer I was playing with had (a band I was playing guitar in). In fact we used them to rehearse with when I wasn't playing out with them.

Tried both emad and superkick II on the bass drum. The stock reso head wasn't very good and while the emad sounded good, the superkick batter and regulator reso sounded great on that drum.

Snare was a really weak spot and I never used it except for effects. Thin shell with no re-rings. Always sounded cheap and hollow. Did that new-jack-swing thing but not much good for anything else. Unless you like tuning low and damping the drum a lot, you'll probably be looking for another snare. Fortunately, that's fairly easy. Around here you can grab Acrolites for $125 just about any time you want.
 
Thanks for more kind and encouraging words guys, I'm extremely psyched to get this kit now, I think I might go and see it in the next couple of days.
 
I played a blue onyx CX in college for about a year and felt so fortunate to be playing such a nice sounding kit. I tried to buy it off the guy a few times w no success.

I just played a show w a backline provided and it was white onyx cx. I didn't like it as much these days since I've gotten used to big drums and a different configuration, but damned if those drums didn't sound amazing.

I always told kids the Pacific kits are soooooo much for the money. My brother's other drummer uses one of their discontinued rock outfits (CXR?) w the 20x22 kick and all virgin shells with the tobacco fade laquer. Very punchy set.

I believe they're still made over in Baja California.
 
Unfortunately the guy said he sold it when I said I wanted to go see it. Kinda bummed I missed out on such a great deal. Ah well, one day!
 
Back
Top