Anyone play or hear the Pearl Decade series?

They're good. Build is really good, warranty is excellent. There's a Dennis Chambers video of him playing them, which I saw in-person at NAMM, and it sounded great.
 
Just looking at one set I like the 10, 12, 16 floor setup. Bo knows pearl, so the advice is spot on.
 
I bought the 13, 16, 24 kick shell pack and I'm digging it what I've played it. Very light and thin shells with low mass hardware so lots of tone. Then I bought a Pearl limited edition black lacquered Sensitone steel snare to go with it because it was relatively inexpensive. I haven't had much time to spend with it (access to my drum room has been limited) so I've been trying to tune them up and test them out. I made a recording after a tuning effort and then me screwing around playing along with the radio to hear how they sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi0h6zzLFMc
 
These are seriously in consideration for my next workhorse kit, especially with the new flake finishes. The 24/13/16f and 20/10/12/14f seems like it would cover all the territory for a relatively cheap price.

I've only heard them poorly tuned at a noisy GC, but I'd agree with the above assessments of being lightweight, sturdy, etc.

I guess I'm curious too. Do they hold tuning well? Obviously the factory Pearl heads are not going to be great... any particularly effective suggestions that just work with these drums?
 
Yes poorly tuned. LOL. Yes the UT heads aren't great and they give you diplomats for the tom reso heads it looks like??, it came with ported and unported kick heads (I have ported on now) and a kick pillow. In tuning to save time I was trying this app I downloaded to tune them to pitch. I tried to tune the 13 in to an A2 and the 16 in to a D2. The 16 in has lots of overtones-I think the diplomat reso head adds to this -should be matched I think (but the 16 in reso head also didn't look right I noted too). I need to spend time tuning both batter and reso respective to each other better and I bet it would disappear ( I may just change that 16 in reso head though because more I think about it-I did notice something wasn't right with it. The 13 in has a nice range. I'll see how they keep their tune by measuring their pitch next time I play-so the app maybe helpful after all. I was thinking of getting a 12 in tom to go with it but then got froggy and was missing my 10 in tom and like the idea of playing the 10 with the 16 or 13 or all together so I ordered a 10 in tom to go with it-it wasn't back ordered like the 18 in tom-another wild notion that came to mind.
 
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Congrats on the kit, GA! Nice man! And thanks for posting the video!
 
Is it just me or are the floor toms 6-lug? That's a deal-breaker for me right there. I haven't seen one in person, so I can't say for certain, but the catalog shots look like 6 lugs per side on the 16", and that's just not enough. If Mapex can put 8 lugs on a Mars kit, Pearl can put 8 on a Decade. Otherwise they should just call it Export Maple or something.
 
Considering how most floor toms get tuned rather low, I don't think 6-lugs is a deal breaker. I played around with the floor toms and the tuning didn't seem to want to slip in the five minutes I spent on it.
 
i need to go play a set.

At this price point with these specs, speechless.

So they are listening, good to hear.
 
Fair enough! :) Like I said, I haven't even seen one, much less fiddled about with it. If you think it works, it works.

When I saw Dennis Chambers put them through the paces, I felt Pearl was on to something. A lot of pros are using them as gigging kits. I have a Reference Pure kit and I'm fighting the urge to get one (I don't think I work enough to have a "gigging" kit these days - but that Tony Williams yellow would be cool). Because these are maple, they're a much better choice than an Export, I think. I think the price between shell pack (DM), and complete with hardware (Export) would make one pause and consider a full maple kit.
 
I'm just recording with a Zoom Q2HD video recorder so it isn't the best (don't want to give a false impression of the kit), and I actually do remember the 16 in reso head looked damaged (so it won't seat or tune right)-but I was eager to put it together. It all came in this one small box-I was like WTH they didn't send it all. But it was all nested in there-hardware and all-nothing damaged except that one head. Yep there is only 6 lugs on the 16 in which I presume is to reduce weight on shells. The shells are 6 ply 5.4 mm so pretty darn thin. Haven't had any issue with the 6 lug as yet, but I haven't really had that much time with it yet. Maybe a long time-as my daughter is moving out of our basement (who has interrupted my access) and now a friend of ours is out of work and we are going to let he and his wife move in our basement-so I'm losing my drum room and will probably have to store them. They have grown kids so no rug rats about-not exactly sure how long either. Not really close friends, and it's a real pain in the arse and inconvenience, but I couldn't live with myself to say no.
 
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Dang. Where were THESE when I was paying $899 for my 9-ply poplar Tama Rockstars back in 1994?

Geez.

I would have killed for something like this way back then.

Love the sizes! 10, 12, 14, 20 is perfect for me these days. I love that yellow lacquer!
 
Update. Well there was some concern of detuning with the 6 lug 16 in tom so I went back today with my app to measure the pitch. The last I tuned and played was Mar 10 th and now Mar 28th the 13 in tom is still A2 pitch and 16 in tom is still D2 pitch so it hasn't detuned or drifted any in over two weeks. I wish my Zoom single mic recorder would do this kit justice-sound great in person.
 
On the three piece version with the 24 inch kick the tom looks suspended yet on the five piece the rack toms look mounted. What's the sonic difference and how does Pearl market to my mind two separate tonal configurations?
 
6 lugs 16" looks rather cheap, that's true, I thought it was only on the really low range kits. Strange for Pearl, because the kits are very fine, ten lugs bass drum on the 24", nice colours, nice choice of configuration.
I would have felt the same about the deal breaker.
 
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