Heavens Alive! Pearl Have Done It At Last!

Pearl have done two good deeds at NAMM this year.

Most significantly, they seem to have finally ditched the ISS mount on all but the lowest-end of their kits. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I was recently in a studio playing a 2004 Export series kit and spent ten minutes swearing at the ISS mount when I was trying to adjust it. It's always been a terrible design, breaking off the rim when moving the drum or just bending the hoop out of round. This all led to a rant at a bass player I had just met that afternoon, poor man. I have hated it for years and was so relieved when I learned today that Pearl have finally kicked it out.

Now in ten years when I'm playing an equally knackered Pearl kit, I won't have to swear at the mount.

Secondly, they've re-released the Export Series. They're in the same place in the lineup as they always were and I'm sure all that's really the same is just the name but I have a lot of fondness for that name and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

http://pearldrum.com/products/kits/drumsets/exx-export/
 
Strange that they've kept the Vision series too though. All they did was replace the Exports in the first instance.

I thought that was odd too. The Vision series did effectively replace the Exports but they had a different shell composition. From what I read, the Export series has a different composition (two different woods - nothing to write home about) so they'll drop below the Visions.

Odd, I know. Just praising to high Heaven that they've ditched those bloody mounts.
 
The Exports may be back, but they're cheap Poplar & Asian Mahogany shells... nothing to write home about... though they do come with the nice new pedal that used to be the Powershifter, which I always liked.

And the tom mounting system looks way better, definitely.
 
So, I'm assuming that the Export kit will be lower in the intermediate line than the visions? I wonder how the prices will compare to the visions?
 
That's what Tama did with the ImperialStar line too, meaning that they brought them back as more of a beginner/intermediate line.

I don't like those ISS mounts either. That's for sure.
 
The new tom mount seems cool, and I am glad Exports are back. I think the Forums are discontinued. This is a good move for Pearl. The ISS mounts are still on the Vision series. Peace and goodwill.
 
The new tom mount seems cool, and I am glad Exports are back. I think the Forums are discontinued. This is a good move for Pearl. The ISS mounts are still on the Vision series. Peace and goodwill.

I thought the Visions had the OPTI mounts?
 
I hate to say this but the new tom mount looks worse than what it replaced. At least the ISS mount held the drum by 4 lugs. This new optimount only holds the drum by 2 lugs and a 3rd thing that presses against the shell? I would think that the 3rd thing would stifle shell resonance, judging by merely looking at it. In my mind a drum should be supported at least half way around the circumference by the lugs preferably, not the rods, with nothing resting against the shell. It doesn't inspire confidence to my engineering sensibilities, but I'm just looking at the pic, haven't tried it.
 
The ISS mounts I've used mount purely off the rim, with no lug or tension rod contact at all.

Supposedly the third point uses a vent hole in the drums. I'll grant it's not a perfect design by any means but anything is an improvement over the ISS!
 
Looks like they cheaped out to me. Like, how can we use less metal and lower costs, instead of, how can we design the best mount possible? I really despise economics over function. OK you save a little money on material, but you lose sales. Penny-wise pound foolish. That's the cheapest looking suspension mount I've ever seen. Hey maybe it works good, but I don't see how. It supposedly uses the vent hole? That would have to require shell contact. Last time I checked, when something that is vibrating is touched, it hampers the vibrations.
 
My first kit was a Pearl Export, so I agree it was nice to see them back.

Best part is they have a 20" bass drum available, which is good for those buying a kit for younger kids.

As for the Vision/export thing, the vision has been upgrade so many times, it's more of a semi-pro kit than an entry level kit. The "new" Export essentially re-sets back to where the Export was in the 80's as a high quality entry level kit. Heck, it's even priced at late 1980's prices.

Nothing I'd get for myself, but if my younger kid ever asks for his own set, I'm sold on the Export.
 
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I asked on the Pearl forum; the bottom of the tom mount attaches to one of the two vent holes. It does not rest on the outside of the shell like the Gretsch Catalina Club. Peace and goodwill.
 
Gee, I never had any issues with the ISS mounts on my old Visions or Masters Customs. In fact I kept them around and used them with a PDP Cx kit since the Rims mounts they had were so floppy. Never bent or twisted a rim. The angle arms were more secure and less bulky than the typical ball mounts (except Yamaha's) and things were easy to set up with one degree of freedom on each adjustment. Then, solid memory locks and you could throw it together in a jiffy.
 
Looks like they cheaped out to me. Like, how can we use less metal and lower costs, instead of, how can we design the best mount possible? I really despise economics over function. OK you save a little money on material, but you lose sales. Penny-wise pound foolish. That's the cheapest looking suspension mount I've ever seen. Hey maybe it works good, but I don't see how. It supposedly uses the vent hole? That would have to require shell contact. Last time I checked, when something that is vibrating is touched, it hampers the vibrations.

Good to see you back, Larry, in top form. Time to talk drums...

I'm not an advocate for value engineering either, but I still never liked the ISS mounts.
 
You can also count me in as a highly verbal non supporter of the Pearl ISS mounts.

Dennis
 
Looking on the Pearl website, the Exports have replaced the Forums with their new mount system, and the ISS now is exclusive to the Vision line. They have also removed the VML Maple Vision kits from there too... I wonder why they did that :/
 
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