Info on Old pearl drum kit

M

MagicPantsAu

New Member
Hi all, I have this old Pearl drum kit.
From what I can find out, it is from the 60’s with the gold script badge. They seem to be wrapped in black, but where it’s peeling shows what could be an interesting pattern. I was just wondering if anyone could share any knowledge on the kit and if it would be worth restoring them back to life.
Thanks in advance
 

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It looks like Gold Grain Pearl wrap underneath what appears to be contact paper or something like it. The set itself is late 60s/early 70s. They are definitely worth restoring if you can score them cheap enough.
 

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BobC said:
It looks like some sort of yellow tiger wrap underneath what appears to be contact paper or something like it. I believe the set itself is late 60s/early 70s. They are definitely worth restoring if you can score them cheap enough.
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Hi there BobC, thank you for the quick reply. The drums are already in my possession, I just have no knowledge about them. In your opinion would the yellow tiger wrap be the original wrap that has now been covered?
 
Yes the definitely looks like original wrap covered in a black wrap. Whoever did it was quite careful with the badges.
 
MagicPantsAu said:
Hi there BobC, thank you for the quick reply. The drums are already in my possession, I just have no knowledge about them. In your opinion would the yellow tiger wrap be the original wrap that has now been covered?
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Yes, I'm quite sure that wrap is original and pretty rare. Good luck removing the outer covering, whatever it is. If it's contact paper, it'll probably peel off pretty easily, but may leave a lot of sticky residue gunk, which you can remove with Goo Gone or Goof Off.

The Japanese companies had some very interesting wraps that nobody else had. Fantasia Pearl was one. Very rare!
 

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So thankful for all the replies so far, I am a guitarist so not too familiar with drum kits. I am interested in any info on the history of this kit, I am quite handsy and would be interested in bringing this kit back to life, if I could sell them for the cost of restoring them, not looking to make a profit, I would rather sell them to someone who would appreciate them rather than scrap them. Any info on history, worth, restoration costs anything would be appreciated. Thanks again
 
MagicPantsAu said:
Any info on history
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60s factory Pearl drum catalogs:
pearldrum.com

Support Product Catalog | Pearl Drums -Official site-

Welcome to The Best Reason to Play Drums. Pearl is a world-wide leading manufacturer of the best percussion instruments including acoustic and electronic drum sets, marching, concert and hand percussion and hardware.
pearldrum.com pearldrum.com
always a couple sets on US Reverb and US Ebay and elsewhere at any given time
some "crazy" high price's you'll see but in real world it was usually $300 + all dressed up and ready to go
was the set I had found and sold 10-11 years ago for $300. They were American (and Euro) Copy , starter sets, when "Made in Japan"
wasn't yet the Lexus level it is today;

but occupy a "quaint niche" for some today..


 
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jda said:

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I read some pages ....and look, they feature " non warping hard shells"!
The Jet and Valencia sets. Interesting selling a kit with with only one tom, but if you're going to lose a tom, I'd say drop the high tom and keep that floor tom.
Some of the new age 'light hardware' is copping that seen on some of these old kits.
 
Hi, thank you all so much for taking the time to respond to my questions, your theories and educated guesses were very helpful. So after learning about the year and what may be underneath the black wrap I decided to pull some more away and it indeed does look like the gold grain wrap, unfortunately it looks to be cracked/damaged. I guess that’s why it had been re wrapped. So I don’t know where to go from here, maybe try to remove all the black and just try to repair the damaged wrap?
 

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With all of those lines in the pattern....one might not notice the rework of damage.
Could we see a close up of the worst damage so far?
The wrap pattern is retro great. The black is......well ..."it couldn't be any more black."-ST
 
So take a head off and check the innards; Look inside ; )
See if the Wood (or?) looks good

Could probably spin the bass drum "T" s off if you don't have a drum key- and see inside
or sell em to a restorer! +/-
 
MagicPantsAu said:
Hi, thank you all so much for taking the time to respond to my questions, your theories and educated guesses were very helpful. So after learning about the year and what may be underneath the black wrap I decided to pull some more away and it indeed does look like the gold grain wrap, unfortunately it looks to be cracked/damaged. I guess that’s why it had been re wrapped. So I don’t know where to go from here, maybe try to remove all the black and just try to repair the damaged wrap?
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I think it looks pretty cool, kind of that weathered look, like old jeans or road rash on Telecasters. Given the grain of the wrap those horizontal cracks are not so noticeable.
I don't think you can repair that wrap, maybe in places glue it down, but the first step would be to remove all black wrap.
 
Right, I'd remove all the black contact paper and then assess the damage that exists on the wrap. You may be able to glue sections down that have cracked or separated. The nature of Gold Grain Pearl is that these things aren't as noticeable, as has been stated.

Looking at a closeup of the finish, it looks pretty funky. If you decide to keep the drums, I'd consider having them rewrapped. You can buy Asian-made drum wrap online that won't cost that much, and when they're done, you'll have a beautiful drumset. Of course, that's up to you.
 
These look awesome.
I cannot see fully the depth of whatever it is under that gaudy black wrap, but... Do whatever you need to do to save the original finish, as it looks awesome.
 
I've restored a few 60's Pearl kits. The original wrap is probably only held on by small tacks. It may come off in one piece since it's probably not glued. If you want to retain the original wrap and only take off the black that's going to be a little tricky. If it's not glued on you may be able to get away with it. The main thing with these drums are the bearing edges. Some are pristine and others look like they were cut with a hand saw. Good luck on your project. These drums can sound fabulous if restored properly.
 
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