My Pearl Masters BCX

[iCe]

I see that i forgot to reply on the latest replies, but; thanks for all the replies
Update: i returned the 18" Novo and the 17" crash too. Was debating about the 17" crash, but knew it would bug me forever that it wasn't 100% what i expected. Few weeks later and i don't regret the decision.

Last session i left out the rocket toms so i can put the crashes and chinas lower for a more ergonomical setup. Noticed immediately that the muscles in my shoulders and arms agreed with that. Plays much easier and also opens up the sound of the hi-hat, crash and china on the left side because there isn't a bulk of hardware and drums interfering with the sound.

Having said that... i miss the sound of the rocket toms and just ordered the 6x21" to finish of the set. I have all four of them then and will mount them ala Simon Phillips in a set of 4 next to my hi-hat. That way i can still access them and also keep the cymbals playable. Looked at pics of Joey Jordison on how to mount them (had them on his Pearl kit as well), so curious on this little experiment

 

[iCe]

A few new pics. Added the 6x21" rocket tom, so the family is complete now. Will fiddle around with the mounting and tuning next couple of weeks.
Also got word that the 13x10" tom should arrive somewhere in the end of June.

 

[Liam]

Looks great,
If you ever get tired of it you can give it to me and I will take good care.

 

[roncadillac]

A few new pics. Added the 6x21" rocket tom, so the family is complete now. Will fiddle around with the mounting and tuning next couple of weeks.
Also got word that the 13x10" tom should arrive somewhere in the end of June.



View attachment 119829

View attachment 119830

View attachment 119831

If you are still interested in playing around with the placement of the rocket toms, why not split them up a bit? If the above set up was mine I would put the two highest pitched just above the side snare then put the 3rd one down (pitch wise) under the ride and hats on the right side (between the 3rd rack tom and 1st floor tom) then put the lowest pitch on between the two floor toms under the aux hat and china looking thing with holes in it.

 

[iCe]

Looks great,
If you ever get tired of it you can give it to me and I will take good care.

Good to know that there is a least one person out there to care of my baby after i'm gone

If you are still interested in playing around with the placement of the rocket toms, why not split them up a bit? If the above set up was mine I would put the two highest pitched just above the side snare then put the 3rd one down (pitch wise) under the ride and hats on the right side (between the 3rd rack tom and 1st floor tom) then put the lowest pitch on between the two floor toms under the aux hat and china looking thing with holes in it.

Funny that you mention that, because i was thinking about it something similar. I did the Simon Phillips thing (a set of four grouped together), but the limitations of my rack and hardware available that was unplayable; they were too far away to make a smooth transition to the 'regular' toms and wasn't comfortable. So i went full Portnoy and made a single row of 4.
The 6x21 is actually lower pitched than my 8x7" tom and that makes my brain short circuit a bit. Doesn't feel natural to go down in pitch and then suddenly go up again when i hit the 8" tom. I played this setup just once now and guess i still need to get used to the setup, but i think i already know the answer. 3 rocket toms is enough for me on the left side. I do a couple of fills/accents in our songs that i actually need 3 of them on the left side, so I'll might go with putting the 4th one next to the 12" and under the ride. Tuning them higher for some reason chokes the sound, so these drums are limited in tuning options. But your reply has set me on the path of righteousness

Inspiration for my current kit is in the vid below. Also skipped the section where he goes from the octobans to the rack toms. He uses the low pitched set here and you can hear the difference in pitch coming from the lowest pitched octoban to the 8x7" tom. Or maybe i'm going crazy hehe

 

[roncadillac]

Good to know that there is a least one person out there to care of my baby after i'm gone



Funny that you mention that, because i was thinking about it something similar. I did the Simon Phillips thing (a set of four grouped together), but the limitations of my rack and hardware available that was unplayable; they were too far away to make a smooth transition to the 'regular' toms and wasn't comfortable. So i went full Portnoy and made a single row of 4.
The 6x21 is actually lower pitched than my 8x7" tom and that makes my brain short circuit a bit. Doesn't feel natural to go down in pitch and then suddenly go up again when i hit the 8" tom. I played this setup just once now and guess i still need to get used to the setup, but i think i already know the answer. 3 rocket toms is enough for me on the left side. I do a couple of fills/accents in our songs that i actually need 3 of them on the left side, so I'll might go with putting the 4th one next to the 12" and under the ride. Tuning them higher for some reason chokes the sound, so these drums are limited in tuning options. But your reply has set me on the path of righteousness

Inspiration for my current kit is in the vid below. Also skipped the section where he goes from the octobans to the rack toms. He uses the low pitched set here and you can hear the difference in pitch coming from the lowest pitched octoban to the 8x7" tom. Or maybe i'm going crazy hehe

Nice! I was kinda getting a Mike vibe from your set up's, while I don't listen to him as much these days he was one of my first favorite drummers as a kid. I had the dual vhs box set (haha yup, vhs!) Where it was just him in the studio breaking down songs, tape 1 was all dream theater and tape 2 was all liquid tension experiment. Falling in love with LTE as a kid quickly sent me down a prog rabbit hole haha.

 

[Tiges]

I would like that configuration minus 1 kick in Sonor SQ2 nothing against pearl.

 

[roncadillac]

Not to briefly de-rail the thread but I wish pearl would bring back the rhythm traveler. My preference and needs have been towards shallow bass drums and concert toms lately and typically go with budget lines due to frequent transport and gigging in less then ideal conditions (Florida in the summer sun or storms). The build quality of my midtown is fantastic but those sizes don't really work for the situations I'm in these days.

 

[iCe]

Not to briefly de-rail the thread but I wish pearl would bring back the rhythm traveler. My preference and needs have been towards shallow bass drums and concert toms lately and typically go with budget lines due to frequent transport and gigging in less then ideal conditions (Florida in the summer sun or storms). The build quality of my midtown is fantastic but those sizes don't really work for the situations I'm in these days.

There are still some used/mint condition RT's out there. I do remember the RT's and that they were quite cheap. I see similar kits these days (like the DW one) with a price tag that's not worth it. A RT would be great indeed: slap some good heads on and then you're set!

Speaking of hauling kits around... we're leaving our practice space. Don't have anything else at the moment, so my big setup it going to be mothballed by the end of this month.
I will not go into details, but we had a rather unpleasant dealing with the owners that have left a sour taste in our mouth. There are other practice studios available and if i have to haul my own kit because there is no storage there, i will gladly do haul my own kit. But that means scaling down since this entire kit doesn't fit in my small car hehe.
I also see it as a challenge to play our music on a smaller kit, just to spice things up a bit

EDIT june 22nd:
Friday was supposed to be our last rehearsal and we would move out our stuff. Got a unexpected message if we could move our stuff out earlier so someone could dress up the studio for a party later that night. Didn't even discuss this with us, but there was an unpleasant undertone 'well your are leaving anyway, so i already said yes to the others'. Rather disappointed in that action. Anyway, slept like sh*t monday night because i wanted to get my kit out of there ASAP before they get more funny ideas. Yesterday after work i picked up the remainder of my kit (already took the 2nd bassdrum, 8" tom and 14" floor home) and the guitar player took home his cabinets. My baby is safely home now and i slept like a baby last night!

So for now these post #62 are the last pics for now. Never got around mounting the lowest rocket tom on the right side.
July will be our 'vacation' and in august we might play once or twice in temporary studio. Will bring out my Pearl Vision kit for that since it's A) lighter than my BCX and B) not so concerned with hauling around that kit and damaging it than the BCX.
Maybe i go with a simple setup like in this thread or do a variation of this setup where i would use the rack and a minimalistic cymbal setup. Already decided to ditch the x-hat and get the Tama or DW adjustable drop clutch for the 14" new beats, drop the stacks and splashes in favor of my 10" oriental mini china (jack of all trades), use 2 crashes (thinking about the 18" K Custom Dark and 18" K Dark Thin), use the 20" novo and ofcourse old faithfull the 21" ride.
Stands are easier to haul around, but the rack is much easier to mount everything exactly the same.

 

[iCe]

It is here!




Did need to pick it up since UPS was so lazy again to not even other trying to deliver it at my address and went straight to the pick up point. But now that it is here... it looks stunning. Obviously shining away and looking gorgeous. Good job Pearl!

Now, i do need to polish my other drums because... well... just look at the pic below with the 12" tom stacked on it



It looks like there is a change in colour tone, but the rest of the set is almost 9 years old and I've never polished them. So I'm fine with a that it does not match 100% and sure after polishing the rest it will blend in nicely.

Down side is that i can't play it for a while (see post above). Will need to slap a Pinstripe on it since it lacks the fatness now; gave it a wack, almost threw up how much it was out of tune, tuned it, tapped it again and that confirmed that clear Ambassadors are not the batter heads these drums need hehe