The old Pearl Exports??

I dont see why they wouldnt be good for longer than a "couple of years" if they are well taken care of?

Export kits are good kits. People have said exports will be the only kits left after armageddon
 
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more than good for a few years. i play a 20 yr old set of exports at practice space and they sound fine. that is a nice cool looking set in nice sizes. a little pricey with added shipping.
 
That'll do.

But... if you shop you can get older exports or forums (PRC poplar) WITH accessories and perhaps some cymbals... if you are so inclined.

These are nice but,\...

1. No snare
2. No mounts, stands, pedals, hi-hats etc...

And those, my friend are some fairly costly items that are not included.
 
What if I were to get these, would the old Exports be good for a couple of years?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181470157908

Those are great drums. Seems like a steal at that price. And yes, if you take care of them, they will last forever. The only thing questionable is that whole 14" mounted 'floor tom'. I was never a big fan of those and prefer actual floor toms with legs because once you mount that 14" on a stand to act as a floor tom, it takes up more space! But if you're ok with that, that's a really good deal.
 
I play a set of Pearl Exports that I think are older than that (no ISS mounts, long lugs).

They cost me similar money to the set you linked. I brought 'em home, cleaned them and slapped new heads on them. I have no doubt that there are better drums out there, but for me as a recreational player, they're excellent. Very happy with them, and I can see them lasting me a long time.

And if I ever decide that I need something fancier, I know I won't lose money on them.
 
Exports - the drums that changed the whole drum building landscape back in the day. Original models are best IMO. The mounts pictured are just horrible. I'd much rather the original "through the shell" mounts. Actually better than those horrible hoop mounted things. Most original exports actually have better bearing edges than the modern entry level Pearl offerings too.
 
Exports - the drums that changed the whole drum building landscape back in the day. Original models are best IMO. The mounts pictured are just horrible. I'd much rather the original "through the shell" mounts. Actually better than those horrible hoop mounted things. Most original exports actually have better bearing edges than the modern entry level Pearl offerings too.

Yeah...... good points.. The early models were coming from the Pearl plant in Taiwan from what I remember. IMO.. I have always thought the Taiwan operations were top shelf quality. .. they always have been. I had MANY MANY Pearl kits in the late 80's into the 90's.. World Series, ALOT of Exports........ NEVER had any issues and they were all very nice actually. I never saw a bad edge or wrap or drill hole............. and I was ASSEMBLING these things out of the box OFTEN.

A tip about those through the shells mounts..... If you pull the pipe to the end tip and then clamp down.. you will get MUCH more resonance.. I used to to do that with the Pearls and the older Sonor models and it always helped alot.
 
Yeah, I had a set of Exports that I bought new in 86, and gigged them until a year and a half ago. Did some bigger shows with them too, recorded, the whole 9 yards.

Several of my weekend warrior buddies still use them for bar gigs. Going rate for a whole kit is what that guy is asking in the ad, but that does look like a nice finish, and I haven't seen it before.

Playing an export kit for a while is a rite of passage.
 
I have an 80s Export kit (amongst others) and I think it's a great kit. There's no value attached to them so I've modified them heavily but the shells are absolutely rock solid.

I just wish they hadn't bothered with the ISS mounts in later models.
 
Had a birch kith with ISS mounts, the weight of the drum against the mount would bend the hoop and change the tuning when mounted...truly terrible. Great kit but if you get it, change the mounts.

Mark
 
Had a birch kith with ISS mounts, the weight of the drum against the mount would bend the hoop and change the tuning when mounted...truly terrible. Great kit but if you get it, change the mounts.

Mark

This is especially true on 14" floor toms. They're just too heavy for the ISS mounts to be a reasonable solution.

If I had an Export kit with those mounts, I'd be using a four-piece, sticking one tom in a snare basket and the floor tom would get legs.
 
That's as good a solution as I can think of :)

I got sick of floating floor toms a long time ago. It became a real pain. Now, all of my floors above 14" have legs. It makes everything so much easier - I don't have to worry about flying anything off cymbal stands and it gives me a lot more flexibility. I really don't see any upsides to having floating floor toms.

I like the Export kits a lot but I really hate those ISS mounts... The last time I played an Export with ISS mounts I did more swearing than playing (although that's not too unusual for me, as you well know Andy!).
 
I got sick of floating floor toms a long time ago. It became a real pain. Now, all of my floors above 14" have legs. It makes everything so much easier - I don't have to worry about flying anything off cymbal stands and it gives me a lot more flexibility. I really don't see any upsides to having floating floor toms.

I like the Export kits a lot but I really hate those ISS mounts... The last time I played an Export with ISS mounts I did more swearing than playing (although that's not too unusual for me, as you well know Andy!).
Agree on both counts (three if you include swearing ;).

My son has those ISS (Isolation still sucks) mounts on his Vision kit. Aside from the truly terrible bearing edges on that kit, the mounts just distort the 2.3mm triple flange hoops. Not enough to take them to the point of permanent distortion, but enough to pitch bend the note & encourage detuning. A truly horrible design, but actually quite well made.
 
This is especially true on 14" floor toms. They're just too heavy for the ISS mounts to be a reasonable solution.

If I had an Export kit with those mounts, I'd be using a four-piece, sticking one tom in a snare basket and the floor tom would get legs.

Sounds like a good fix!
 
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