Given the theme of our newest contest, I thought it fitting to write about my experiences with my wine red
Pearl Export EX from the past six years. For the benefit of the other members of course.
At first glance, the EX is a pretty nice looking kit. Especially with the new black hardware they’ve added to it. Independent tom suspension is a big plus for a drum kit in this price range, but one must remember, this is an entry level set.
Pearl could have easy settled for less expensive wood types for this range but they decided on poplar construction which offers more of a punchy characteristic. The added level of
attack being used to keep beginners hooked. The sound is more similar to that of birch than maple. I can’t comment on the snare as my kit came with the Sensitone steel snare and the new ones are wood. I feel this would be a better choice for beginners as the old ones would ring like mad.
I have only recently gotten my act together with tuning, thanks to the drum tuning bible, and I’ve been able to get my kit sounding great with
Evans G2 clear heads on the batter and the stock heads still on the reaso. They were not the easiest drums in the world to tune. I have tuned Grestch drums with a drill before and they sounded beautiful first go, but again, this is an entry level kit.
It has been mentioned in other people’s posts that
pearl takes a lot of care when isolating the sound on their drums. One of the ways
pearl has achieved this on the EX is the I.S.S. (Independent Suspension System) used for tom placement. This feature is seldom used by other drum companies on kits of this price range and is a big winner for this set. Unfortunately, I just missed out on that hardware upgrade on my kit and my toms have 5/8” holes in them (BARSTAD!!).
Another little gem they’ve added is to the rubber floor tom feet which do not allow the metal legs of the drum to come in contact with floor. You can also achieve this with the bass drum if you want as the spurs are retractable which can also minimise damage to your carpet.
Other hardware on the EX includes the TH88 tom arms which do not include teeth to keep them in place which provides you with unlimited placement capabilities. The double braced stands that come with the kit (snare, boom and straight) are typical
Pearl quality and have done me very well for years now. The pedal that came with my kit was the P100 which was a very good quality unit for the price. I can only assume the Powershifter, which is now included, is even better.
The stock heads aren’t too bad. The finish is very durable. My bass drum wrap has warped a little, but I did leave it in the hot car a little long.
All up, I would say this kit a great buy for the price and I don’t believe anyone would be disappointed with purchasing it. Feel free to stop by the gallery and check mine out. I'm not in a hurry to upgrade, but given the price jump to a birch kit from
pearl is more than a grand AU, I will probably go for the
Sonor 2005.
List Price: $1,378.00
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