Pearl Drums
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Instrument: Drums
CONTACT DETAILS
Web Site:
Other Links: See below:
YOUTUBE VIDEO
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo- on April 2, 1946. In 1950, Yanagisawa shifted his focus to the manufacturing of drums and named his company “Pearl Industry, Ltd.”
By 1953, the company’s name had been changed to “Pearl Musical Instrument Company,” and manufacturing had expanded to include drum kits, marching drums, timpani, Latin percussion instruments, cymbals, stands, and accessories.
Yanagisawa’s eldest son, Mitsuo, joined Pearl in 1957 and formed a division to export Pearl products worldwide. To meet increasing worldwide demand for drum kits following the advent of rock and roll music, in 1961 Pearl built a 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) factory in Chiba, Japan to produce inexpensive drum kits that bore the brand names of more than thirty distributors such as Maxwin, CB-700, Stewart, Werco, Ideal, Crest, Revelle, Revere, Lyra, Majestic, Whitehall, Silvertone, Apollo, Toreador, Roxy, and Coronet.
In 1966, Pearl introduced its first professional drum kit, the “President Series”.
For a time in the early 1970s, Pearl was distributed in the U.S. by Norlin, the parent company of Gibson guitars at the time.
Today, Pearl’s Taiwanese operation encompasses five factories whose output supplies nearly the entire worldwide market for Pearl products. The original Chiba factory now caters to the domestic Japanese market, producing drum kits, marching drums, timpani, and symphonic chimes.
Adams Musical Instruments are sold in the U.S. through Pearl dealers, Hughes and Kettner guitar and bass amplifiers are distributed through Pearl’s main warehouse in Nashville, Tennessee and Sabian cymbals are distributed in Japan through Pearl dealers.
Pearl created several drum products, such as shells in the 1970s that were made of wood with a fiber-glass lining. There was also a shell made of a composite called “Phenolic.” Additionally, Pearl combined roto-toms and these Phenolic shells to create the Vari-Pitch line of drums. Other early innovations included shells that were slightly undersized, so that the drum head would extend over the edges, much like a gong drum. Pearl manufactured seamless, extruded acrylic shells that were different from the tabbed-and-seamed Vistalite shells used by Ludwig. Pearl also developed the hinged tube tom-arm, a design widely copied by many other drum manufacturers.
Construction
Pearl has made shells for more than 30 companies. In the 1960s, they ceased making shells for other companies, and began manufacturing drums under their own name and used the Pearl logo for the first time.
Their construction technique is known as SST or “Superior Shell Technology.” All Pearl drums feature this construction. Each ply is placed into a cylinder, and pressure is applied from both sides. While in the press, the shell is heated to bring the glue to a boil, thus forcing it through the wood grain and fusing the shells very tightly. The individual plies are scarf jointed, and all the seams are offset, resulting in a “seamless” drum (Pearl demonstrates the strength by parking a Humvee with its tire on a tom shell). This creates a drum shell of incredible strength.
Limited Edition
Over the years, Pearl has released a number of limited edition kits, normally special versions of existing lines:
Redline – Reference kits available in either solid black or solid white with matching lugs and hoops. True to its name, the rubber gaskets on the lugs and bass drum claws were dyed red. The kits came in different size shellpacks in rock-styled configurations. The Redline series were released in the US in 2008 and in Europe (as a Masters Premium kit) at the Musikmesse later that year.
50th Anniversary – Masters Series drums made from birch with reinforcement hoops and 24-karat gold-plated lugs. 30 kits—10 in Wine Red, 10 in Black Mist, and 10 in Emerald Mist—were made and were not sold in the US except for the Anniversary style snares, though they differ from the snare drums that came with the Anniversary kits (The single snares were single-ply with vintage lugs and hoops).
Chad Smith & Joey Jordison limited edition – Released as an Export shell pack, the Joey Jordison kits consisted of a double bass setup and comes with a Joey Jordison signature snare, while the Chad Smith kits are made in a rock setup and comes with a Chad Smith signature snare. These kits were later rereleased in 2008 as a Forum drum kit.
Mahogany – Drums constructed from African Mahogany.
Series snare drums
Soundcheck – Comes with matching 14″x5.5″ snare as standard equipment.
Forum – Comes with matching 14″x5.5″ snare as standard equipment.
Export (EXX) – Comes with matching 14″x5.5″ snare as standard equipment.
Vision – VX, VSX, VLX and VBX lines come with a steel SensiTone snare, while the VMX line comes with a matching maple snare. For 2011, the VB, VBA, and VMA lines come with a matching wood snare, while the VBL line comes with a steel SensiTone snare.
Masters – Available in all Masters lines and finishes. Ordered separately from kits.
Reference – 20-ply wood snares are available in 14″x5″, 14″x6.5″ and 13″x6.5″ sizes. They utilize the same mixed wood technology as other Reference drums, with 6 inner plies of birch and 14 outer plies of maple with a 45° bearing edge. Metal Reference snares are also available, with shells made from either steel and brass. Both metal snares are available in 14″x5″ and 14″x6.5″ sizes.
Masterworks – Masterworks snares can be custom-ordered with a kit, or as a separate item. They are available in a wide range of materials, sizes and finishes.
Hardware and Pedals
In addition to producing drums, Pearl has also produced hardware for its drum and percussion instruments as well as pedals. One of Pearl’s major improvements was the introduction of the Uni-Lock tilter on their tom mounts and cymbal stands. Introduced in 1982, the Uni-Lock tilter uses a frictionless, gearless tilter, allowing the player to make more precise angle adjustments to their toms and cymbals. This was further improved with the introduction of the Gyro-Lock tilters which rotate a full 360 degrees. Most of Pearl’s pedals come equipped with PowerShifter heel plates, which allow the player to adjust the pedal’s feel by sliding the plate either forwards or backwards.