The Pearl drum that wouldn't tune

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RawDepth

RawDepth

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I bought a brand new set of Pearl Vision Series VSX this weekend. Right away I changed the top heads on all of the toms to Evans EC2. Then I took the factory "Pearl ProTone" batter heads and put them on the bottom to reduce ring. I had an easy time of tuning them all except for the 16" floor tom. The new top head stubbornly resisted being tuned. (I have been tuning drums for years and I usually get them in pretty good.)

Even under tension, there seemed to be this slight wrinkle or wave in the head between two lugs. When I turned down the tension rods enough to remove the wave then the head was tuned much too high. When I tried to take up the tension with different lugs the head was badly out of tune. I kept going around and around with tuning problems and I couldn't seem to get it right.

At first I thought I must have accidentally stretched the head somehow. But that is not like me and besides, I had not over-tightened any tension rods prior to the wrinkle showing up.

I removed the head and checked the shell for out-of-round. I couldn't find anything wrong with the shell and the bearing edge was flat. I checked the metal hoop for warpage. Nothing there either.

When I placed the head inside the hoop (off of the drum) it did not fit very well. In fact, it would not seat squarely at all. Instead it wanted to teeter back and forth like something tiny was beneath it. At first I thought that it was the fault of the head. (Remember this is an Evans head and the edge ring is slightly larger than Pearl heads.) But after a closer look inside the hoop I noticed an odd raised ridge or lip in the metal just above the bend. It apparently was left there from machine stamping in the factory. It was preventing the edge ring from fitting all the way down inside the hoop on one side.

I did not want to return the drums to the shop because I know them all too well there. (I'd been going there for years.) I am almost certain that they will just dig through their junk box until they find a hoop that fits half-assed. But I don't want a reject hoop. I want a powder-coated "Pearl" hoop and I want them all to match. So, I decided to beat the bitch into shape.

I whipped out my trusty Dremel tool and carefully ground down the ridge until it felt smooth. [Fast forward twenty minutes…] Now the head fits correctly. The drum is in tune and singing like a lark. :D

Has anyone else had this problem?
 

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Man, If I buy something NEW, I expect better quality control than that. I would have brought the drum back, and insisted they ORDER a hoop to match the rest.
 
stevieb said:
Man, If I buy something NEW, I expect better quality control than that. I would have brought the drum back, and insisted they ORDER a hoop to match the rest.
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Well, for a few minutes I did consider exactly that. But sometimes you've got to pick your battles.

You see, the drum shop is about thirty miles away from me. It would have meant at least two round trips near a major city totaling some 120 miles. I would also have to wait a week or two without playing my new drums. I couldn't see going to all that time, trouble, and expense to right something that I could simply fix myself in only a few minutes. It didn't seem worth all of that just to win another consumer pride ribbon.

Plus I have a long standing relationship with that shop and sometimes I get free stuff from them. I am already ahead of the game.
 
Those are Pearl's inexpensive line of drums, so it's no surprise that the quality wouldn't be too high. Glad you got it worked out.
 
Greg_L said:
Those are Pearl's inexpensive line of drums, so it's no surprise that the quality wouldn't be too high. Glad you got it worked out.
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The Forums are their inexpensive line. These are more in the mid-range quality. They have all birch shells and the 900 series hardware. This kit was almost $1000US with 4 cymbal stands, hi-hat stand, and throne. (no cymbals) One would think they can afford some quality control for that price.

But then again, some flaws can still go missed.
 
The bearing edges are always a good place to look. One common mistake is sanding them level, without regard to their sharpness.

As much as an unlevel area is a thicker section. Anything that interrupts the roundness of the drum is just like sticking your finger against a speaker and getting the same distortions.

Most machine shops will have duburring tools for sale that are commonly used for chasing water jacket holes and cylinder head ports. If you get one of the type that can be set for depth, you can get a consistent ring
 
Take the bottom head and snares off.


Voila!! You have a timbale.
 
I had the EXACT same problem on my 12 inch PDP FS series tom..... turned out to be a head problem. the head warped a bit during shipping.
 
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