Where Do Peavey International Drums Fit In Peavey's Line, and In Drumdom In General?

[stevieb]

Snagged a set of Peavey International Drums today at such a sweet price I just HAD to grab 'em. But, the line is discontinued by Peavey. Are they better or not as good as, say, Peavey Exports? Judging from the appointments, I'd say they are entry+, but as Greg will no doubt point out, what do I know about drums?

Thanks.

 

[Greg_L]

as Greg will no doubt point out, what do I know about drums?
.

Obviously not much. It's Pearl Exports.


They're both entry level cheap kits that can sound decent with some TLC. I don't know if they're better or worse than Exports. I'd probably bet they're about the same.

 

[stevieb]

It's Pearl Exports. \

Thanks for the response, Greg- but it's not so much that I don't know that PEARL makes Exports, as I did a horrible job of proof-reading my post. I lost a full letter grade in my undergraduate schooling (Shakespearean Literature- a course I took because I wanted to), and my professor told me quite directly that I would have gotten an "A" in the course if I had only done a better job of... proofreading! You would think I'd learn...

But, really, man, you are too easy...

 

[Greg_L]

But, really, man, you are too easy...

Says the guy that can't get over a simple little comment I made like a year ago.

 

[ranjam]

I'll get crapped on for this, but it won't be the first or last time, so here goes nothing. When you go through 912 drum kits, you start to 'see' that with that previously mentioned TLC most drums can sound identical, or at least close enough to the average person listening to your music. And really, do you make music for other elitist musicians or for the great unwashed?
You or I or anyone who claims they can hear grass grow can listen to any classic rock record or whatever record and usually say 'That's a Tele into a Deluxe Reverb!' or 'That's a Les Paul into a Marshall!'. Those sounds are like fingerprints. But can anyone listen to a record and say 'Those are Gretsch!' or 'Those are Slingerlands, with a 20" kick and no resonant head!' and have a straight face? Drums sound like drums. The hardware is always better on serious kits, and 'better' lugs help you tube more accurately to more choices for your 'note', but really, after a certain point, they're all good.
I've gone through countless kits starting with those awful 60's Japanese offerings with names like Apollo, Bolero, Coronet, Crown, Gracy, and other names that escape me now. It was fun. But the only drum I could 'hear' differently was the snare. Recut the bearing edges, put the right heads on, and tune them properly, so they sounded like....... drums. I thought I was being.... I don't know the right word. But different anyway.
Enjoy your drums. They'll work, and no one will sneer 'Ugh! It's that awful Peavey drum sound!' when they hear the playback, I promise. You won't give yourself ulcers when you take them to some honky tonk dive like you would your $8,000 Craviotto kit.
Read this carefully; Buy a cheap drum kit for $25 and make it sound like $2500+ monster Bonham drumset. It seems I am not alone.

 

[BentRabbit]

Of course, when your wrap starts to peel, your shells start to warp and split and you have to whip out your drum key every time you hit a tom, you'll know why it's a $25 kit

 

[stevieb]

Great read, ranjam- both the link, and your post. No flaming from me! When we did the rock n roll summer camps last summer, our backline contract requested Yamaha, Tama, Etc. drum kits- we ignored that and supplied cheap kits we bought used for $75-100, and nobody seemed to notice or care.

Greg- I am well "over" your snide comment- but it think it's so funny I just gotta mine it for cheap laughs whenever I can!

 

[ranjam]

Of course, when your wrap starts to peel, your shells start to warp and split and you have to whip out your drum key every time you hit a tom, you'll know why it's a $25 kit

My guess is that the wrap starts to peel from being stored improperly, and the constant temperature/humidity change messes with everything, including the shell. That's why some drums had a reinforcing ring. But if they were looked after, they can last. I've had kits that looked new, forty years after the fact. Plus, you can paint the interior and seal the wood if you're worried.
I don't like all crap 60's drums; just the 'better crap'. Count the lugs. Six on the bass? Avoid, even for free. Two ply? That's desirable for toilet paper, but not drums. There's a science to this, but honestly I gave up collecting years ago. I kept three kits, and that's it. I had to keep a black oyster Bolero kit. What else? I kept a champagne sparkle Stewart, and a red sparkle Gracy. Eight lugs on the 20" bass and 14" snare, so I can tune once and leave it for a while. But yeah, there's a lot of real poor stuff out there, and I've put a few 4-lug toms by the curb. You have to know what you're doing, and know when to say when.

 

[stevieb]

ranjam, are you sure you are not the guy who maintains that site? I mean, you and he both have a Bolero kit, a champagne sparkle Stewart (at least, I think I read that's what he has) and I know he talked about a Gracy something. And, he scorns 4-lug toms, too.

I was once given a cheap set that had... 4-lug toms! They didn't last 3 months (they were used, though.) As we tried to tune them, the tensioner mounts would crack- rack and floor toms, even the kick. We cannabalized mounts from the reso sides, making them into "concert" toms, but as you can imagine, that didn't last too long before we were out of "spare" parts. Ended up setting at the curb for the next poor, unsuspecting fool...

I am currently poly- coating a CB-700 (1970's vintage) kit- the white wraps were in sad shape, so I removed them (very easy,) sanded and stained the wood a bright-ish red, and am polyurethane coating them. New wraps was gonna run about $250, and I felt like they aren't even worth the cost (and health hazards) of nitrocellulose lacquer. So, poly they get! The are looking good already.

 

[ranjam]

No, that's just sheer coincidence. We're both Canadian, but that's where the similarities end. Bruce writes for Modern Drummer; I do not. He gets to review and use all kinds of great gear, making it kind of weird he looks for budget kits. He does have a great story from years ago about watching Mike Sloski record with Bruce Cockburn, and using a cobbled kit with cut down mis-matched toms, well worn Ambassador heads, and cymbals with chunks missing. Maybe that started him on his 'hear with your ears and not your eyes' crusade. Me, I did it part out of sheer poverty and partly to look like some kind of rebel and not be so 'establishment'. I got out of that phase after a while though, and now either play a Gretsch or Tama kit, depending on the gig. But to remind myself of those days, I might take out the Stewart kit and add insult to injury by by using 18" hi-hats made up of a thin and medium crash cymbals. I'll either go small drums with large cymbals or large drums with teeny cymbals, just to be weird. I have an old Tama Swingstar 'monster' kit (the 80's zolacoat years) that was a double bass, and many people broke them up and sold half or at least pieces. Regretting that I did that as well, I decided to take the 18" floor tom left over and turn it into a kick drum. A 10" tom became the rack, and the 16" tom was just used as a regular floor tom. Weird, but an experiment. Now put that with a 22" ride, 18" crashes and hats, and those drums look even smaller.
No one will ever talk about me because of my drumming skills (or lack thereof), but they sure talk about my gear.
Oh, free tip of the day; I stopped putting all those 4-lug toms at the curb and made sub-kicks out of three or four.

Knock out the grommet for a 1/4" jack, apply some Pearl mesh heads just for protection, and away ya' go. Use the tom mount to attach to a desktop mic stand.

 

[RAMI]

When you go through 912 drum kits, you start to 'see' that with that previously mentioned TLC most drums can sound identical.......
The hardware is always better on serious kits, and 'better' lugs help you tube more accurately to more choices for your 'note', but really, after a certain point, they're all good.

I agree with this.

Of course, when your wrap starts to peel, your shells start to warp and split and you have to whip out your drum key every time you hit a tom, you'll know why it's a $25 kit

I agree with this, too.

The difference is in the durability and hardware. But, if you put the right skins and know how to tune your drums, a set of Pearl Exports will sound better than a top of the line kit with shitty skins and/or a guy that doesn't know how to tune them.

 

[Greg_L]

Yeah shell material takes a big backseat to heads and tuning. Don't tell the marketing guys though. They need people to believe there's a huge difference between maple and birch.

After heads and tuning, shell thickness and bearing edge are probably the next most important aspects of drum sound. Then the room acoustics. Then maybe shell material.