This was a long time coming.

After playing the drums for more than 20 years, it was finally time for me to purchase my first set of modern, high-end drums. I had played on homemade kits: a little Remo Jr Pro set, a 5-pc Ludwig Rocker kit, and a vintage 60's Ludwig jazz set. I loved all those kits, and they served me well through elementary school, junior high, and high school. I didn't take my drums to college since I didn't really have a place to store them, and the school had some very nice kits available. However, upon returning home after college and obtaining a job with Percussion Source, it became obvious to me that it was time for an upgrade.

At first, I had no idea what to get. There are so many great companies these days and so many options in terms of shells and hardware and finish and sizes. I knew I wanted a big kit, and I decided I didn't want to go with a "custom" company. I wanted custom drums, but I didn't want to go to a company that might be gone next year. I was planning on keeping these drums for a long time, so I wanted to be sure that if anything came up down the road, the company would be there to fix the problem.

Choosing the Company

So, the next issue was finding a major drum company that would be willing to make a one-of-a-kind kit for me. I looked at Ludwig, Yamaha, Pearl, Gretsch and Mapex. They all had great high-end kits with tons of options and features. Finally, after spending some serious time on various websites and forums and reading through all the specs in all the drum catalogs I could find, I decided to go with Pearl. I already owned two Pearl snare drums, and I loved both of them and was very impressed with the overall quality.

I've been a fan of Pearl drums since I was around 14 years old. I remember the first time I played a high-end Pearl kit. It was in a local drum shop, and I was in there to buy some sticks. I saw this beautiful 7-pc Pearl Masters kit set up in the front window. I sat down at the kit, almost afraid to play it, and hit the snare drum. CRACK! Wow, I thought, now THAT is what a snare drum should sound like! I remember playing around on the kit for a few minutes and just being blown away by the sound of the snare, toms, and bass drum. Someday, I thought to myself, I will own a kit that sounds like this, and I’ll play it every single day.

In the end, it almost seemed natural to go to Pearl. I had loved their drums from the first time I played them, and their high-end drums are as good as any on the market today. After reading up on their current series and exploring the Pearl website for a few weeks, I decided to go with the drums that had first impressed me more than 10 years before: Pearl Masters Birch. By going with the Masters Premium line, I was able to get the 6-ply birch shells with the option of black hardware -- something I had always wanted. After deciding on sizes (I went with 8,10,12,14 and 16 inch toms with a 22-inch bass drum) I came upon my biggest obstacle: color.

Choosing the Color

You might think that color isn’t that important. After all, drums are for playing, not looking at! A lot of people laughed at me when I told them I couldn't decide on a color for my new kit. “Who cares?” they would say. “They’re just drums. Pick a color and move on!” What they didn’t understand was this was a purchase more than 20 years in the making, and it had to be perfect. I wanted this to be my primary kit for the rest of my life, so it needed to represent me. I wanted people to look at this kit and think “There’s ALEX’s drum set.” I realized that even with the more than 20 finish options Pearl offered on the Masters Premium line, I still didn't have the finish that I wanted. I wanted blue drums. Nothing too exotic, just beautiful, deep blue drums with black hardware.

Pearl Comes Through

Now it was time to put Pearl's customer service to the test. I wrote to my rep and told him I wanted a Masters Premium kit. However, rather than one of the standard finishes, I wanted them to use #197 Rhythm Blue, a finish used only on their Reference series drums. Much to my surprise, Pearl agreed, and about 5 months later, I had my very own, one-of-a-kind Masters Premium drum set.

I was speechless when I pulled the 8-inch tom out of the box. The finish was even better in person than it was on the website. The black, die cast hoops were shiny and sturdy. The inside of the shells contained the nicest cuts of birch I had ever seen in my life. Every drum was perfect. I set up the toms and cymbals on my new Gibraltar curved rack system and added my two Pearl snares to the kit. Now, I had a totally unique 8-pc Pearl masterpiece sitting in my loft just begging to be played.

I couldn't be happier.

Wait! Before you start saying "You can't compare jazz drummers to rock drummers," let me explain.

I'm not trying to compare the two in terms of talent or influence or relevancy to the musical world. I'm not comparing styles or chops or trying to say one is better than the other. The truth is you really CAN’T compare the two. The two different styles of music demand very different things from drummers, and rarely do you ever see a drummer who can really be called a master of both.

Rather than talking about the playing, I would like to take a moment to discuss prestige…

Recently, the drumming community lost one of its most kind, creative, and innovative artists: Louie Bellson. Louie was an amazing player, considered one of the best in the world during his prime and was influential in the development of the modern drum set. His use of multiple rack toms and bass drums changed the drum industry forever. I was lucky enough to meet Louie before his passing, and I got to hear him perform a few years prior with the Cedar Rapids Big Band.

Click Here to Go to the Percussion Source Drumset Playlist at YouTube

There are so many types, sizes, and colorations of cymbals you might wonder how you will ever decide which ones you want. You might think that going to a cymbal shop so you can hear each cymbal will help, and sometimes it does, sort of. You go around tapping on the various offerings in a cymbal room and find one you love. Then you get it home or on the gig, and it doesn't sound the same.

What's going on? Did they switch it at the store? Probably not, you just didn't hear it in the context of your other cymbals, nor in the context of the room in which you typically play. Oh well, you live and learn. Next time, bring your own with you to match them up.

Then there is the "I'll buy a matched set idea." Yeah. That works when you are starting out. You get a drum kit and know these usually don't come with cymbals. Why do they do that? Because drummers that care about their sound like to mix and match cymbals suited for their particular needs.