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Title of Instrument: PDP 805 Series Shell Pack (black with black hardware) Price Paid: $649.00 Year Manufactured: 2007 Specs: 24 X 18" Kick, 13 X 8 Tom, 16 X 14" Floor Tom, 18 X 16" Floor Tom, 7 X 14 Snare Sound: 5/5. I bought these with the intent of building an electric kit from them, and was mostly interested in shell sizes and hardware quality. Got it home, set 'er up, replaced the crap heads with Evans EC Reverse dot on the snare, EC2's on the toms and bass, and, well, my 2001 DW set has now been delegated for electronic duty. Seriously, these guys are amazing! The unique sizes certainly add a lot to the shape of the sound you get out of 'em, and despite what I thought, the sound from the kick is focused, punchy with TONS of fat headroom and low frequency. It's still a very dynamic kick, as well. It responds dreamily to light dynamic playing in the quiet parts of songs. Contrast to my DW 22 X 20 its only slightly less punchy but you make up for it in the sheer force of the low frequency. Loosening the batter head just a smidge gave me exactly the sound I was looking for without gaining unwanted resonance i fought with in the deeper kick. The 13 X 8 tom is a godsend, sizewise, and again brings with it an instantly recognizable tone. I bet I'll be able to pick it out of a lineup when more people start recording with this kit. The downside is the 18 X 16 Floor tom. It's a little too big for its britches. I dont think it's PDP's lugs, or the heads, but it simply does not want to resonate much at all. When mic'd it sounds a lot like an old Tama Rockstar Kick... I'm considering porting the bottom head and seeing what happens there. It could also be the hoops, but that's just a guess. On that tom, (and only that one), though the hoops really seem to want to bend. The birch here helps alot, as well as the fact that these are painted, not wrapped. Everything comes together to form a kit that outshines anything else PDP has done thus far, and equals (in sound) and exceeds (in shell sizes and value) my DW kit. The snare is the heart of this kit and what PDP built their 805 series around, and is a warm, cracky/poppy snare with some nice undertones, and with new heads on it, is everything you'd hope for, tonally, from a 7 X 14. I'm glad people are moving away from the 5" range for snares. The extra depth gives you so much more feeling from the drum and takes it out of that atonal "oh god not another piccolo" range. Another thing to note for persnickity folks, is that the black hardware (specifically the floor tom legs) are gonna scratch something nasty from your first setup onward. Of course it's only very astetics that nobody else will notice. Instrument Quality: 4/5 Everything performs as expected, the quality is there in the paint, hardware, assembly, and fit/finish. PDP's take on DW's lugs (and their love of rubber around everything) makes for great isolation. I knock 'em down a point here because the bearing edges could DEFINITELY have been done better, and I may take them to my tech to have them redone, and I'm not too keen on the mounting arm for the tom. The Suspension on the tom itself is great, as expected. The stock PDP arm they give you seems at times flimsy and underthought. Playbility: 4/5. A significantly taller kick will take you some getting used to, as you have to readjust your tom height, and thus, its relation to the snare. Fortunately the rack tom being shallower means you can approximate the setup you're accustomed to, but odds are you'll have to change the mounting angle to accomidate this setup. Overall Value: 5/5. Amazing. Seriously. Forget your Tamas, your Pearls, your Mapexes, and don't even consider Ddrum. In terms of bang for the buck, I'd have gladly paid $2,500 to get this sound, this easily. I'd happily record with these after a little fine tuning, and will be touring with them shortly. Both of my bands love the sound of 'em, and they're smack in the middle, tonewise for my darker, heavier post-punk band, but light, punchy and resonant enough for my more rock oriented garage/indie project. I wager you'll be seeing/hearing a lot more 805 kits at shows and on records. No more are they "DW's eager but stupid Chinese cousin".
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Dec 6, 2007 01:24
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 06:17 |
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