What is the history of these vintage Pearls?

[PaulDrummer]

Hi guys!
I am writing to check with you on the history of my Pearl vintage drum kit. I would also appreciate if you could advise me if they are still values as vintage drums. These drums have served me from the time I learned to play drums. They have been great companion to me, and I was wanted to bring them to new life. So if I would remove the plastic finish and stain and oil the wood instead, would they lose any value if they have any at least? Maybe anyone knows what wood are they made from?

Brief background on them. When I was around 13 years old (13 years ago) my father bought them for me second hand for £100 from some rastaman (or at least that’s how he looked to me when I was a kid ). They also came with plastic hard cases and they had all original parts. As I used them and time went past, some of the hardware parts have broken, like the tom holders or bass drum legs. Another imteresting fact is that they came without the bottom rims, but they have all lugs as you can see. Planning to buy some new rims for the top and use the old top ones for the bottom. They all come with built in mufflers

Specs are: bass drum 24, floor tom 18, 2nd floor tom 16, low tom 14, hi tom 13. Very strange sizes. And the snare drum is size 14. Snare drum is all steel and it is a deep one. Badges say “Pearl Japan”.

Sending some pictures for reference. The snare drum sound amazing, so I use it extensively, couldn’t take pictures of it, as it is in rehearsal studio. Will send some later. On Monday I will set them all up, so I can sent a picture of the kit in full.

Thank you in advance.

Paul

[PaulDrummer]

Some more pics. Tom holder is original, but the arm that goes into the tom is a replacement arm.

[PaulDrummer]

Here is the full kit set up for recording and a picture from a gig around 10 years ago this is still with the original tom holder arms.

[Fuller89]

The wood on the outside will look like the wood on the inside. It will be very open pore and would look pretty bad if you just stained it. You would be better off leaving them alone, re wrapping them, or if you are any good at wood working you could glue a nice veneer on top and stain that.

As far as the drums, Those appear to be similar to my 79 W5's. though my badge is flat like a trophy placard (not stamped like yours). Also, the one kick of mine that has a tom mount has the older "swivomatic" dual type mount on it. My 79 w5's have similar mounts on my toms, where as my other toms have the older hex ones. All of my drums have a grey interior as well.

Others will be able to answer for certain, but I'd guess those would be a very early export.

[3pearlkits]

IMO your kit is the W5 series, not exports.
The shells will be 9 ply luan, aka Philippine Mahogany.
The sizes aren't odd at all, just the larger sizes.

Adding reso heads will make the kit resonate a lot more. You may need to get used to that for a while.

Are they a valuable kit? No.
There were higher end series available and they are/were more valuable.
Does that matter if you like the kit? No

The one thing that modern drum makers cannot do is add the ageing of wood to new shells, and that's why many people like vintage shells.
Vintage shells are warmer and more mellow than their modern counterparts...

[Fuller89]

I thought all of the w5’s had the grey interiors? And I don’t recall anything other than 12x8 13x9 16 x16 and 22x14 for that series? And a 15x6.5 steel snare if I remember right.

I mean, I’m probably wrong, I have a virgin 22x14 w5 kick and it was not listed in the catalog

[3pearlkits]

I thought all of the w5’s had the grey interiors? And I don’t recall anything other than 12x8 13x9 16 x16 and 22x14 for that series? And a 15x6.5 steel snare if I remember right.

I mean, I’m probably wrong, I have a virgin 22x14 w5 kick and it was not listed in the catalog

You could be right an I could be wrong
They certainly look like 9 ply luan shells to me.
And they look to be late 70's.
The only shells that fit late 70's and luan shells is W5's.
Anything could be and was made on order...

[PaulDrummer]

Thank you guys for your comments.

I tried looking online at those w5 drums, there are a few different models. Strangely most of them that I found online had two separate tom mounts with two holes in the bass drum while my one branches out into two from one bass drum hole.

I will check with one drum repair guy, what could be done to refurbish the finish. As the one on my drums is extremely worn off. It has dents, some strange markings and sun discolorations. I am thinking to unwrap the 14" tom and see what results I can achieve, as I mostly use the 13" tom with floor toms on the side. And the 14" tom is barely used.

I would like to leave a natural wood finish but not sure if it will look good. Does spraying with car paint wouldn't hinder the sound? A new wrap is hard to get for me. I live in Lithuania.

Best regards,
Paul

[Bodgit]

They look like pretty cheap end drums to me, not worth spending money one. If that were my kit, I'd get some decent heads on both batter and reso to get the best out of it. Coated G2s over clear G1s is a good starting point.

[Fuller89]

My 16" floor tom has a big split in the wrap, and I'm not going to spend the money to re wrap it (I just stuck it back down with double side tape). It's just not worth it. for the money to rewrap my kit I can buy a better set. that being said, I have had decent results wrapping over wrap with automotive vinyl. It's not at strong as or resistance to abrasions as a proper wrap, but I did wrap a kit for under $100.

I'll see if I can find my thread on the kit I did.

[Fuller89]

You could be right an I could be wrong
They certainly look like 9 ply luan shells to me.
And they look to be late 70's.
The only shells that fit late 70's and luan shells is W5's.
Anything could be and was made on order...

we could both be wrong!

You are right about the special ordering though, no where can I find anything about a w5 virgin kick... yet I have one lol. So I suppose you could order one with no grey sealer inside... though perhaps they stopped using it near the end of production of that line?

also I thought the first gen exports were still the same luan shells?

[Fuller89]

Here is the thread I made about fixing up a cheap kit and wrapping it with automotive vinyl.

[PaulDrummer]

Here is the thread I made about fixing up a cheap kit and wrapping it with automotive vinyl.

Thank you for the link. Amazing work! Looks simple and effective. I will look at the option in doing so as well. It should be real cheap to do it. The hoops and new heads will cost the most probably.

[Fuller89]

Thank you for the link. Amazing work! Looks simple and effective. I will look at the option in doing so as well. It should be real cheap to do it. The hoops and new heads will cost the most probably.

Thanks, and yeah, the heads were the majority of the budget for that kit. I think I only spent like $40 or so on the vinyl. You just have to figure out how many and what size pieces you need and add it all up and order a roll big enough.

And to polish the chrome, I’ve always used 0000 steel wool and then used a bit of an automotive stretch removing buffing compound. Works quite well, just takes a while.

Good luck on your project and keep us all posted!