Looks like a first generation Free Floater, early to mid 80's. Not sure how serial number fit the manufacturing years on Pearl drums. Maybe someone can chime in on that.

Yes, it is a first generation. Unfortunately, it has after-market snare wires that look like Puresound. I strongly suggest obtaining the correct extended snare wires as that is one of the main design elements. That snare has many great qualities. Enjoy!

Thanks guys for your help on the year plus the advice on the wires. Next time you see the drum it will be all sorted......Thx sean

Yes... it's a first generation FF snare drum from around 1985. Great drum! I can see that there is an adjustment screw and spring missing from the throw-off side. You'll need to find an appropriate screw and spring to get it back to original condition. Next, get a set of Pearl extended wires, which I believe are the S-025 wires. You can also find a set of Puresound wires. Once installed, and the strainer in the "on" position, you adjust the bar on each end, controlled by those two screws, until the wires just touch the head, then bring them in just a little more to eliminate rattle. This really fine-tunes the drum...if you know how to do it! The biggest issue was that the majority of drummers didn't have a clue how to make the adjustment! The next generation of FF snare drums eliminated this adjustment.

Get that FF cleaned up and dialed in. You'll love it!

-Mark

Hi Mark

Thanks for advice. Reminds me of the premier 2000. Tension wires then bring wires up to head under tension. The amount of people who struggle with these sort of drums. The odd screws and spring missing i have already sorted. Its already looking good. Just sort wires and these puresound stick em on another snare drum. Ill keep you updated on this drum.

Sounds good! Would love to see this first-generation FF brought back to life!

-Mark

How many more versions of the FF did pearl make. One thing about these drums you can swap out the shell even go deeper as long as you change tension rods. Ill b keeping the drum as is. Even with the puresound wires on it sounds good, even though they aint correct. Would you say the first generation are more collectible than the second. Must admit im not seeing many of these on ebay.

Cosmetic changes included going from a hexagon post to a smooth round post. Mechanical changes consisted of redesigning the strainer/butt and a non-adjustable gate that provided good snare wire alignment without having to futz with those screws! The strainer/butt were changed to the SR1000 Glide Lock units back around 2006 I believe. It's a great strainer and butt. However, this put an end to using extended wires! These drums now just standard length wires!

Here are pictures of one of the maple shell FF drums I've owned with the second generation strainer/butt.

As to shell depth, the shallowest version was advertised as being 3.5". In reality, it is really 3.75" from bearing edge to bearing edge. The replaceable shell itself it 2-5/16" deep. I had a new Keller shell cut to 2-9/16", one quarter inch deeper, for an overall depth of 4". Of course, I had to get longer Pearl stainless steel tension rods for this setup to work!

-Mark

Here's the third generation that uses the SR1000 Glide Lock strainer/butt. This drum goes with my custom painted Pearl kit, and uses the matching Keller shell and overall depth of 4".

-Mark