Just from what I see in the pictures, it appears to be an early 80s set in Maple Laquer. The badge and the double tom mount fit that period.

What are the sizes of the drums? I'm guessing 14x24, 16x16, 10x12 and 11x13. If that is correct, it could be the DLX series (the L is for Laquer). Usually the DX and DLX series of drums had Pearl badges that said that AND had two badges on the toms, so that which-ever way you set them up there would be a Pearl badge facing the front...

Nice looking drums!!

Bill

I also think that is an early DLX kit. I had one of those. That was a really nice kit. One session I did, the producer complained about lug ring; so I went down the road to my drum store and they gave me a set of GLX which I never returned. Had to give the DLX back though. I love these era Pearl kits. That kit you have is just so well made and they are very warm too. You've done an excellent job cleaning them up. I think Pearl were very impressed with Rogers XP-8's when they made these. Lovely to see. Clapping Happy2

Very nice beautiful job cleaning them up.

thanks guys.

Bill - those sizes are correct except the BD is 22"

I posted it on the Pearl drummers forum and the consensus there is that is a very early BLX from 1983. I was searching around and found a recent thread on that forum about a kit that looked very much like mine which turned out to be a BLX from 1983 so figured mine may be the same. It doesn't bother me either way though.

You are right Troutstudio, they are very well made. I had never appreciated this until now that I've stripped them down. Despite the reasonably busy life they've had they have held up very well. The quality is well above the other kits that I have refurbished. It's a bit big and heavy for me now though - i can't be bothered carrying them to gigs.

If they are BLX they are birch. Hard to tell unless you look inside, since they have been stained a maple colour. My favourite recording combo was a GLX kick drum and BLX toms. yes, unfortunately they are heavy. Not as heavy as mine though - the GLX has the drop-open lugs, which are twice the weight of a standard one. Now when I need this type of sound I go for a Rogers kit. Half the weight. Those are lovely drums though.

That looks to be in great shape for it's age certainly a testament to it's quality and to your respect for your gear,Good on Ya as you down unders say.

The kit from the pics looks like it could be birch to me. I realize that sometimes maple and birch can look similar,esp if when stained darker,in my exp the grain on birch is looser as a genral rule and I think has more variation ,I have an Eames kit,The Bass and toms are emerald green ,snare is a natural finish.Joe Mac of eames picks the face ply according to what color stain you order,and the green drums really brought out the black in the grain,my snare had a much less descriptive grain and could easily be mistaken for a maple face ply by my semi trained eye.

The grain on your kit looks a lot like the grain pattern on my green toms so that is why I am voting for birch.

OK, I know this is going to seem like I'm splitting hairs here, but I got real curious and just had to do some research. And, as a warning, this reply just might end up "book-like."

When I started working on vintage drums, it started from my love for the Pearl Fiberglass and Wood-Fiberglass lines of from the 70s. Like it or not, I do consider myself at least some-what of an expert on those lines. (Out of necessity and experience, I also have a deep love, respect, and knowledge of 60s/70s Ludwigs, but since this is Pearl thread we'll not go down that road here in this post.)

Since I've bought, traded for, refurbished/restored many Pearl drums and sets of the 70s, I've ended up handling a lot of Pearls from the 80s as well. And let me say this, Pearl, especially through the late 70s and throughout the 80s made a LOT of "evolutionary" changes as they tried to stay on the cutting edge of the industry. These "evolutionary" changes, if not kept in their proper perspective create a lot of confusion.

So, here are my observations concerning this set:

Based upon the overall hardware used on the drums (the tom arms, "Pearl" badges, BD claws and T-handles, these drums are out of the very early 1980s BEFORE Pearl started using the terms such as DX, DLX, BX, BLX, MX, MLX, etc. etc. etc. These drums are forerunners of these various lines.

The DX and DLX didn't show up in the US Market until 1983. It is my understanding the "D" actually was a reference to "deep" shells. The shells were made of birch and mahogany plies. The DX were wrapped, the DLX were lacquer finished. Also by this time you begin to see changes in the claws, t-handles, tom arms, etc. when you look at the catalogs.

Next up were the MX and MLX lines. The "M" stood for maple. They made their debut (again, I'm talking US market) in 1984. Still more changes occur in the hardware. The Pearl World Series line came in 1985, then the BLX didn't show up until 1987, and yes, the "B" stood for birch.

So, back to the set. At Fayray's description, the toms are deep shells. From the pictures we can see they're either maple or birch. But the badges are definately early 80s and the drum hardware is mostly carry-over from the style of the 70s.

BTW -- the most popular line of Pearl drums of all time, worldwide (based upon overall sales)? Their Export series, which these could well be. Exports also went through evolutionary changes, and included not only the cheaper "press-wood" shells, but also multi-ply maple and birch shells.

Honestly, I think I need to stick with the 70's FG and W-FG. They stayed much the same through most of their production periods.

Sorry (again) for another, long-winded rant.

Bill

Thanks Bill. It's taken me 20 years to get curious about what the drums actually are and it's certainly less than straight forward. However, it seemed that, like you say, the BLX etc kits didn't show up until the later 80s. BUT, a chap over at the Pearl forum posted this thread http://www.pearldrummersforum.com/showthread.php?254088-This-is-huge-news which clears things up a bit. It also appears that the deep drums are denoted with a "D" after the model number. I didn't think it was an Export as it has a 10 lug BD and the quality is on the very high side. I remember the guy in the shop describing it as a Pearl Professional series kit when i bought it.

Thanks Eamesuser - I think it's testament to it's quality rather than my respect. I did always keep all the heads on so the edges are perfect and it always travelled in cases but apart from that it wasn't treated too well to be fair:o

I have two of those drums. One is a 20" kick which I rescued from being screwed upside down to the ceiling of a drum shop. It's like a pre-MLX and has now done thousands of gigs with me. It was originally walnut brown, now piano black, but it's maple. The other is a 14" floor which I found to complete my double set of Pearls - I pick a set from this lot depending on the gig. I thought it was maple too, although now this conversation has me wondering enough to pull the heads off and take another look!

This is my DLX kit, which I had to give back:

[IMG]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g179/troutstudio/drums/Pearl/BLX.jpg[/IMG]

This is the 14" which looks very close to me

[IMG]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g179/troutstudio/drums/Pearl/IMG_1215.jpg[/IMG]