There are plenty of people who dig fiberglass, whether you're talking about Pearl, Fibes, Blaemire, or some of the others that have been done. (Pearl did both straight fiberglass and a wood/fiber mixed shell.) I'm pretty sure you'd be able to find plenty of positive comments on the Pearl fiberglass drums on these forums.

I personally haven't been up close & personal with Pearl's fiberglass drums, but I'd love to check some out whenever the opportunity might arise.

To me the Pearl fiberglass shells are the best drums that Pearl ever made i have a set that i have piece together over the years all drums are from 1974-75 the sizes are bass drums are 20",22",24" the mounted tom's are 6" to 16" the floor are 14",16",18"..So i can make up anysize drum set needed,when i did play show's outside these are the drums i used...Mikey

I have a Pearl fiberglass kit from the same vintage that sounds fantastic to this day. A lot of great players used fiberglass drums back in the 70's (including Steve Gadd who used Pearl fiberglass toms on so many of his classic recordings). And don't forget those Bob Grauso-made fiberglass snare drums that Buddy Rich used with his Rogers and Slingerland kits.

The Pearl President fiberglass kits are my ideal drum sound- love them for all kinds of music. I also play a Tempus fiberglass snare that's the bomb. Fiberglass drums have a unique tone in the resonance after the initial attack- can be be just the thing for a lot of music. Though I wouldn't want to have to play only fiberglass drums 100% of the time.

Hi !

I Played professionly half of my life and have been an avid collector for 25 yrs

and at one time owned 25 sets and 70 snare drums of every concievable make and model. Let me assure you without a doubt one of the best sounding sets I have ever played ( set up now in my studio ) is a 70's fiberglass Pearl 22,13,16....... Something to consider is that a fiberglass bearing edge, If built true will remain true forever. Unless of course you do something to it yourself. Fiberglass snare drums produce a wonderfull tone that is somewhere between wood and metal......Hold on to those drums!!!

Hi guys,

I am a newbie here and I have much love for pearl fiberglass drums. I have a 22x14, 12x8, 16x16 kit in white wrap from the late 70's and this is my main gigging kit. I have added heavy duty SP30 bass drum spurs as the original ones were not very stable. Loud, punchy and indestructible, EC2 batters and PS3 on bass drum.

I also have a late 70's wood-fiberglass kit in red hairline finish - 22x14, 12x8, 13x19, 16x16 plus a 2005 mmx maple kit in silversparkle lacquer 22x16, 12x8, 16x16.

Are those old President kits many people talk about here fiberglass or phenolic - which is a brown masonite - like substance. Pearl made phenolic shells in the 70's also.

I have a catalogue from about 1976 that shows the different shell types that were available -

fiberglass,

President - phenolic,

Dynamic shell - luan,

maple,

Crystal - seamless acrylic,

Artist - luan/fiberglass

Pearl seemed to offer the most variety in shell types back then, very interesting. I will scan it and try to attach it so you guys can see it.Excited

Cheers,

Shrek

www.blackhillramblers.com

Let me do some research - the President kits are absolutely the dark brown material you are describing as "phenolic" but all the catalogs I have from 69 (when it was introduced) into the early 70s, then also the 1975 catalog I have are refering to them as fiberglass. However, it truly is almost a completely different animal than the later fiberglass kits Pearl put out in the late 70s. It is very possible your idea is accurate. The dark brown shell material (refered to up to now as fiberglass) makes an amazingly resonant and strong drum and is found only in Presidents. I have restored a number of President kits now and even if the outside of the drum- the hoops may be rusted and the wrap faded and chipping- but open the drum and inside is a perfect shell with bearing edges like brand new. I'll look more into the phenolic idea- can you post a snapshot of any written material (a catalog page would be good) of where Pearl writes using the word phenolic shell? Here is a snapshot of the introduction catalog write up in 1969 of the President (brown) fiberglass shell.[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/President1969cataphoto.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/Presidentsnaredrum1969.jpg[/IMG]