PDP Pacific Drums and Percussion Pacific MX

This tobacco-to-natural finished 14" maple-shelled PDP snare was part of a trashy parts kit I picked up for a rehearsal space. The kit has long been replaced but the snare stayed, it sounds so good I've used it to record (play Rock Star by Greg Clarke + The Madvarks).

Pacific Drum Company ("PDP") is a budget Drum Workshop brand, and the MX series was made in Ensenada, Mexico. The core is a 14" x 5" 8-ply maple shell stamped November 4, 2005. It has 8 DW TruePitch tuning lugs per side, which have a finer thread pitch than conventional lugs, and a DW-style throw-off. I replaced the 20-strand steel strainer (which had a broken strand) with brass and it came with a plain old Remo Ambassador head that I've just replaced. I've kept the original snare-side head, it's pretty standard. This snare tunes and sounds great from low to high pitches. I keep it fairly high and snappy, and it has a really small but sweet amount of natural ring, making it ideal for 60's rock or swing. A bit of damping, whether a ring or gel dot, makes it a punchy rock snare.

I honestly never throught I'd keep it around as long as I have, but it's hard to beat its versatility, it's light to move around, and sure won't attract the thieves. If you see one with an intact shell and a working throw-off for a decent price I would not hesitate to grab it. The True-pitch tuning lugs are the only "specialty" part here and should be available at any DW dealer. The rest can be fixed or upgraded and you'll have yourself a great-sounding snare quite literally for a song.

Well, I've been a musician for approx. 9 years, and drums were the instrument that I began with and are what I mostly play. My pastor had bought this 'cheap' beginner drum kit for his daughter, but she never really picked them up. I came along, and he knew I'd enjoy them a lot more, so he gave them to me, as if he thought they weren't worth a whole lot. So, he pretty much gave them to me for free! Compared to the crappy, 30 years-old lame excuse for a drum set I currently had, these had an invisible halo above them. lol This drum kit is a medium, metallic green, and has four drums (a snare drum, one rack-tom, a floor tom and of course, a bass drum). It also came with two 14' Power Beat hi-hat cymbals, and an 18', Power Beat crash/ride cymbals, with all the stands. And I added a 10' Zildjian splash cymbal and an 18' Zildjian projection crash cymbal.

Like I mentioned, my pastor gave this set to me, and I didn't really pay him for him. He didn't even ask for any money!

Well, the factory drum heads were okay-ish, but I'll eventually replace 'em all with Remo Weatherking Pinstripe heads. I was quite pleasantly surprised at how strong and well-designed all of the hardware was. Although I used a hi-hat stand I had bought, all of the other hardware was strong, double braced, and durable (that doesn't mean you should leave this kit in a leaky garage for a decade).

...I really can't think of things about this drum set I did not like. I'd say the only bad things are the somewhat cheap drum heads that came with it. But really, that's a small issue.

Again, the hardware I got on these drums is fantastic, and definitely not what one would expect from a 'cheap' beginner drum kit!

All in all; if this set was lost/stolen, I'd totally buy a drum set from this company again! GREAT value for the price. Even though I paid nothing for them, I see these drums as a steal of a deal.

I also think these drums are stage-worthy. Well, I'd use them on a stage any day.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Been playing drums for about 30 years. {One would think I'd have gotten better by now.}
but activly play in Country, and Christian
local bands

I was looking for another Yamaha kit when
I walked into Hart Music, and fell in love with the Natural tobacco fade PDP MX kit.
Then I saw the Price. $899.00, with hardware. Another $250.00 for 8 & 16" add
on drums and I was on my way home.

Color is georgous, and All Mapel shells for
under $1800.00.
The sound is very warm, and can be tuned for
any music style very easy.

Cymbal stand used to mount 14" suspended Tom
could be a little heavier.

Quality of kit is great, Hi Hat and Kick pedal are very user friendly.

Great kit, Great price.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this set at Guitar Center in Scottsdale Arizona for $640 even. I originally went in to check out acoustic guitars but since I am a drummer I had to look in the drum section. They had this kit set up and after playing it, I fell in love.

The first thing I love about this kit is the tone that it creates. Of course the stock heads are cheap, but they don't sound that bad on the kit. I went about a week until I put on some evans hydraulics and it made a huge difference. If you love that fat tom sound, hydraulics with this kit will be a match made in heaven. The finish is awesome too. It is an emerald green to black fade satin finish. I thought these kits were ugly when I saw them on the web. But believe me, pictures do not do this kit justice. Check them out if you have a chance.

Nothing except the satin finish. I hear they are pretty easy to scratch but my kit has done pretty well with the little bangs here and there. No scratches yet.

Seems to be pretty durable and well made. My only complaint is when I was changing my heads I found that the floor tom was missing some washers.

Great kit for the money. You can't beat an all maple kit for under $1000. Even with hardware you can get them under that price. Pacific has really made it possible for the working man to have some DW quality.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com