Pearl Rhythm Traveler

bobdadruma

Platinum Member
The Sun came out in Connecticut today for the second time in what seems like two months.
I took a ride to Sam Ash and I bought a Pearl Rhythm Traveler. I brought it home, set it up, tuned it, put some of my favorite cymbals on the stands, and I began to play it.
I LOVE THIS LITTLE KIT! I ditched the not so hot foot pedal and the tin cymbals that came with it and I put my Iron Cobra on the bass drum. The Hi-Hat stand that comes with it is OK. I played it for four hours! The 13" snare sounds great! The toms sound great! The bass drum is OK but I think that it will require a Super Kick II and a mic. I'm going to gig with this kit on the 4th of July!
I had read a post here on DW a few months ago about the Rhythm Traveler and I thought that I would give it a look. I'm glad that I did! It is a great little toy! I recommend it to anyone who wants a light weight inexpensive kit to toss into your car for practices and small gigs.
 

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Well it's cute. And practical.

But how does it sound? Would love to hear your opinion on how it tunes. Can the toms get low? What sort of music are you using it for?

Are the toms meant to stack inside each other?
 
It sounds great! I couldn't stop playing it. I'm going to use it for Light Rock, Blues, and Contemporary Bluegrass. I have the toms tuned about medium, 75 on the Drum Dial. I didn't try them low.
The toms don't nest inside each other but I can put the bass drum on the back seat of my pick up truck with the toms and the foot pedal attached. I can carry them all together with ease! I have played toms without bottom heads for years. I only added reso heads to the toms on my antique Gretsch kit a few years ago. If you mic the toms, they sound the same as if you had bottom heads. I'll put some sound up on this thread tomorrow. I was surprised at how good the drums sounded. I had tried the Traps kit and I didn't like it. The Traps drums are made of plastic and they are heavy. The bass drum and the toms on the Traps kit sound like crap. The snare on the traps kit is the only drum that sounds good.
 
Hi
I have been using one for small short paying gigs with little room for the past four years. I'll use my K's, Istanbul ride and a high end snare. Sometimes I's use on overhead mic and/or also add snare and kick mic. The bass and toms can be tuned to fine. Easy to move in and out of the gig. Denis
 
Wait, they don't nest in each other?
Then what's the point in having no reso heads? Just wondering...

But still, very cool kit, check out my small kit as well.
 
Wait, they don't nest in each other?
Then what's the point in having no reso heads? Just wondering...

But still, very cool kit, check out my small kit as well.

Thats what I was just thinking? Maybe they didnt put bottoms on because of weight. You think they would of designed it to put the toms in each other? Pearl always did do strange things.....Anyway nice drums bro. I'll have to go check those out!
 
Yeah, I was suprised they wouldn't nest too...

I guess the toms just look like cheap timbales to me, but without actually playing or hearing a set I'm not keen to pass judgement yet.

Still prefer a Nesting Kit!
 
I believe that there are no reso heads because of price and weight considerations. The kit only cost $420. Nesting kits that I looked at cost a great deal more. I already own an expensive high end kit and I didn't want to spend a lot of ching on a practice kit. I don't have a lot of cash at the moment. Daughter in collage and bad economy!
If I stack the snare and the 3 toms they take just a slight bit more space than the 16x16 floor tom from my big kit. They stack slightly taller. The bass drum takes half of the space of a conventional bass drum.
The Traveler is an inexpensive alternative to a nesting kit. It is not a Nesting Penguin! If I had the cash I would buy that kit.
The shells are thick wood and they make a good tone. Of course they don't sound as good as a high end kit with resos. I can buy some lugs and rims and add resos if I want to. That wouldn't cost that much.
The kit comes with mesh heads in addition to the stock heads. You could put trigers on the toms and the bass with the mesh heads if you wanted to also.
The Traveler is a good option for a beat around kit. Now I don't have to put wear and tear on my Gretsch to attend a two hour practice or an outdoor gig on a rainy day.
 
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Here is a sound sample. I recorded the kit with a Samson usb mic with flat eq. This is what the kit sounds like in a carpeted room. The kit is adequate sounding for daily playing and small low paying gigs.
 

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One slight problem i thought was a lack of much low end on the "floor" tom. The snare sounded great though.

I love that snare!!!!!
I don't like the sound of the snare so much, I miss the resos

Bram
Shallow drums with no resos will always have a lack of low end. That can't be avoided. If you mic the toms you can EQ the sound to be fuller. When you are practicing with your band at low volumes in a 12x12 foot room, the main thing is for the band to hear the groove and the basic sound of the tom fills to get the idea that they are there. I may add some resos to the toms in the future. Most of the time I play the snare, bass, and cymbals anyway. Fill-Ins are a small part of most of the songs that I play. Especially the contemporary Bluegrass music, I don't do many fills at all with The String Band.
This kit will not replace my big one. It is simply to be used for practice and an occasional small club or private house party gig. I will use them like Cocktail Drums.
 
I actually just got a rhythym traveler kit for a great deal and it actually impressed me alot. i was mainly gonna use it to practice silentley but it is fun little kit. i was also thinking on taking the wrap off and doing a custom finish. they are fun little drums.
 
I actually just got a rhythym traveler kit for a great deal and it actually impressed me alot. i was mainly gonna use it to practice silentley but it is fun little kit. i was also thinking on taking the wrap off and doing a custom finish. they are fun little drums.
The idea of customizing the shells occurred to me also. I was thinking of painting them with that new spray paint that bonds to plastic. Krylon makes it. Perhaps a forrest green or a blue.
 
yea i was thinking on a custom wrap or laquer burst and clearcoat to match my main kit like a miniture practice and portable version. great idea though
 
I played my first gig with The Rhythm Traveler yesterday. We put together a pick up band for a backyard party (40 people). I have played with all of these musicians on and off for years. I arrived last, I set my drum rug on the plywood outdoor platform under the big party tent and I pulled the mini bass drum from my truck. They all thought that I was joking! They said things like, "Come On Bob, Stop fooling around and take out your big Gretsch!). "What is that! A Wal-Mart Kit"? I laughed and I said, "Watch and learn" and I continued to pull the Traveler's bits out and set them up.
I plugged in the bass drum mic and set the EQ. We then did a sound check and they were all shocked at how good the kit sounded! It blended perfectly with the Conga Players set up.
They all loved it! The Rhythm Traveler was a big hit. Party guests that are also musicians asked me questions about it. Some of them played it and liked it. It became a conversation piece. There was a fun time had by all!
At the end of the eve when I was tired I packed up the light little kit, helped the others with the PA, and I was on my way home in no time.
 
Hey Bob,
How quiet are the mesh heads that kit comes with? I was looking at that kit for practice as well as for its mobility.
 
Man I have this kit as well and its so fun to play.... because the drums are so smalls there's more room for configurations like lowering the toms and etc. I think the reason why he isn't getting as much low end is because i think the heads that come with it are single-ply... get some coated G2's on there and it should sound good because the coating will give it the warmth while the double-ply will give it its body and power. Yeah this is also my "mini" gig kit and its fun to experiment with it so I don't have to experiment on my Starclassics. I always wanted to do a custom finish to make it look more interesting than black because I use this kit to gig a lot because my dad brings his bass, mixer, and speakers so I can't fit the starclassic. I recommend a superkick I because it gives enough bass but because its a thin head it will project a lot better
 
I haven't tried the mesh heads yet. I have only had the kit for a week and I am lovin it with the stock heads. The mesh heads look similar to the heads that are on an electro kit. I can't tell if they are metal or a synthetic fiber material. They resemble a fine bug screen for a household window. If you tap on a screen from a small window in your house I'm sure that they will sound like that. They are called Pearl Muffle Heads. Perhaps there is a sound sample of them on the Pearl website or somewhere like that.
I played a large festival with the Rhythm Traveller yesterday. They were a big hit with The String Band also. (see link below) They were fully mic'd with a sound tech in charge in front of an audience of about three hundred. They sounded great. I'll post video when I get access to it.
 
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