Pearl Roadshow Jazz Kit

Frank

Gold Member
I mentioned this kit in another thread, and I thought it might be useful to establish a thread just for this kit.

It is a relatively new offering - the Pearl Roadshow Jazz.

- Bass: 18"x12"
- Tom: 10"x7"
- Floor Tom: 14"x10" - pretty shallow, which I like
- Snare: 13"x5"
- Hardware - HH stand, snare stand, pedal, cymbal boom from bass
- Throne

The major online retailers sell a 379 configuration with junk cymbals and one or two eBay retailers sell the 329 configuration without.

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I have the 329 configuration from Drum Center of Portsmouth / drumcenternh. Sounds great, even with the stock heads. I'm keeping them all on for now - except for replacing the snare batter head.

Really enjoying the kit, and loving the light weight and the small space.
 
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I've seen these and they seem like they'd make a great second kit. I'm not 100% sure if it'd be a good first kit though.
 
I've seen these and they seem like they'd make a great second kit. I'm not 100% sure if it'd be a good first kit though.

Can you say more? Why? Thanks.

[I'm using it as my one and only kit these days.]
 
Can you say more? Why? Thanks.

[I'm using it as my one and only kit these days.]

Mainly just the combination of 18" kick with it being really shallow. I'm fan of shallower kicks and depending on what your doing it might be fine, but it wouldn't be the most versatile.
 
Got it.

Yeah - at my point in life, I no longer care about Biggest and most versatile. :)
I care about small, light, and inexpensive.

I love the floor tom on this kit. For me - perfect.
 
how's the included hardware?

For me, it's absolute fine, and it will last me a long time.
I have a light touch.

Some people would look at it and say they'd want heavier stuff.
 
Frank, can I ask what your gigging situation is like? Gigging a lot these days? What kind of music do you play?

Honestly I had written these off as a cheap beginner's kit but the fact that use them as your only kit really piques my interest. I too love a good deal.
 
Frank, can I ask what your gigging situation is like? Gigging a lot these days? What kind of music do you play?

Honestly I had written these off as a cheap beginner's kit but the fact that use them as your only kit really piques my interest. I too love a good deal.

A few years ago I was gigging often in a dance-oriented cover band.
These days, I am not gigging. When I return, it will be to something much lighter.

It's hard for me to judge durability because I was never a pounder. Later in life I developed more of a light touch, while playing along to some jazz, and I never looked back.

I personally wouldn't think twice about gigging with this kit, but everyone's mileage will vary on that judgement.

I have been playing since I was 9 - I'm 50something now. I have never gigged with a high end drum kit. I have always played low end stuff - with success.
 
$379 for a 4 piece kit, cymbals, hardware, and a throne? Shipped? Brand new?

This has got to be one of the most garbage kits ever made. A waste of $380 if you ask me.

Interesting assumption. :)

I have the 329 config without the junk cymbals.
It's far from a garbage kit. It's an excellent value.
 
Interesting assumption. :)

I have the 329 config without the junk cymbals.
It's far from a garbage kit. It's an excellent value.

Do you know if you can buy extra individual drums for it?
A 12" tom in addition to the 10" would put it right up my alley.
 
$379 for a 4 piece kit, cymbals, hardware, and a throne? Shipped? Brand new?

This has got to be one of the most garbage kits ever made. A waste of $380 if you ask me.

Interesting take. Do you have any experience with this kit? If you can get a good tone out of a 4-piece with hardware for that money, it's a good value. If the edges are good, that's half the battle.
 
Do you know if you can buy extra individual drums for it?
A 12" tom in addition to the 10" would put it right up my alley.

I'm attracted to the jazz configuration because it is small, light, and inexpensive, while sounding very good.

There's another 5 piece configuration for a little more - with these sizes:
22x16" Bass Drum
10x8" Tom
12x9" Tom
16x16" Floor Tom
14x5.5" Snare
 
Ya - I know about the larger sets. I like the bop size sets for the same reasons you mentioned.
I like a 5 piece, 18" bass drum configuration though.
I just wondered if you could buy individual drums.

.
 
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Interesting take. Do you have any experience with this kit? If you can get a good tone out of a 4-piece with hardware for that money, it's a good value. If the edges are good, that's half the battle.

Not to sound snarky here, but think about everything you are getting in this kit, and then think about how much just the material alone costs to make it. Then think about what it takes to actually manufacture the kit. The machinery, the facility, labor, utilities, taxes, etc. Then think about what it costs to package the kit and ship it to a regional distributer. Then think about what price the retailer can afford to pay for this kit in order to offer it on their website and afford to ship the kit for free to the customer, all while still turning a profit. Meanwhile, everyone along the way needs to make their money on their part to bring this kit to market. You might say, "well they make their money on volume, right?"

Okay, so volume is key to making money on this kit. When your only way to make money is volume, how many kits do you think the laborers have to churn out every day in order to make it profitable to Pearl? If the laborers are required to produce kits at an enormously fast pace (because volume is what makes money), how much time can they afford to pay towards shell construction, wood quality, bearing edge cuts, hole drilling, shell finish, hardware quality, etc? The answer is none. So with basically no time and attention being afforded in the construction quality of this kit, do you think its still going to be a good kit? Would you want to spend $389 on a kit that was built with basically no attention to detail because they couldnt afford it at the price they are selling it at? I wouldnt.
 
....Would you want to spend $389 on a kit that was built with basically no attention to detail because they couldnt afford it at the price they are selling it at? I wouldnt.


I don't think you should buy one of these sets. LOL

They will work just fine for lots of people though.
 
Tommy, analysis and speculation is all well and good, but you've passed judgement on a kit that you've not inspected. You have no real data.
 
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