Pearl Vision Birch - please help!

theminxyman

Junior Member
I'm looking for information about bearing edges and hoops. I bought a pearl vision birch kit about 2.5-3 years ago now and I've struggled with tuning ever since. I've always attributed all my issues to me not being able to tune correctly. I've read articles, watched videos, talked to drummers, brought a drum dial, of course many heads, you name it I've tried.

I just simply cannot get my drums to make the beautiful sounds that many say this kit is capable of. I read an article today about testing the bearing edges on a flat surface (I used a granite counter top that I checked with a level) with a light to see if the edges are true. There are certainly high and low spots. I've read that many edges are not perfectly flat but whats a range where I can say for sure that its out of the acceptable limit? This article the guy was upset over being able to slide a piece of paper under his edge... I can do many many more than just one. I will provide a link to what I read, not in an attempt to get people mad if he is incorrect just to show you what I'm talking about

Additionally it seems that I have some hoops that the head fits tightly in ( it will hold itself in place upside down) and some where there is a gap around the head that's probably between 1/8 - 1/4 in. How snug are heads supposed to fit into hoops? should they all be slightly held or is it normal for them to be able to move around significantly? It seems to me that with the loose fitting hoops the head is not being pulled evenly on the drum as it seems to sit closer to one side of the hoop than the other.

Thanks for any help, this issue has caused a lot of frustration for me over the years.

http://recordinghacks.com/2009/08/22/how-to-test-drum-bearing-edges/
 
I don't have any hard & fast rules for you based on your issues- but that sounds like there are some super screwed up things with your kit. I can understand certain skimp areas, given the Vision's price, but yours seems more skimped than most. You could perhaps see about getting the edges recut, don't know how much you're willing to spend but it would definitely help at least a bit.
 
I'm not an expert, but I would expect visions to be better than that. If you can put several pieces of paper under the shell, I don't think that is very good. I don't think the hoops should fit tightly around the heads either. If you bought the drums used, they may have been abused. I have trued up shells a couple of times. There are some articles on the net and probably here on this forum, on how to do it your self. I basically just taped some sand paper to a flat surface, and then rotated the shell in a circular motion (not back and forth) until the bearing edge was flat. I didn't sand anymore than necessary. Then I carefully sanded on the inside angle until the edge looked a uniform thickness. Being careful not to sand where the head touches the shell. That's the part that has to be flat. I did 12, and 16 inch, toms and a 14 snare. I was very happy how they turned out. It did take many hours of labor though. I think I've read on here before that someone sent their shells to a shop ,and had new edges cut. It seems like the price wasn't bad either. You should do a search in this forum.
 
If you don't want to go the DIY route on bearing edges, I'd recommend sending them off to Precision Drum to have the edges re-cut.

I've done this with my last two kits and have been impressed with the quality of their work and the sonic results of the new edges.
 
I can't make any judgement about your edges without seeing them, but the description of the hoop problem makes me think you may have some slightly bent hoops. I don't remember whether the Vision kits were equipped with 1.6mm hoops, but if so they're pretty lightweight and could easily be bent out of round -- which would make them too tight around the head on one axis and leave gaps on another axis. First thing I'd try there is to measure the hoops on various axes (axises?) and see what you find. If they're out of round you can get them back within tolerances using a little gentle pressure.

This situation is less likely with 2.3mm hoops, but still possible. I've even seen it with diecasts -- more frequently than you might think.
 
Definitely have the bearing edges re-cut! One of my friends on this forum did my Pearl Vision Birch for me a little while ago, and it's a breeze to tune and sounds pretty damn good now. They weren't anything like as bad as yours seem to be so you'll notice a huge difference, I would think.
 
Could the problem be with that Pearl ISS mounting system? Does a tom sound very different held by hand than it does mounted on the tom holder? ISS mounts have been known to bend hoops too. Peace and goodwill.
 
Drumheads should spin freely within the drum hoop. If it binds....get another hoop. I've had bent hoops where the drum just would not tune. Not badly bent either, but enough to screw the tuning up. There were always some wonky overtones I couldn't get rid of. That is job #1, getting hoops that fit right. Next are the edges. If you get them right, now you have a level playing field to start from.

Maybe scrap this kit and get another?
 
Sounds like some bent hoops. Do all drums have them? Can you tune any of the toms that don't have the bent hoops?
Also, are the shells in round? Do heads fit too tight on any of them? heads should go on easily, no press fitting.
 
First off I'd like to thank every for information and your help. I decided the easiest way to explain my situation was with some pictures so that exactly what I did. The counter surface is flat I checked with a level... Input on these pictures will help me decide how to proceed

1) 10x8 tom bearing edge with a dime in the picture for scale.
2) same drum rotated 90 degrees
3) 12x9 tom
4) 12x9 tom
5) 16x16 floor tom
6) reso head in loop - this is the one that can be turned upside down and the head will stay in. That might be too tight but at least the thing is uniform
7) right side of batter head in loop, see how it touches that side? this is where it sits in the head naturally
8)same head+ loop as 7 but this is diametrically across. Thats a quarter in between the head and the hoop. Its not even tight with that, a quarter was not thick enough to take the gap that was on this side. I measured it with calipers to be about 2.2mm. This is the hoop that was mounted via pearl's ISS. Not a single part of this is uniform it turns out.
9) I'm not sure why but in certain sections of my bearing edges is this wave like pattern, that I'm sure just cannot be helping my cause at all.

As some asked, I am the original owner of the kit, I bought it new. I don't move it, mistreat it, smash things on it etc etc. I've tried and gone crazy trying to care for these drums. I wish had known more about this stuff when I was buying but this was my first "real" kit after a year on a 150$ kit from craigslist. So its taken me a while to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.
 

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Ouch! That last picture is an eye sore. I would say the kit was built with poor quality. That bearing edge has alot of bangs. Ive seen those vision kits on sale for the past few months online. Might be the reason why they were going for so low.
 
As they say "well, there's your problem..."

A little unevenness will have some impact but what you've got is definitely the cause of your tuning nightmares. Have the edges recut professionally and you'll see a significant improvement.
 
As they say "well, there's your problem..."

A little unevenness will have some impact but what you've got is definitely the cause of your tuning nightmares. Have the edges recut professionally and you'll see a significant improvement.

This is the worst. I guess I face a hard time ahead. Another member pointed me towards a company that will re-cut edges but it came to about 200 dollars, without tax or shipping costs. Also I'd need to replace hoops and clearly the ISS mounting is destroying my hoops so they'd need to go too. At the end of the day I'd be spending 400 dollars to fix a kit that's now only worth 400$(if it was working condition). This makes me want to cry. I don't know how far I will get but I'm going to try to contact the seller and pearl just to see what they will say. IF they saw my drums they would instantly know there is no way I could of done this to them. The wraps are perfect, there aren't dents its clear I didn't drop them down, you know what I mean. Maybe they will tell me tough luck but what else can I do? I really wanted to look into upgrading but I clearly cannot sell these as is for any decent price. I feel pretty screwed, and its a bad place to be. The only silver lining is now I can say I KNOW, really wish I didn't have to get a crash course in bearing edges and drum hardware by getting screwed but from now on every drum I ever buy you know for sure what I'm going to be checking...
 
I had a Pacific CX kit that had some dodgy edges similar to these, and Precision Drum's recut made a world of difference. My last kit had good (but not great) edges, but I had already planned on having them recut even before buying because I knew what a difference perfect edges would make.

Here's a link to Precision's bearing edge service prices.
http://www.precisiondrum.com/html/body_services.html#bearingedges

It's not exactly cheap, but it's only about the price of a new top and bottom head, and most people already budget new heads when buying drums. I budget new bearing edges.

I'd start with just the edges on the toms. Unless the bass drum is really messed up I don't know if a recut there is particularly crucial. If bending the hoops by hand doesn't fix the problem new 1.6mm hoops aren't that expensive and could be done one drum at a time to offset the costs a little.
 
Those edges look very rough, but it's an easy fix for anyone who does edge work.

Minxyman, where are you located? I might be able to suggest someone who could be helpful with those edges. Doesn't make financial sense to be shipping your kit all over the place for that unless there's some specialized edge profiles you want..

As to the hoops, those are pretty easy to pull back into round, at least within tolerances.
 
Those edges look very rough, but it's an easy fix for anyone who does edge work.

Minxyman, where are you located? I might be able to suggest someone who could be helpful with those edges. Doesn't make financial sense to be shipping your kit all over the place for that unless there's some specialized edge profiles you want..

As to the hoops, those are pretty easy to pull back into round, at least within tolerances.

I am in western New york, just south of Rochester.
 
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