Pearl sensitone elite review

Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Well, If you've read what I posted above then it won't surprise you to hear me recommending that you keep your Sensitone. By all means, pick up a BB someday if you have the resources to do so, but I wouldn't sell the Pearl to get it. Try to own both first, do an honest A-B comparison, then decide if, or which one to sell off.

Not a bad plan. I do have to say I'm surprised though, because other places where I've seen this same question posed, people have almost always been behind the BB. Plus, I'm admittedly a Ludwig addict.

I've seen videos where the BB just sound perfect, with no effects on the sound. Just dry audio. I'm pretty competent tuner, and I've never got my Sensitone to sound quite that good. I suppose I'll try to go to a Guitar Center or somewhere that may have one and try to compare.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I do have to say I'm surprised though, because other places where I've seen this same question posed, people have almost always been behind the BB.

Why be surprised ? When you own something that's good, and you are used to it, and enjoy it, if you get something else, you'll just end up asking yourself "is it better or just different" ? Re-read his post.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Easy way to spot the difference - Vision Sensitones have 8 lugs, the "good" sensitones have 10.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as a newbie I saw sensitone and heart ruled head! Lesson learned, now to make lemonade out of this situation what would the best batter head to get the best out of the drum?
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I like the Remo coated CS or a Vintage ambassador on my brass Sensitone.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as a newbie I saw sensitone and heart ruled head! Lesson learned, now to make lemonade out of this situation what would the best batter head to get the best out of the drum?

Well, I think the Vision Sensitone is what it is; a lower cost steel-shell snare drum. Not as fancy or quite as heavy-duty as the Elite snares, but hardly a lemon. I'd start with whatever head combo you like on steel snares and go from there.

Personally I'd choose some form of dry vented head, either an HD Dry or Genera Dry to tame a bit of the steel ringyness and a Hazy 300 snare side.

I think because they're a $100 snare they get looked down upon or just ignored completely but I think they're underrated. Even Pearl's lower end stuff is still well made and I doubt you'll have too much trouble getting that drum to sound good.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I just scored a 6.5" x 14" bonze sensitone off ebay :)

This will be my first bronze snare, i'm excited!
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I just scored a 6.5" x 14" bonze sensitone off ebay :)

This will be my first bronze snare, i'm excited!

It's a great drum, I'm sure you'll like it. I had one and regret daily that I sold it.

If the heads it comes with aren't awesome I'd suggest going as simple as possible. Coated Ambassador batter and hazy Ambassador snare side sounds great on that drum.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

It's a great drum, I'm sure you'll like it. I had one and regret daily that I sold it.

If the heads it comes with aren't awesome I'd suggest going as simple as possible. Coated Ambassador batter and hazy Ambassador snare side sounds great on that drum.

Yeah...I will go with Ambassador for sure. I now have a BB, a brass sensitone elite, my new bronze sensitone elite, a ludwig black magic, a yamaha jimmy chamberlin steel snare, and a tama aluminum starphonic and a acrolite.

I also have two wood snares, my mapex saturn snare and a pearl mcx snare and honestly they do nothing for me. I think I'm gonna sell the wood snares
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Pearl's been making Sensitones for more than 10 years. The newer models are called Sensitone Elite. The older ones were just called "Sensitone". Brass, Bronze and Steel models were produced, they had 10 lugs. Then they decided to confuse everybody and cash in on the their popularity by making a cheaper version with 8 lugs to include with the Vision kits. They renamed the 10 luggers the Elites and added the aluminum model as well.


...and then there were the Sensitone Classics Pre 2000 no black nickel plating and sensitone classic 2's (Die cast hoops, Tube lugs, sr017 strainer and black nickel plating and came only 14 x 5).
The classic 2's ran from 2000-2005 and then discontinued. It was at this point the standard Sensitone at the time (pre 2005) (Bridge lugs, Superhoop II's became the Sensitone Elites in 2006, offered only 14 x 5.5 and 14 x 6.5.

The Sensitone Classic II's were discontinued altogether after 2005. If you can find one of these grab one.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93727
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

+1

Totally agree on the amazing quality and value of Pearl snares, specially the Sensitone Elite line.

I own a SE Aluminum 14"x5".
Seamless aluminum shell, 2.3mm Superhoops, high quality strainer, top quality lugs. I love this drum, it's crisp and full, a lot o rack but still very warm and without the harshness and ring of other metals.

Cheers!

I just picked up one of the 5x14 Aluminum SE drums from Guitar Center last night, and have been a bit disappointed with the quality, compared to my SE Brass. First off, I had to lubricate the tension screws, as well as, the strainer. Speaking of which, I have been unable to get the snares adjusted to where they don't rattle in the off position, I even switched from the original snare cord to polyester ribbon, which helped, but I can't seen to get rid of the very faint rattle of the snares when they are in the off position. Has anyone encountered this on the Aluminum SE, and if so, do you have any suggestions to get the rattle out. Perhaps its the snare bed itself, or the location of the strainer and/or butt plate. Any advise is much appreciated.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I just got that drum too. I lubed the rods, but I do that on all drums I get.
I also adjusted the snare cords a bit. I like a lot of range to play with.

The throw off doesn't just flip off the snares with a flick of a finger like a well worn mechanism.
It'll move about halfway down if you just flick it, but needs a little gentle persuasion to move completely down.
If you don't do that, you'll get a bit of a rattle.

So that's about the only thing I can think of. Make sure the lever is completely at the end of its travel.
If you're already doing that, I don't really have any other ideas. Maybe someone else who's had the drum longer will.

Total range of movement of the lever is about 2 inches, and mine will stop after about 1 inch unless I put some gentle pressure on it to make sure it's completely down.
I expect that will change after it's broken in a bit.
When my snares are off, they're completely off, for that tom like sound.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I just got that drum too. I lubed the rods, but I do that on all drums I get.
I also adjusted the snare cords a bit. I like a lot of range to play with.

The throw off doesn't just flip off the snares with a flick of a finger like a well worn mechanism.
It'll move about halfway down if you just flick it, but needs a little gentle persuasion to move completely down.
If you don't do that, you'll get a bit of a rattle.

So that's about the only thing I can think of. Make sure the lever is completely at the end of its travel.
If you're already doing that, I don't really have any other ideas. Maybe someone else who's had the drum longer will.

Total range of movement of the lever is about 2 inches, and mine will stop after about 1 inch unless I put some gentle pressure on it to make sure it's completely down.
I expect that will change after it's broken in a bit.
When my snares are off, they're completely off, for that tom like sound.

Thanks for the help Wild Bill. I have owned various high-end snares over the years so I don't expect the drum to perform like one, but I've been told the 017 Pearl strainer was solid. I left the snares in the on position overnight, and it seems like that has stretched the snares a bit, and the buzzing has gone away. I loosened the tension on the bottom head very slightly, to achieve this, so it wasn't a question of the lever going completely down. The strainer actually is very smooth since I lubricated it with a Teflon-based spray.

I will see how the drum performs from here. How do you like your drum thus far? I bought mine as an alternate voice to my SE Brass and Maple Free Floater.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

....How do you like your drum thus far?...


No 'buyer's remorse' - that's important.
There's a thread on here that details my journey with it. Tried it - thought it was too dry. But the sound got stuck in my head - ha ha.
Went back to try it again, decided it would be a good addition to my wood and steel snares, and now it's here.
Money well spent, I think.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

[Money well spent, I think.[/QUOTE]

I'm glad to here that. Today was a snow day so after removing a foot of snow off the driveway, I too took as second look and a second listen and I re-tuned the drum cranking up the bottom Ambassador head, (Drumdial 79) and set the top to 86, and wow, what a sound and feel!. There is still that slight rattle of the snares at high volume when the strainer is off, but that is hardly audible. I went from getting ready to returning it last night to buy a wood drum, to really liking this thing! Perhaps a set of Puresound wires might make the difference. I do remember now seeing your other thread on this drum. Bill, is there somewhere on here where you describe how you set up your snare drums when they are new? I've been playing for longer than I can (or want to) remember, and never had an issue with not getting a full tom (timbale) sound with the snares off. Many thanks again.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

... is there somewhere on here where you describe how you set up your snare drums when they are new? ...

Sorry - I'm a bit of a hack - LOL. I usually buy inexpensive stuff and play around with it till it sounds good to me.
Not in a band, don't play gigs, so if I'm satisfied with them, no one else is complaining. ha - ha.
I try to work with what's there before changing anything.
If it comes down to it, sometimes I'll try a different head, or snare wires.
I've swapped out a few rims, and there's always varying amounts of muffling to try if needed.

If you have doubts about the drum, I say bring it back.
I've kept stuff past the point of where I could return it several times, and regretted it if I wasn't pretty sure about it to begin with.
The thought of bringing this one back never entered my mind though.

Edit; About the snare thing - the only thing I can think of is to completely back off the adjuster, push the throw off all the way down,
and then adjust your snare cords so that there's clearance between the snare wires and the bottom head, and so that the snares
are centered between the rim when you adjust them back up to where you normally play it.
If there's sufficient clearance, there should be no snare sound at all when thrown off.
Just gotta' play around with it a bit.

.
 
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Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I try to work with what's there before changing anything.
If it comes down to it, sometimes I'll try a different head, or snare wires.
I've swapped out a few rims, and there's always varying amounts of muffling to try if needed.

If you have doubts about the drum, I say bring it back.
I've kept stuff past the point of where I could return it several times, and regretted it if I wasn't pretty sure about it to begin with.
The thought of bringing this one back never entered my mind though.

Edit; About the snare thing - the only thing I can think of is to completely back off the adjuster, push the throw off all the way down,
and then adjust your snare cords so that there's clearance between the snare wires and the bottom head, and so that the snares
are centered between the rim when you adjust them back up to where you normally play it.
If there's sufficient clearance, there should be no snare sound at all when thrown off.
Just gotta' play around with it a bit.

Agree with what you say here...you should be able to make music with the instrument out of the box. I will continue to work with the snare to get the clip on the butt end of the snare wires to not rattle. Overall, the drum sounds great, and is a keeper!

Check out some of the suggestions on this link:

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106667
 
If you're having trouble with it, or it doesn't meet your expectations, maybe you should bring it back.

You could ask for a refund, a replacement drum of the same type without the problem, or a different drum.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I seem to remember that the Sensitone Aluminum is seamless, too. I used to have the Sensitone Brass but I sold it to finance my Black Beauty. Now I own the Legend that all the clones are trying to copy, but in all honesty, the Black Beauty is not exactly blowing the Sensitone outta the water. If anything, the Sensitone's thicker shell gave it more heft and a sweeter, fatter crack.

I still like my BB, but if I ever spot a good deal for a Sensitone Brass on the used market, I'll grab it in a heartbeat.

So Mike I have a new Sensitone Brass because I can't afford the BB. I was toying with the idea of trading in the Sensitone along with my Yamaha copper to help finance the BB (I guess you could call it my bucket list drum) However I do like the Sensitone brass and the Yammie copper so I would not want to regret the decision. You have me wondering if I should just hang onto both drums? hmm
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

So Mike I have a new Sensitone Brass because I can't afford the BB. I was toying with the idea of trading in the Sensitone along with my Yamaha copper to help finance the BB (I guess you could call it my bucket list drum) However I do like the Sensitone brass and the Yammie copper so I would not want to regret the decision. You have me wondering if I should just hang onto both drums? hmm

I have the Sensitone Elite black over brass, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. I've really come to love its sound. I can scarcely imagine a Black Beauty sounding all that much better, and even if it did, I'd still hang on to this drum and find something else to sell to finance the BB. Like blood.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

So Mike I have a new Sensitone Brass because I can't afford the BB. I was toying with the idea of trading in the Sensitone along with my Yamaha copper to help finance the BB (I guess you could call it my bucket list drum) However I do like the Sensitone brass and the Yammie copper so I would not want to regret the decision. You have me wondering if I should just hang onto both drums? hmm

Not speaking for Mike, but here's my thoughts.

I guess it depends on a couple things.
First is it on your bucket list because it's something you really want, or because people talk it up so much that you think it must be great.

The other thing is how much do you like the snares you've got now.
If you really like them, but still want a BB, maybe just wait till the funds are readily avalable to get the BB while keeping the snares you have and like now.
 
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