Pearl Roadster Throne

When my mum asked me what do I want for my birthday, I said I want cash. Then she said, "to buy drum things???". I said " Yes!!!". Hehehee.. So after I finished my exams, she banked in the money and on Sunday I went to Bentley alone. The drums floor was very busy. There were people buying snare, cymbals and such and Hariz was busy entertaining them. I was looking for specific items that I want to buy such as 52mm tension rods but they dont have it. They only have the 47mm tension rods. After all the customers had gone, I asked Hariz whether they have new stock for throne that I wanted to buy because the display model seemed like have been sat by so many asses. Lucky me as they only have one left. Yay for that! I also ordered 3 things; SP-30 bass drum spurs, BBC-1 bass drum plate and GK-90 tom masking plate. Too bad for me because next shipment is already on the sea and the ship should arrive this month with the new Pearl Vision! So.. all the things that I ordered will come in 3 months time. Nevermind, I can wait.

The Pearl D-1000C throne that I bought is one of the three drum throne from 1000 hardware series. Mine is 1000C which C stands for "Cloth" because it is covered with cloth/velvet on top which give more grip to our bottom and it give more classy look to the throne. But the downside is, the surface could get dusty easier. Here's the pictures...Owh.. I also bought two packs of 47mm normal Pearl tension rods.

my old throne

the box.

the parts

my birthday present!

I also have removed the BB3 bracket (since I already ordered the BBC-1 plate) just to see how the drum looks without it. And I think, it really looks better. (But of course if you see it from faraway) Hehehehe... So this is the updated picture of the Blackpearlz!

with the BB3 bracket...

removing...


removed...

the updated Blackpearlz!

Pearl Japan's Drumstick Bag

I just fisnished my second last paper and its time for an update before I left the hostel. Unfortunately my house havent equipped with internet connection yet and I dont have any idea when will Telekom provide the line to our area. This is what happened when government let a company to monopolize certain crucial service.

I have a friend studying in Japan. He was my neighbour when I used to live in Ampang, my hometown (although I dont have any house there anymore). He will come back to Malaysia twice every year and during his last return, I have ordered something that is only available for Japanese market. Yes, only Japan; USA and Europe didnt get a chance to have this thing in their local store unless they special order it through a Japanese website. When I'm thinking of something that he will bring it in his bag easily, I surfed to a Japanese's musical instrument website and came across Pearl's section. I am abit surprised with my finding. I've found a whole range of Pearl's very own cases and bags and also a whole range of Pearl's drumsticks. As a Pearl fan, I dont want to miss a chance to have one drumstick bag and a pair of Pearl's drumsticks for my collection. I will upload the drumsticks pic later, but here is the Pearl's Drumstick bag.

I also went to Singapore recently with my friends to watch Rachael Yamagata. Singapore as we all know is like a heaven for musicians because they have lots of amazing gear with amazing price. So I already have made a list things that I want to buy for Blackpearlz such as Ritter Cymbal bag, bass drum spurs, tension rods, washers, drumheads, HOLZ ring and few more which I couldn't remember. So when I was already in Swee Lee, I'm a bit disappointed because there's not much things there. There are things but not in my list. I also found that the Ritter bag is very expensive. So I bought things that were not in my list which are a pair of rute and mallet from Vic Firth. I also bought some plastic Tama washers. After that we went to a music shop in front of the Swee Lee and I bought 16" EC2 and clear G1 drumheads. I am looking for bass drum spurs but they only sell cheap looking spurs which I dont think I want to buy it. Later in the evening after the drum meetup with Soft drum community, I went to other drum shops in the city. I did found Holz but I decided not to buy it because short of cash. I must say my visit to Singapore's drum store this time was a bit disappointed simply because KL offer more things compared to what is being offered by them. But Singapore's Swee Lee does offer crazy discount few times a year which will never done here in KL.

Drumpad and hoop.

When I first received the drums. I was like "man... this drum is horrible!". And I do realize the fact that the 16" floor tom doesnt have its bottom hoop and the leg bracket has damaged. It was ok with me because it can be replaced with a new one. After my visit to Woh Fatt which I acquire my cheap hi-hat clutch and floor tom's bracket, I do realize that cheap China-made hoop is only available for 6 holes drum only. Mine is 8 hole. So after few weeks I went to Bentley and it surprised me because they didn't bring in normal hoop and the one that they have is the same China made 6 hole hoop. The salesman said that they will bring in the Pearl Superhoop II but its kinda pricey but that is the last resort for getting a 8 hole hoop. So at November 06, before I went to Penang for my industrial training; I placed the order together with deposit for 16" 8 hole Pearl Superhoop II. But when I get back from Penang after 3 months, the hoop still couldnt be seen in Bentley. I waited again and finally in somewhere March 07, I received a call from Bentley saying that the hoop has arrived. :) So here it is. I still didnt install it until now because I'm too busy with my school. I also grab a pair of Tama sticks which little heavier than I use before and it will be strictly for my rudimental practice.

*Pearl Superhoop II is a 2.3mm hoop which is a standard hoop for Session series between the entry level Export series and Professional level, Masters. Since Session has been discontinued, Pearl Superhoop II is now available at Vision and ECX Maple series. The normal hoop is 1.6mm.

As I said in previous post, I have receieved a gift from my gf which is the 12" Vic Firth drumpad. It imitates almost the same feel of real snare on the black surface. The grey surface on the other hand has more rubbery feel and softer rebound compare to the black one and it is also for quiet practice. The dual surface is a brilliant idea because I can play both surface and make a variety of sound with rudiments. It really a good buy (although i didnt buy it) and I will recommend it at anybody who are looking for a drumpad.

Practice kit: Drumpad, metronome, timer and a pair of sticks.

My First Zildjian

Its been almost a year since my last post. Yeah.. I'm so lazy to update it. As for the project, it dont really go well simply because I dont have enough fund to complete it. So I started fast at the beginning, bought used cymbals, new snare and new heads but getting slow in the middle because of some financial problem. But now, I want to restart it back. From the last post, I managed to get new crash, new drumpad (thanks for my lovely gf who bought it for me), new heads for toms and many more. So its not dead yet and I still play on my drums regularly.

As for the updates, I recently moved to a new house and get myself a bigger room and I have this space perfectly for the drums. I love the new house but one thing is behind my room is a house where have little baby and little kids. So I have to play softer with limited time. :( But its ok because since I have the drumpad, I practiced a lot in rudiments. And yes this rudiments really help to improve my stroke. I also deleted the post of the "Brass Snare" previously simply because the snare is actually not a Brass Snare. Its a Bronze snare. I managed to find the old catalogue of Tama's snare and found my snare on it. Sorry for the false information. Btw, this is the image from original catalogue. The code number for the snare is PB365. Bronze shell with Brass Mighty Hoop.

I also managed to get a used 18" Zildjian K Custom Dark Crash from a friend. Its really satisfied me because only god knows how I wanted this so bad and seeing it up in a classified, its no way I will let it go away. Although I have to wait about 3 months to pay it, it really worth waiting! It have unique crash sound with dry, trashy overtones. Fast response with very quick decay. Speaks quickly, then dies. Very dark and full-bodied. So thats all for now. I'll update more if I have the time.