Review of Pearl Forum 5-piece

[CombatWombat3]

I purchased a Pearl forum standard 5-piece kit this june. It was $570 American. I purchased it frankly becasue i couldnt afford anything else.

Specs- wine red finish
22" x 16" bass
12" x 10" tom
13" x 11" tom
16" x 16" floor tom
5-1/2" x 14" wood snare

Hardware-
Pearl hi-hat stand
Pearl double braced boom stand
Pearl Bass pedal

(and some assorted other stuff like tuning keys, a setup video, etc)

Cymbals- Pearl CX300
14" hats
18" crash/ride


Drums Review-As this was mt first drumset, I had a lot to learn about jut about everything. And of course, tuning. And i must say these drums were not hard at all to tune to at least a reasonable sound. I tuned the snare to just how I like the 4th or 5th try. Of course since then i ahve expiremented and came up with some really cool sounds
The toms and bass drum have been wonderful to me. The toms have a warm, punchy sound to them, and the bass, with the appropriate pillow placement, is wonderful.

Hardware
The hardware on this kit has been wonderful to me. The bass pedal (P-100) is an amazing pdeal for something that would come on a low-end kit. THe hi-hat stand is very strudy, as is the boom stand. The only hardware related problem I have had it is with the tom mounts. They are a royal pain in the ***. They are massive, they puncture the shell in a 7/8" hole. It also seems impossible to tighten them fully. If I am walking by my set, and accidentally bump my toms, they more than often become misplaced. It is truly annoying.

Cymbals
I was surprised with these cymbals. When i first got them I hated them wih a passion, and thought they sounded like crap. but now, I alost enjoy them, maybe beacsue they're all I have.

Overall review

I would give this kit a 3.5/5. It is a decent kit, but maybe going for something like a tama stagestar would be better.


(sorry if this review is bad, but its my first)

[bobby__johnny]

the tom mounts can be your best friend when you mount them pointing towards the moddle of the bass drum off of stands.

[CombatWombat3]

unfortunately, im poor, and thats on my low priority here. I really dont like the pearl mountsw, they're massive!!!

[str82thepoint]

I just bought my first drum set. Let me preface by saying that I am 26 years old and just now getting involved with music. Lets just say that I didn't slow down to enjoy life until now.
2 things that I would recommend with this set, ditch the cymbals and get either some Zildjians or be like me and go with Sabian B8's. The other thing is the drum heads. The ones that come with the set will not stand up to rock drumming. Once you do this, you will VERY much enjoy this drum set. After replacing the heads and cymbals,

I give it a 4/5 rating and 5 is very hard to come by in my book.

[Seafroggys]

How can you even 'grow' to like Pearl cymbals? I can see you growing out of them, but into? Oy vei.

[David Marlborough]

GREETINGS, COMBATWOMBAT3,
.
Indeed, PEARL may not be the most advanced of kits available, but hey,...
THAT is NOT what a makes a drummer! I too, have the very same, a 5-Piece
Forum Series and have used it over 2 years and it's been a marvelous set!!!
The rest is up to you!
Even if you don't use a $5000 dollar kit -so to speak- it does not matter!
Utilize your personal creativity and be true to it. For if you decided to do a
carbon-copy of someone else's style, it will always show and cheapen your
ability! Thereby limiting your absolute potential! Most of the very best at
drumming ALL STARTED WITH less expensive equipment yet with a passion
for it, in their soul, overcame that and discovered you REALLY DO NOT NEED
a 25-Piece set with 10 cymbals and twin bass-drums to make it happen! NO!
.
Simply keep on loving the music and again, be true to it AND.......Yourself!!
.
David Marlborough a.k.a. Dave-the-Knave!

[Epiphender]

I don't know about that, Dave. My 24-piece just doesn't cut it sometimes :angry:

I have a Forum as well, same dimensions except for the snare. Wine red. I have no idea how old it is. I bought it almost 4 years ago, off someone who had had them sitting around for about 11, apparently. The heads really are horrible and it is impossible to tighten the tom mounts so they don't move.

I never could get a good tone out of my 6.5x14 steel snare. I've had a coated Evans head on it, and I think I'm going to try a coated amb. I've been using a Gretsch wood snare instead, which rules.

Never did try any Pearl cymbals, because this came with B8s. Whole thing cost me $400 Canadian. Pretty sweet. I'm looking to upgrade this summer though.

[charles555]

I think the drummer for Maceo Parker plays Forums with a good snare... Of course he is using pro cymbals with the kit as well...

[Imphead]

I own one (piano black, wooden snare) and the only thing I really like about it are the drums themselves. The heads sound awful (especially in my room, I have it in the attic, which has inclined walls since it's under the roof, so apart from being twice as loud the accoustics really bring out the bad side of your sound) the cymbals both sound crappy and have dents after about a month (I managed to create something that looks vaguely like one of those top-sound edge hi-hats over the year :P), the tom mounts are a pain in the ***, I can't get used to the hi-hat stand, the floor tom legs come loose through resonance, but it was on sale with a 15% discount and that was the most my mum would give me ;)
With new heads and cymbals I'm sure it is a very decent kit for the money and I'm a spoiled brat, but when I get enough dough saved up I'm getting a kit with some solid hardware.