Ok folks, my placement of Dynasty is based on extended use.

Most people playing dynasty right now have only had their drums a couple of years. Talk to someone who's had the same Dynasty equipment from say, 2000.

Everything from cracked rims to rust to tenors ripping away from the cradle...sorry, but that's enough for me to never use a product again. And these were well-maintained instruments. Anything will fall apart if you don't take care of it.

Regarding United Percussion, depending on when you auditioned, they may have had the older models they started with from Surf/Riptide, which were heavily used. They have all brand new equipment now and will be getting Premier's new line when it debuts soon.

I was there two weeks ago....and as far as I know Premier has been bought out. We tried to order a new bass and set of tenors and found this to be the case. It wasn't just that they were old...the quality didn't seem to be too good. My friend is in UP and has said there is hope for new drums, but they surely don't have them yet....

Definitely go with Pearl.

Our Drumline is using Pearls that are 8 years old and my quints still sound amazing ( or maybe it's just how I play them )

I had a chance to play on some Dynastys 2 months ago. It might have been my set, but the rims were amazingly high and the heads resinated to no end. The only thing I can say for it was the harness was very nice.

DEFINITELY PEARL.

Someone mentioned that a good point about Pearl drums is their simplistic design, but actually, Dynasty wins there too. If a piece of hardware breaks on a Pearl drum, you're going to have to order the part from Pearl. With Dynasty, however, it usually only takes a trip to the hardware store, because guess what - Dynasty is an American company and uses American sizes.

Any company will have rust problems - we're using Yamaha right now, and the few times it's rained during practice, we had to wipe down literally every part of the drum we could before we could leave. And we still have rust.

As far as teh drums ringing a lot...come on, that's how they were tuned, and the same for the rims. I played at the Rythym X camp the other day, and our tenors had almost no rim.

The things I dislike the most about Pearl drums are the bearing edges. I've had so many problems with the edges causing head breaks that I literally never want to have a Pearl drum ever again. I also had quite a few problems with inconsistency in tuning (between sets of drums, and within each set).

Now, I know you said that you already have carriers, but I feel I have to say something...the Randal May carriers are crap. Sure you can have them fit pretty much any body shape, but it's very difficult to adjust them properly. And, if you don't have it perfect, you're going to have back trouble. Right now, out of a 5 person tenor line, 4 of us are having trouble with the shoulder straps rotating downward, and the backbar sitting up too far on our backs. The only reason the 5th guy isn't having trouble is because his arms kept hitting that metal square in the middle of the harness and we have to have the straps rotated so far back fo him. The Yahama and Dynasty carriers are wonderful, and the XL carriers are great (but only for a very small percentage of peple who play drums...they need a very specific body shape)

And for those of you who seem to think that using Dynasty means never having anything but problems...four people on our line now marched in HS lines all four years with Dynasty, and never had any major problems. Another player marched two seasons of indoor with a line that marched Dynasty, and loved the drums. Another guy marched Glassmen, and if you get him talking about it, he will not shut up about how we should ditch our Yamaha endorsement so that we can play Dynasty.

Plus, the tenors have a setup that is more logical - with Yamaha and Pearl tenors, drums three and four come back too far, making you move your arms more than one would want to.

One last comment - if you're going to bet getting drums for indoor use, you might want to stay away from Pearl. Because of the way the cut the bearing edges, you get more low end, which we all know just sounds boomy in a gym.

Reply to Thor's post-

First off, let me say that all my statements are based on my own personal experience and that of those around me. If someone else has had better luck with a product I don’t like, then please by all means state your case. The more info we provide, the better someone else will be able to look for consistencies in the posts and make a decision.

That said…One of the biggest reasons I like Pearl is that the need for something to be replaced has been so rare, that it’s not a concern. Also, Pearl’s bare bones design means there are less parts to worry about.

Yes, everyone runs into rust issues that can be prevented with simple equipment maintenance, but in my experience, the Dynasty hardware will oxidize with even the smallest amount of moisture in the air.

The question of bearing edges causing heads to break is something I’ve never come across unless there was an inconsistency in the edge, not because of the cut itself.

MAM beat me to this one, Randall May makes the harnesses for both Pearl and Yamaha. Yes, the tubies require more upkeep than the other harnesses, but for my students, and myself it’s worth it for the comfort.

Anyone can adjust drums the way they feel more comfortable to play, it just a matter of modifying them.

Pearl also makes the articulate series to combat the sonic rigors of indoor performances. I will agree though that the fuller sound Pearls produce can be muddy inside if the tuning is not appropriate.

to further back up snarepaint,

Pearl rolls their bearing edges, which means more surfaces area touching the head. which does give it a lower end sound. as well as slightly dampening the head. thats pretty much Pearl's signature sound. as far as the bearing edge being resposible for breaking heads, i never had that problem, (unless it was damaged)and we had the drums for years. if the heads break on the bottom layer, its more then likely a shell out of round, or uneven tuning.

Yamaha, Premier, and Dynasty use a sharper bearing edge cut, which promotes more high end. which is what really identifies the sound of the their tenors. to me a shaper bearing edge would deffintly have a bigger impact on heads (experience with Premier HTS Tenors)

hardware issue: well if the drum is designed right you won't have to visit a hardware store. that being said i never had a problem finding nuts and bolts to fit Pearl. I also never had to order anything bigger then a tenor lug, and that was only to refurbish an older tenor spock, (only to make the older look new) besides most places in the world now use metric. sooner or later us (USA) will have to follow suit.


carriers: we been using them for at least 2 years, we never had a problem with the tbe carriers. yes its a pain to set them. but the comfort is well worth it. if you are having problems with it the shoulders getting lose. while your down at the Home Depot picking up parts for your Dynasty, pick up some lock washers. sorry jk man.

as far as XL, i tell you something that just happened to us last weekend. a fellow instructor from another school stop by at our practice. found me and my assistant and asked if we had any XL J bars around. Since we use Pearl and Randall May stuff i told him no. Apperently then been breaking XL j bars all season long and finally ran out. so i let that story speak for itself.

Pearl's tenor set up: i really dont see much of an issue. with the new tube spacers you can move them closer or farther which changes the angles. i prefer to have the options. as opposed to have somebody else make them for me.

let me wrap up by stating, that Im not bashing Dynasty i respect what they are doing. I know a rep and i have talked to him alot about what i hear and see. i know that they are constantly working on make their products better. as well as pushing the edge.

sorry to stray off toppic,

Gateway Percussion (STL) has used the Dynasty indoor drums for two years now and hasn't had any problems with them...

Speaking solely about the snares -- I've never been a big fan of their outdoor stuff, but I do like the indoor (shorty) snares that I've played on.

Want another reason not to buy Dynasty?

(Multi-thomm, you'll love this one.)

This is from a post on the Pearl website inquiring why Dynasty doesn't use the free floating tension post design on their snare drums:

"Interestingly enough, Premier was the first company to apply the free-floating concept to a marching snare drum. After that, Yamaha and Pearl jumped on board. Dynasty tried it for a short time and had to stop because they were infringing on the original patent (they didn't license it). That is the REAL reason Dynasty doesn't have posts now.

Since that time, Dynasty has run into other lawsuits due to patent infringement. Everybody copies, but Dynasty doesn't seem to do it legally these days. They are actually in the middle of a lawsuit right now.

Kevin
__________________
Pearl Corporation
Marching Percussion
Marketing Manager

I doubt Kevin Namaky would jeopardize his job by saying something like that if it wasn't true.