An Introduction to Pearl Drum Parts and Pearl Drum Hardware

Pearl Drum Parts are widely known as the most durable, best-sounding on the planet.

When choosing a drum kit, percussion piece or snare drum for purchase, it is important to remember that the quality of the drum hardware or drum accessory can affect not only the comfort and ease of playing, but also the durability and even the sound of the instrument.

For this reason, a semi-professional used drum set with intact used drum hardware and fresh drum heads will usually sound better than a professional set of drums with cheap drum accessories, wobbly drum stands, and abused snare drum hardware.

You should also get a drum hardware bag, and drum cases for your drums, to further protect your drumming investments.

I have been playing drums for more than half of my life so far, and in that time it has become clear to me that buying drum replacement parts directly from Pearl Drums is always the most reliable and problem-free solution.

All Pearl drum hardware, Pearl drum parts, and drum accessories- meaning drum hoops, drum shells, bass drum parts, and other custom drum parts- are produced on-site in one of the six Pearl drum factories.

This on-site production of these drum hardware parts helps to assure that the customer get the instrument or replacement drum parts in a timely manner.

Pearl Drum Hardware offerings include Pearl drum pedals, the unique Pearl drum throne selection, and drum set accessories like the Pearl Drum Rack.

Of course, you (the customer) still have to know exactly what drum set hardware you need.

And, to that end, this article is intended to provide information on the basic parts of a drum set, what drum parts are offered by Pearl Drums, and some additional considerations for drum hardware when it comes to recording a drum kit.

Most drum kits feature the same or similar assembly and essentially the same parts. Even vintage drum parts function quite closely to what drum hardware does today, and all Pearl drum parts are internationally standardized and should fit on any drum set.

Once you know what these parts are, you will be able to recognize their variations, and you will be able to organize, assemble and tune a drum kit.

All drums are comprised of a drum shell, and a top and bottom drum head. The heads are struck and their energy is transferred to the drum shell through the bearing edge of the shell. Metallic, circular drum hoops are placed around the edge of edge drum head and tension rods (basically, screws) are used to hold the drum hoop in place and affix it to the drum lugs (occasionally referred to as drum hardware lugs) located on the sides of the drum shell.

Tension rods can be tightened or loosened through the use of a drum key, and these adjustments affect the overall tension on the drum head and are used to tune the drum. Most drum hoops feature 6, 8, or 10 slots for tension rods, and the number of slots, tension rods, and lugs will always match.

The whole drum assembly is then mounted on a drum mount, attached to a drum rack, postioned for the drummer, and played with drum sticks.

Drums that are exceptions to this are the bass drum, which is usually placed on the floor and played with a drum pedal (which features its own assembly of drum pedal parts), and snare drum parts, which are essentially the same except for additional features such as the snares and snare strainer, and the snare drum stand.

The drummer typically sits on a drum throne while playing, and the finish on the drums is called the drum wrap or drum cover.

For each of the basic drum hardware parts mentioned above, the Pearl Drum Company offers several varieties of these drum parts.

They also offer the option of black drum hardware on many of their drum sets, which has become more popular since 2008.

However, much drum set hardware is “drum set specific”, meaning they are a standard category of drum part that is specially engineered to fit only on one particular drum kit.

It is, therefore, important to know the exact model number of the drum set accessories you need before ordering replacements, rather than simply saying “I need Pearl Drum Lugs” and picking out the first ones you see- I made this mistake several years ago and ended up spending $20 on drum lugs that were half an inch too long for my snare drum!

As with many other things, a few minutes of research into the particular type and model of drum hardware that you need can be the difference between a useful purchase and a wasteful one.

If you are planning on recording a drum kit, there are a few further considerations to do with drum hardware which may prove useful.

1. Make sure the hinges on your hi-hat and kick drum pedals, and your snare strainer are well oiled and “squeak free”.

2. Spend lots and lots of time tuning your drums before the recording session- post EQ'ing will help, but will never make up for poorly tuned drums.

3. Take care that your drum mounts are tight enough and your stands are firm on the floor- the microphones will need your drums to be stationary to pick up their sound accurately.