Ok, so these few pieces weren’t specifically sent for review – at least I don’t think they were – but anyway, I thought I’d do a little write-up on them because after using them for a while I thought they were pretty cool.

This hardware actually came with a kit we were given to review and so what we were given reflects that. It was all from the PDP Concept series.

Bass Drum Pedal

This was designed to be the flagship pedal of the PDP line. The company says the pedal was designed to be fast, smooth and unlike any PDP pedal before it.

To be honest, I can’t say much about the last part of that previous sentence because I’ve not really played the other pedals, but certainly in terms of the other two points, this pedal easily meets them.

The first thing I noticed about this pedal was how smooth it was. I was a little surprised at how nice it felt to use as I had originally thought the pedal (and the other items) to be something that was just sent with the kit.

The pedal features:

Cobalt Low-Mass Drive Train

XF Extended Footboard (270mm/10.6″)

Retractable Spurs

Offset Toe Clamp

Needle Bearing Hinge

DW Spring Rocker Adjustment

DW Air Beater (reversible felt or plastic)

This, to me, is a nice slick pedal. It’s not wholly expensive given what it is and I think presents a nice step up from a first pedal without having to go to the highest end and the associated price bracket. I could comfortably use this pedal.

HiHat Stand

Ok, not the most exciting thing by definition, but the action is smooth, the footplate/pedal is big and comfortable and it has big sturdy legs, which is what you need.

The spring is easily adjustable and the double linkage chain drive gives a nice smooth pull when in use. Possibly the best point for me is that the stand goes nice and low and also quite high too if that”s what you need.

Snare Stand

So this stand is, what I guess you might say, fairly standard in design these days. It has an adjustable basket on a ball joint and big rubber feet.

However, what I liked about this the most is that I could get one of my deepest snare drums – a 14×8 with wood hoops, which makes the whole thing around 11” deep – into it and still have the drum at a comfortable height and angle without having to lift my seat up. A big plus in my book since not every stand will do this.

Made with heavy steel tubing, the stand can go from 16” as a minimum, up to a 24” maximum height. The ball joint is fluid and allows infinite adjustment to allow you to get the basket just where you need it.

Straight cymbal stand

A straight cymbal stand isn’t really much more than what it seems, and all it really needs to do is the obvious – hold the cymbal. But, although this is a very simple premise, I’ve come across plenty of stands that just don’t manage to do this in any sort of convincing manner.

These stands – we were given two of them – are strong, sturdy and have quite a range in terms of height adjustment. I’d also say they’re probably built to last.

They are double braced and made from heavy duty steel tubing with double braced legs, which all adds a little weight in terms of actually carrying them about, but this is translated into strength and durability.

In the bigger scheme of things, this is mid-range hardware and priced accordingly. However, it’s sturdy, has some cool features, is very useable and doesn’t cost a fortune.

More at www.pacificdrums.com

David Bateman