Pearl Vision vs Tama Silverstar which would you choose to gig with?

[DanielS]

Well which of these kits would you choose to gig with and why? Just curious. Thanks

[jedi]

I had the Tama Silverstar in the Violin finish . I liked the way they looked but not so much how they sounded . With all due respect to all those who love the Silverstars I could not get the sound I wanted from them . I play for a living . And I play four nights a week every week . I own several other kits . Trust me when I say that I went through every head/tuning combination I could think of and I did not like the results .
I also have the Pearl Vision Birch and I absolutely love that kit . I have it in the rotation with the Yamaha Custom Birch Absolute and the Pearl Maple Session Custom .
With the Pearl's I get the punchy tone that I was not getting from the Silverstars . With the Tama's I got more of a thud and not so much sustain , as if they were choked .
Maybe it was just a dud kit.. that happens sometimes . But I sold them for a profit because the line was still pretty new at the time and I got a very good deal on them from the store .
I do a lot of gigs where we are not micked but I still need to be heard .The Tama's just didn't have the power (?) . The harder you laid into them the more they sounded like cardboard boxes . Whereas the Pearls just sing the more you lay into them .
So there...that's why I use the Pearls and not the Tamas .
Some one else will soon chime in on how they prefer the Tamas over the Pearls and that's cool ... we all look for different things in our drums . What would be the point of us all sounding the same !?

[drummerMD]

Now that I understand the Pearl Visions are discontinued. Were they another version of the Exports? I would go w/the Tama's.

[jedi]

Now that I understand the Pearl Visions are discontinued. Were they another version of the Exports? I would go w/the Tama's.

Far from it . The Vision's I got are 100% Birch shell . Whereas the Export are poplar or basswood . For a while they also offered a 100% maple shell Vision . But that's gone away and now they have the Decade Maples ! Whatever...anyways the Vision and the Export are two different animals .

The Tama Silverstars are 100% Birch as well .

[N2Bluz]

I own old birch/Luan Exports and old Swingstars. I'm sure Visions and Silverstars are different. The Pearl 7/8" twin tube tom mounts are ugly and harder to get positioned "just right"...BUT, they are great for frequent and repeatable set up & teardown. Super solid and durable. The hold toms in place rock solid and never move. The tube arms are also nicer to pack up than ball/L-rod mounts. You don't have a big mount with 2 pointed "spears" sticking out and getting tangled with cymbal stands in the hardware case. They're also very quick to install and keep the same tom positions if you use memory locks.

[Pearl MCX Man]

Visions.

[DanielS]

I had the Tama Silverstar in the Violin finish . I liked the way they looked but not so much how they sounded . With all due respect to all those who love the Silverstars I could not get the sound I wanted from them . I play for a living . And I play four nights a week every week . I own several other kits . Trust me when I say that I went through every head/tuning combination I could think of and I did not like the results .
I also have the Pearl Vision Birch and I absolutely love that kit . I have it in the rotation with the Yamaha Custom Birch Absolute and the Pearl Maple Session Custom .
With the Pearl's I get the punchy tone that I was not getting from the Silverstars . With the Tama's I got more of a thud and not so much sustain , as if they were choked .
Maybe it was just a dud kit.. that happens sometimes . But I sold them for a profit because the line was still pretty new at the time and I got a very good deal on them from the store .
I do a lot of gigs where we are not micked but I still need to be heard .The Tama's just didn't have the power (?) . The harder you laid into them the more they sounded like cardboard boxes . Whereas the Pearls just sing the more you lay into them .
So there...that's why I use the Pearls and not the Tamas .
Some one else will soon chime in on how they prefer the Tamas over the Pearls and that's cool ... we all look for different things in our drums . What would be the point of us all sounding the same !?

Thanks a lot. I have been reading up a bit on different drums in the same price class and made a real u-turn here. I think I actually may go with the Yamaha Stage Custom. But I'm sure going to try the Visions out too. At least I know thanks to you that the Visions holds up for gigging a lot with. Thanks again.
Best regards/Daniel

[drumstix]

Both solid mid range kits. I’d be happy playing either personally.

[Tamastar]

I play a Pearl vision in my brass band, and it is a great kit, built like a tank, with a nice, birch sound. I have tried silverstars at a drum shop once, they sounded great, but the visions have superior hardware as well as a nice sound, so i would recommend the visions.

[DanielS]

Thanks for input. It just happened to be the case that a friend of mine offered me to buy his Tony Williams yellow US Gretsch Vintage from the 70s for a really good price so I snapped those instead:-)

[jedi]

Thanks for input. It just happened to be the case that a friend of mine offered me to buy his Tony Williams yellow US Gretsch Vintage from the 70s for a really good price so I snapped those instead:-)

WOW ! USA ones too . Great score ! Jumped light years ahead of those two kits .
Best of luck .

[DanielS]

WOW ! USA ones too . Great score ! Jumped light years ahead of those two kits .
Best of luck .

Thanks. Yeah I feel really lucky scoring those. 12x8", 15x13", 20x14". I got them for 928 dollars including cases.