I’ve been waiting over a year to post this review. I bought my kit from zZounds. 12 payments no interest is a winning combination for me. I bought the kit to be a touring, gig kit as I would be playing all through CA, Las Vegas and Laughlin, Phoenix and most of AZ. I purchased my kit March 2020. I got the kit and less than a week later every was shut down because of Covid-19. All my gigs for the year were cancelled. I was planning to use this with a funk music tribute band that plays music from the 60s -80s. I assembled the drums, tuned them, gave them a quick practice session at home low volume and in the cases they went. The country never opened for the rest of the year. I wanted to gig the set before I reviewed it. Fast Forward to July 2021 and I’m back to my first gig of the year. I’m playing in an 80s rock band with some curveballs into new wave and some other dance hits of the era. I brought the kit to the gig and set it up, tuned it up and the band played the first song and bam, they all snapped their heads and looked back at me. (I had been using a very crappy backline set at the rehearsal studio). After the first song it was on. The drums sounded incredible. They sound like I spent much more on them than the price tag of $999 US. The kick drum had all the punch and bottom end. Wasn’t too plastic sounding. Had a rich deep tone but still would have the snappy response I needed. The toms, incredible. They sounded very similar to a DW kit which blew me away even.… read more They don’t choke out, the have great sustain, stayed in tune all night (which was a surprise because it was an outdoor gig that started using afternoon heat and went into the night time) they had nice rich tone, very responsive, projection was excellent and they cut very well. No choking out on any of the drums. Floor toms were not hard for me to tune and I got them where I wanted them and where the shell sounded best and I can tell you they sounded fat, warm, rich and punchy. No issues with them going out of tune. I got the last Blue Lacquer kit zZounds had. The finish is impressive. Flawless. No scratches, no inconsiderate on the finish and it sparkles great under the lights. I checked all bearing edges and they were all smooth, properly cut with no flat spots and no low spots or uneven spots on them. Every single drum on the kit looked gorgeous and sounded better than they looked. Tom mounting hardware is the only shortcoming as they do not offer a single Tom option to match the PDP line that I could use in my rack. The only single Tom mount is designed to be cymbal stand mounted. I run racks on all my kits. The time mounts provided hold well and are solidly built and finished nicely in chrome. Overall the kit blew me away. It is very much a DW product and DWs DNA is all over this PDP offering. European Maple is not the same as North American maple but no one in the crowd will notice. Easy to dial in with the PA and EQ. The drums performed flawlessly. They looked like a kit that easily cost 2-3 times as much money. If you want a solid kit with some pro features at a bargain price, the PDP Concept Maple is hard to beat. The value packed into this kit and the quality of the drums and the tonal richness makes this an excellent buy for entry level players, mid level players and professionals. There’s no shame in playing this kit. It delivers better than a lot of other brands top of the line pro level kits. This is also an excellent choice as a gigging kit for pros that don’t want to haul around their Collectors series DWs and damage them, and I would not hesitate to use these on tour as well. If you are a fan of DW products, need a kit that won’t empty your wallet, looks impressive and sounds impressive, these are an excellent choice. I cannot think of one downside to these drums except maybe a little bit of lack of versatility with the snare. But even with the included snare you can change heads and tune to your needs and still be in decent shape. Good luck and keep it in the pocket.

Musical Background:
Gigging Professional

Musical Style:
Funk, Country, Rock, Metal, Praise and Worship, Motown, R & B, Old School, Disco, local gigging, Regional touring and lower 48 t read less