Daddy’s Blog

  Hey, just so you know, Pearl is offering a FREE 8″ or 10″ tom with any Vision Seres drumset purchased , hopefully from us :-), between 5/1 and 8/31/09. This offer includes drumsets in stock and/or sets that are special ordered. All Vision kits Birch(VBX my fave) or Maple are available in 9 different pre-packaged configurations. If the smallest tom is a 12″ they’ll send you a free 10″, and if the smallest tom is a 10″, well they’ll send you an 8″. It’s a win win.These drums and the hardware are sweet and a good deal to begin with. Now you’ll be gettin’ a little somethin’ somethin’ extra for free! See www.pearldrum.com for more details or just give us a call..cool.

Michael Tocker-drums

Last Friday and Saturday, May 8th and 9th, Lew DiTommaso, Chris Gleason (Daddy’s Central) and I traveled to Marshfield, Mass to the Sabian cymbal depot, to partner up with Sabian on their first Yard Sale. There was a huge tent set up over grass and blacktop within feet of the depot which houses thousands of cymbals as well as Sabian’s East Coast offices. Under the tent was boxes and boxes of amazing cymbal blow-outs, shirts, classic drum instructional VHS (seriously..no BETA though) tapes, as well as a ton of amazing prototype cymbals all marked way down. Friday was very hot and very crowded. Under the tent it was like camping out only without the marshmallows and bears. We did have mosquitoes  , as the evening came around, and there were a couple outhouses.Everybody who came out seem thrilled and most left several bags of stuff. Saturdays started  off with a little rain. Good thing we had a tent. Though it wasn’t quite as busy as Friday, folks came out, including many that had also been there on Friday, and took part in the pre- Mothers Day deals. David Williams, cymbal tester from the Sabian factory in Canada for 17 years, was there both days to help match cymbals for folks as well as share some great stories from working in the factory. Speaking of stories, long time cymbal manufacturing legend Lenny DiMuzio was around both days as well. This gentleman should write a book about all the years in the cymbal biz and the drumming legends that he has known. I’d buy it.Lane , Terri, both Paul’s, Greg and all the other Sabian folks were helpful and great partners for this team event. For those that were there , we hope the experience was good that your hard earned dough was well spent. For those who missed it, maybe we’ll see you next year.

Michael Tocker-drums

Sabian Tent in Marshfield

Checking out the prototypes

Jeff and Mara happy with their new toys

Lew DiTommasso, Lenny DiMuzio, and Chris Gleason

Sabian folks packing up afterwards…Good times!

I was able feel my nature side last week as my wife Priscilla and I went up to Vermont for an awesome and long overdue  visit with my oldest daughter, future son-in-law, and grandson (Melody, Jeff, and Jackson,   respectively). Along the way we saw many wide open fields of green and lots and lots of trees. I couldn’t help, sadly I guess, of imagining those trees in the future as drumsticks or plies of a drum shell. When I was a kid I used to wait in front of the market and carry grocery bags to cars for pocket change .I associated each bag as a pack of baseball cards. Some would say that I was focused, others however might say demented, with a one track mind. Speaking of one track Pearl is on track to redefine the bass drum pedal as we know it.The Pearl Eliminator Demon Drive single and double pedals(P-3000D and P-3002D) made their big splash debut in Anaheim at the winter NAMM Show in January. The chatter was flowing at the Show and has grown , mixed with curiosity and many print adds for the next 3.5 months. Well finally these finely tuned metal contraptions have arrived and we are stocking them in a handful of our stores. (They can be requested at all).Like all finely tuned machines they ain’t cheap( $319.99 single,$649.99 double). What does it do for that kinda dough? What doesn’t it do you should be asking.( I’m pretty sure it doesn’t do dishes, though sure ’bout windows). First off it’s just so sexy to look at. Like the above mentioned finely tuned machine, it’s all brushed chrome with an orange stripe down the middle. Just like a race car with a pinstripe. Some of the many highlights of this fast pedal are  low friction skateboard Ninja Bearings, a self aligning adjustable Direct Drive linkage system, the easily converted Transformer like shortboard to longboard footboard, and the 2 position beater stroke adjustment      (power or finesse)  among other things. Mike Mangini teaches at Berklee across the street from the Boston Store . I have known and spoken to him for many years , but have never heard him speak so excitingly about a piece of drum hardware until now. I know that he had some input into it’s inception, but a lot of time great ideas don’t make it off the paper they were drawn up on.(My glove pad, for people who write on the palm  of their hands, is still a dream ..but I digress). Mike says”The Demon Drive is the only pedal that makes my feet feel like hands. The adjustments the Demo Drive is capable of, allow for any feel one might be used to, except with the response and smoothness that no pedal can mechanically match”. That’s a strong statement, but Mike’s played a lot of pedals. What does all this mean to YOU the consumer? It means that you should stop in and try a Demon Drive for yourself. ‘k?

Michael Tocker-drums

PS..We’ll take your old pedal in as a trade, too!