Custom made from start to finish for ultimate performance.

The mission behind Pearl Reference Series drums is to produce a complete set of individually engineered, incredible sounding drums. Each shell in the Reference Fusion 5-piece drum shell pack is composed of a blend of woods totaling an incredible 20 plies. This extra thick drum shell ensures that no energy is lost through shell vibration and all energy is focused on moving sound waves. The shell's bearing edge is 45 degrees to promote a focused contact area with the head for response and crack. Six inner plies of birch provide cut and attack while the outer 14 plies of maple provide warmth and solid midrange punch. Shell pack only, cymbals and hardware not included.

In 1999, Pearl began its most ambitious undertaking, The Masterworks Series, the world's first truly custom drums. Designed for the player by the player. Every aspect of the manufacturing process was custom made, from the number of wood plies, to the wood selection, to the final finish. Over the last five years, through arduous listening tests, Masterworks taught Pearl drum makers a great deal about drums and what makes the perfect shell. So forget what you think you know about drums and take a close look at Reference Series, the most acoustically advanced drums in the world. To fully understand the Reference Series drums you must understand that the desired tonal characteristics of a 10" tom are completely different than that of a 22" bass drum. Thus to use the same material in both drums would result in a compromise.

Reference Series drums use a combination of task-specific bearing edges and three time-proven woods: birch, maple, and African mahogany. Using maple as a sole material has long been the traditional choice for shells and for good reason. Maple provides smooth, well-balanced tone that is perfect for a 12" tom. Subsequently, all Reference Series 12" toms are composed of six plies of maple; this is the only single wood shell in the series. Pearl's 10" and 8" Reference toms receive four plies of maple with two inner plies of birch for cut and attack. And for maximum response, all 13" diameter and smaller toms have a rounded 45 degree bearing edge, and a more focused area for head-to-shell contact to boost mid- to higher-range frequencies. Beginning with Pearl's 13" tom and larger, mahogany is added to the inner plies to increase the lower frequencies and accentuate the warmth of the maple. The 14"-diameter toms and larger begin using Pearl's fully-rounded bearing edge for even more shell contact for a boost in mid- to low- range frequencies.

PEARL REFERENCE 4-PIECE SHELL PACK INCLUDES:

• 10" x 8" tom
• 2 inner plies birch
• 4 outer plies maple
• Rounded 45 degree bearing edge

• 12" x 9" mounted tom
• 6 plies maple
• Rounded 45 degree bearing edge

• 16" x 16" floor tom
• 2 inner plies mahogany
• 4 outer plies maple
• Fully rounded bearing edge

• 22" x 18" bass drum
• 6 inner plies mahogany
• 2 outer plies maple
• Fully rounded bearing edge