CONSTRUCTION
As for first impressions, this pitch-black lacquered finish PDP snare has a stunning and especially “bad ass” look to it, which can excite any dark-minded type of drummer such as the one who is writing this article. Since look normally has little or nothing to do with sound quality, I turned my investigative mind set on and tried to go in-depth on its construction features. A closer look at its hardware pieces was enough to discover some of the reasons why this snare drum is sold for such affordable price, but also to discover a few really nice features that give it some crucial positive points. Starting with the shell, the choice for Maple wood had a significant impact in the overall quality of this drum. For its not-too-soft / not-too-hard properties, Maple wood is the middle ground of sound projection and tonality when comparing to other woods commonly used in drum making. Maple is the number one wood choice for drum making not only because offers great tonal range but also because of its vast supply. The lacquered finish is decorated with a simple but cool Blackout emblem that will also remind you where this product was manufactured. The construction aspect that I really liked a lot on this drum was its throw-off snare system. Big, bold, black and well built, this piece of hardware has qualities that you could definitely see in a more expensive snare drum, that’s for sure. You don’t realize how important is to have a good quality throw-off system until one breaks apart in your own hands right in the middle of a gig. I personally want thank Pearl for giving me the chance to realize that. There is not much to say about the snare wires since they look like any other conventional ones available with most snare drums sold in the market. As for the, let’s say, more simple construction features, the lugs (not lug receptors) are made of hard plastic which gives this drum not only a “kids snare” look, but also makes me a little concerned about its durability. And speaking of lugs, I wish they had added two more to it. A 10-lug snare drum always tends to be a better-sounding drum than an 8-lug one, in my opinion anyway. As for drumheads, the PDP Blackout series comes with the REMO UK heads that, if you try to search, little information about them can be found. Either way, they are regular single-ply heads, coated on the batter side and clear on the resonant side. As any single ply drumhead, these REMO UKs’ accentuate the resonance and pitch of the drum. I must remark that the batter skin comes with printed numbers in each nearby lug so it helps the tuning of it which it is great for students practicing drum tuning.
SOUND
Now, putting construction aspects aside, the main focus is and always will be about the sound of the instrument. I’ve played in the past with cheap drums that sounded just great and with expensive ones that were just not worth the money they used for building it. But those usually are just “exceptions to the rule”. To find out if the Blackout 5x14” snare was one of those exceptions I had to do what it was build and meant to do. I brought it to my kit and rehearsed and finally gigged with it. I usually play with a Yamaha Steve Gadd Signature snare that shares similar features with the PDP Blackout, they are both maple shells, they have almost identical dimensions but very different prices. The 5x14” snares are known for producing strong attack because of its diameter, but short decay because of its shallow depth. I installed both snares with exact same heads (Evans G2 and Hazy 300 resonant) and tuned them to about the same pitch. By switching snares every couple of tunes I could really better understand the characteristics of the PDP Blackout. What really impressed me was that in the overall sound aspect it did sound very comparable to its more expensive nemesis. Strong crisp attack, quick decay and vivid presence. The only real difference fell in their overall drum tone. While the Yamaha’s gave me a refined, solid and round tone, the PDP produced a slightly weaker and unbalanced one.
Regarding my overall experience with the PDP Blackout 5x14” snare I must say that the $150.00 you will spend on it will be well worth it, but also, you won’t be getting much else. It really is “you get what you pay for” situation here. I would personally recommend investing on some new heads as soon you purchase this snare, it will definitely improve its sound by a mile. The Blackout series has the sole purpose of giving you a really decent sounding snare for those with a tight budget. Since most drum sets sold in America don’t include a snare drum with the purchase, the Blackout can be a good place to start. If you already have an entry-level snare I would recommend you to save your money; then save some more, and then acquire one of the DW pro-quality snare drums. They really are a completely different story.
For more information about the Blackout Series as also for PDP's complete snare drum line, please visitwww.pdpdrums.com
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