PDP Concept Maple 4-Piece Drum Kit · Twisted Ivory

Drums

My kit is a PDP by DW Concept Maple four-piece shell pack in Twisted Ivory, with chrome hardware.

Main snare

A separate PDP Concept Maple Classic 14 × 6.5-inch snare in Ox Blood with Ebony hoops accompanies the shell pack. Its snare stand is the PDP Concept Series PDSSCO.

Cymbals

The current cymbal setup mixes Zildjian, Sabian and Meinl cymbals rather than sticking to one series or manufacturer.

Main cymbals

• Zildjian Planet Z 14-inch hi-hat pair — part of the ZP4PK Complete Pack
• Zildjian Planet Z 16-inch crash — part of the ZP4PK Complete Pack
• Zildjian Planet Z 20-inch ride — part of the ZP4PK Complete Pack

These came as the Zildjian Planet Z Complete Cymbal Pack — ZP4PK and provide the basic hi-hat, crash and ride voices in the setup.

Additional crashes

• Sabian AAX 18" X-Plosion Crash
• Meinl Classics Custom Extreme Metal 16-inch crash — CC16EMC-B

The 18" Sabian AAX X-Plosion Crash is a medium-thin B20 crash with a bright, explosive attack and is one of the more substantial crash voices in the setup.

The 16" Meinl Classics Custom Extreme Metal Crash adds another aggressive crash voice designed to cut through loud guitars and heavier music.

Together with the 16" Planet Z crash, this gives the kit three crash cymbals with noticeably different voices rather than relying on a single crash.

Effects cymbals

• Sabian SBR 10-inch splash
• Meinl HCS Traditional 12-inch China — HCS12CH

The 10" splash provides a very fast accent for fills, transitions and short hits.

The 12" Meinl HCS China gives the setup a small, sharp trash-china voice for breakdown accents, transitions and heavier material.

Current cymbal count

The full setup currently gives me:

• 14" hi-hats
• 16" Planet Z crash
• 16" Meinl Extreme Metal crash
• 18" Sabian AAX X-Plosion crash
• 20" Planet Z ride
• 10" Sabian splash
• 12" Meinl China

That gives me seven cymbal positions / voices across hats, ride, three crashes and two effects cymbals.

Hardware

• 1 × PDP Concept Series double 10.5 mm L-arm tom stand — PDTSCO, chrome
• 1 × PDP Concept Series heavyweight straight cymbal stand — PDCSC10
• 1 × PDP Concept Series heavyweight snare drum stand — PDSSCO, chrome
• 2 × PDP Concept Series heavyweight boom cymbal stands — PDCBC10
• 1 × PDP Concept Series two-leg hi-hat stand — PDHHCO2, chrome
• 1 × PDP Concept Series direct-drive double bass drum pedal — PDDPCOD

Mounting & maintenance

• 1 × Arborea cymbal boom arm with clamp
• 2 × Gibraltar 4-inch mini cymbal stacker — SC-MCSA4
• 1 × Facmogu 23-piece cymbal accessory set, gray — felts, wing nuts, washers, cymbal sleeves and drum key

Cases & transport

• 1 × Gator GP-FUSION16 padded nylon drum bag set — five bags; the Fusion16 version is marketed for fusion-style kits with a 16-inch floor tom
• 1 × Gator hardware carry bag — GP-HDWE-1436 — 14 × 36 inches, with removable shoulder strap
• 1 × Protec Heavy Ready 22-inch cymbal bag — HR230 — with shoulder strap

How I use the kit

This is my primary acoustic drum and recording setup.

I built it to give me enough range to comfortably play and write the styles I've always gravitated toward: punk, ska, emo, post-hardcore, hardcore, metalcore and rock.

The three crash voices, splash and China give me options for accents, transitions and heavier passages.

The kit is part of my current home recording and songwriting setup rather than simply being a collection piece. As the studio develops, I'll continue documenting additions such as microphones, pedals, recording equipment, cymbal changes and other hardware here.