Pearl

Perhaps the most recognizable name in drum manufacturing, Pearl drums are respected around the world for their sound and quality.

Pearl - In The Beginning

Pearl was founded in Japan by Katsumi Yanagisawa, a man who had begun his career manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo in 1946. By 1950, Yanagisawa shifted his focus to the manufacturing of drums. By 1953, the company had spread their expertise into building drumkits, timpanis, marching drums, latin percussion instruments,  as well as many other types of drums. 

Mitsuo, Yanagisawa's first son, joined Pearl in 1957 and in order to market, transport and organise the sales of Pearl products worldwide. Pearl built a factory in Chiba, Japan in order to keep up with popular demand that was exploding due to the rise of rock and roll. The factory was able to produce high quality, low cost drum kits which had global success. 

Pearl originally made shells for other companies until the 1960s, when they began manufacturing drums under their own name and logo for the first time.

Their construction technique is known as SST or "Superior Shell Technology." All Pearl drums feature this construction. Each ply is placed into a cylinder, and pressure is applied from both sides. While in the press, the shell is heated to bring the glue to a boil, thus forcing it through the wood grain and fusing the shells very tightly. The individual plies are scarf jointed, and all the seams are offset, resulting in a "seamless" drum (Pearl demonstrates the strength by parking a Humvee with its tire on a tom shell). This creates a drum shell of incredible strength." **Wikipedia

The year, 1966, brought the release of the company's first professional concert range The President Series. This took the drumming world by storm and soon everybody on the pro-circuit was playing a Pearl kit. 

Pearl - What is happening now?

Pearl now has 5 production plants in Taiwan which caters for the production of the worldwide market. The original factory in Japan caters for just the Japenese market now producing drum kits, timpanis and marching drums as well as chimes.