THE PEARL EXPORT, an outfit that first saw the light of day in a considerably less salubrious guise some four or five years ago, is, you may be interested to know, the most popular drum kit in the world.

And although its present incarnation bears little resemblance to its fairly basic ancestor, the price has remained roughly the same, even though it has been improved considerably. Which must make it about the best value in drums you could reasonably hope for. Unless of course it sounds like a dog and falls to bits after a couple of days dedicated pounding. Naturally it doesn't.

In fact it is among the most professionally made budget (for want of a better word) kits I have ever seen; beautifully finished, sturdy and with a sound that is wildly at odds with it's price.

Unpacking the review model gave me ample opportunity to study all the constituent parts in detail. Everything that should have been there was - not always the case I can assure you - and certain things struck me as immediately impressive. The bearing edges, which exert a far greater influence on the sound of a drum than you might imagine, were extremely sharp and well cut. The interior of the shells was uniformly clean, well finished and free from blemishes. The outer covering was also, as far as I could tell, flawless.

The heads supplied were Pearl's own, featuring what looks like a white damping ring about an inch wide on their lower surface. I say "what looks like a damping ring" because in fact it isn't at all. It's merely a white coating that, as far as I can tell, has only cosmetic appeal. And to be honest, I found them a little disappointing. I would have liked to see a much sturdier set to complement the power depth of the kit.

All the drums, particularly the bass drum, were reassuringly heavy and in their construction there is no hint of cost cutting to trim the price down. With the exception of the snare, they feature a varying number of double ended high tension lugs - or, once again, that is what they appear to be. In fact, the lugs are in essence the usual single affair but are connected with a cast piece of chromed metal. This piece of metal does not appear to be attached to the lugs as such and again I can assume it to be for visual effect only. A little surprising because this kit is certainly more than capable of holding its own without resort to gimmickry.

The thinness of the heads notwithstanding, the depth of character and level of projection of this kit is remarkable. Playing around the drums, I was immediately struck by the evenness of tone from tom to tom. When tuned correctly the cadence achieved is just about perfect. The bass had a wonderful punch with a lot more sonic interest than the dull 'thud' that is all so many cheap kits are capable of. All in all, quite brilliant - what more can I say? Well, quite a lot actually, because my initial winge about the heads led me up the unprecedented avenue of actually following my own advice.

Just happening to have a spare set of Pinstripes lying around the house, I decided to do what I'm always urging you to do, which is basically to change the heads. The result was little short of earth shattering. The volume increased by about fifty per cent and the actual quality of sound by considerably more. It went from being merely a fine sounding kit for the money to one with all the presence and assertivness of a fully professional set up - an astonishing improvement.

The same goes for the snare. In its raw state, straight out of the box, its performance was acceptable, but with a decent head on it, the potential was raised enormously. Again, it proved extremely loud, very crisp and clear, with vibrancy and depth.

Of course a kit needs more than a great sound to prove its usefulness; it also needs a cast of supporting hardware of similar quality. The Export boasts just that. For your money, you will get a package of one boom cymbal stand, one straight cymbal stand, one snare drum stand, one hi-hat stand and one bass drum pedal, all of which are excellent in varying degrees.

Not much needs to be said about the cymbal stands, save that they are singly braced, very sturdy and as flexible as they should ever need to be. The hi-hat stand is also plenty sturdy enough and its simple design, split foot-plate and chain link connection make it smooth and easy to use. The snare stand features a very small spread to its tripod base, which makes it very easy to position and a ratchetless tilter mechanism that er... makes it even easier to position.

One piece of hardware that does warrant specific mention is the bass drum pedal. Almost classically simple, it has a chain drive action and a single side expansion spring. Personally, I found it one of the most responsive and efficient pedals I have ever played, perfect for speeding up those irksome doubles.

All that remains then are the 1' arm tom holders and the telescopic, fold away bass drum spurs, both of which are of time honoured but superbly executed design. Whatever else may give you trouble with this kit - and I can't think of anything that should - it certainly won't be the hardware.

If you are currently teetering on the enviable brink of buying your first drum kit then I can only urge you to consider the Pearl Export very carefully. Not only is it well above the standard of most entry level outfits but it should also see you through that tricky period when many first kits become obsolete. Basically a solidly semi-pro kit with a novice price tag.

PEARL EXPORT KIT £540

INFO: PEARL MUSIC LTD, (Contact Details)