PDP Concept Maple CM7 Review

In this review I’m going to cover how this 7-piece shell pack sounds, walk through the hardware and build quality, and see how it stacks up against some of the heavy hitters in this price range. If you want to check the current price, I’ve put a link below.

First Impressions

First impressions, this has got to be one of the nicest looking kits I’ve seen anywhere near this price range.

The finish is called Satin Charcoal Burst, and it’s absolutely beautiful. I’ve always had a soft spot for satin finishes because they don’t show fingerprints and have a cool matte texture, but this one also shows off the maple grain beautifully underneath. It really does look like a much more expensive drum kit.

The full 7-piece configuration consists of 8×7, 10×8 and 12×9 inch rack toms, 14×12 and 16×14 floor toms, a 22×18 kick drum, plus a matching 14×5.5 snare.

Having all these drums gives you loads of tonal options for fills and grooves, and you can get really melodic with it. But beyond just the sheer number of drums, what struck me straight away was how solid everything feels. I genuinely didn’t expect these drums to have the weight and feel that they do.

And considering PDP is DW’s sister company, you can definitely feel some of that influence throughout the kit.

Sounds & Shell Construction

The toms and kick are all 7-ply maple shells, while the snare is a thicker 10-ply maple shell. Overall the tone character is very classic maple, smooth, warm and punchy with plenty of projection. You can really dig into these drums and they just open up really nicely.

I started off testing the kit with the stock heads to see how they held up, and to be fair they’re totally usable. But once I swapped over to Evans EC2 Clears, the whole kit levelled up. The toms and kick especially sounded fuller, more focused, and overall more refined.

The kick drum sounds huge. It’s hard to go wrong with a 22×18 maple kick, and this one sounds fantastic.

I was impressed with every drum here, but two that really stood out were the 8-inch rack tom and the 14-inch floor tom. Two sizes I don’t play that often, since most modern kits stick with 10, 12 and 16. The 8 had loads of definition and bite, and the 14 floor tom had this really punchy, musical low-mid tone that sat beautifully between the other drums.

I got all seven toms dialled in really nicely with both head options, and playing fills across all of them is just a lot of fun. The snare was solid too, and personally I preferred it tuned a little lower, where it had more body and punch.

Hardware & Build Quality

In terms of hardware and build quality, I was immediately impressed when I first got this kit out of the box. Everything feels really solid, and you can genuinely tell there’s some DW DNA in here.

The dual turret lugs look fantastic, with a similar vibe to Drum Workshop lugs but with their own distinct look. You’ve also got DW TruePitch tension rods with finer threads, the same rods you’ll find on actual DW kits.

The snare comes with the DW MAG throwoff, which is exactly the same throwoff on all Drum Workshop snares. It’s arguably the best throwoff any of the main brands offer, and it’s just great to use.

The floor tom legs are really chunky and genuinely remind me of DW floor tom legs in terms of shape and feel. Smaller details like the matching wooden bass drum hoops and included dampening pillow are really nice added touches too.

For tom mounts, you get a drilled bass drum with a double STM mount, plus an extra mount and clamp for the 8 inch tom. The STM system is solid and easy to work with, and I’ve had zero issues with the toms dropping or moving during playing.

The one limitation is that while you can adjust height and angle, you can’t slide the toms closer or further away like you can on something like a Yamaha Stage Custom. That comes down to the fixed mounting plate on both the toms and the kick, so there’s slightly less flexibility in terms of positioning.

One last thing worth mentioning, while re-heading the kit I checked out the bearing edges, and they’re generally really well cut. A couple of tiny imperfections here and there, but nothing that would affect tuning or tone.

Verdict

Listening back to my recordings, I think these drums recorded really well. Honestly I think this is a bit of an underrated kit.

Playing seven drums is just fun. Having all these toms gives you loads of tonal options, and you can get really melodic with it. But the good thing is you don’t need to use the whole setup all the time. Just running the 12 rack tom with the 14 and 16 floors gives you a Bonham-style setup, so even though this is a big shell pack it’s actually really flexible.

When people talk about mid-range drum sets, the conversation usually goes straight to things like the Yamaha Stage Custom or the Mapex Armory, and rightly so, but I genuinely think this deserves to be in that same conversation.

They all offer slightly different things in terms of shell construction, finishes and character. But if you want a pure maple kit that looks and feels high end and punches way above its price point, this kit seriously delivers. 

And as a 7-piece? I think this is the best bang for your buck 7-piece drum set on the market right now.