PDP drums are made by DW. They have a more streamlined production process that saves costs of making the drums.
This means PDP drum kits have a lot of design elements that are inspired by DW drums, but mostly have a structure and build that is similar to intermediate-level kits.
The PDP Concept Maple is one of the main drum kits that PDP has on offer. It’s a great intermediate kit that both beginners and pros will appreciate. Is it worth investing in?
You can figure that out for yourself after going through my personal experience playing this kit for over 3 years (although I did play it on several occasions before owning it myself, as well).
Table of Contents
PDP Concept Maple - Overview
The 5-piece shell pack comes with the drums in the following sizes:
- 5.5” x 14” snare drum
- 8” x 10” high tom
- 9” x 12” middle tom
- 14” x 16” floor tom
- 18” x 22” kick drum
The only other part included with the shell pack is a rack tom mount that connects to the kick drum.
PROS:
CONS:
Build Quality
The Concept Maple, up close...
The PDP Concept Maple kit has a lot of design features that are used in high-end DW kits. The tension rods, tom mounting system, and snare wire control are all the sort of features that you’d expect from drum kits that cost a lot more.
The shells have True-Pitch tension rods that have fine threads. These tension rods make tuning really easy. I find this particularly great because tuning drums is something that a lot of drummers, especially beginners but also a fair amount of seasoned drummers, struggle with. An easily tuned drum kit is going to sound fantastic.
The rack toms mount onto the kick drum with an STM tom mount. This is a design from DW that holds the rack toms securely without cutting out any of their tone, allowing for a pure sound. Less time, less hassles, seemingly without a compromise - isn't that great!
The toms and snare drum have graduated counterhoops which help the drums produce a solid attack and have a fair bit of sustain. The kick drum has low-mass claw hooks that look great and hold the batter and resonant heads firmly in place.
I'm a fan of this big, boomy kick drum.
One of the best features of this whole kit is the MAG throw-off system on the snare drum. You'll see me praise it throughout this article, but I can't help it, haha.
It basically has a magnet that turns the snare drum on and off. This makes turning off the snare wires a very smooth process. Otherwise, turning your snare wires off can be a mission, you know what I'm talking about.
Sound Quality
These drums have a 7-ply European Maple shell that gives them a warm and balanced sound. The sound quality is really good and will work well for a bunch of different musical settings.
The toms have a rich tone that is quite open and full of projection. The rack toms are resonant while the floor tom has a beefy low-end sound (you can try those crazy floor tom to bass drum DIY conversion projects if you don't have anything to do on a lazy Sunday).
The kick drum has a sharp punch that fills up the overall sound of the drums.
There’s a significant difference in pitch between each drum, allowing you to sound very musical when playing this kit. The drums sound best when tuned medium to low, working well in rock, gospel and metal settings. They sound a bit too harsh when tuned high, meaning this kit isn’t the best option for jazz.
The snare drum is crisp and highly responsive. It has a cracking rimshot and sounds great when rolled on. It has good articulation, allowing you to hear each distinct ghost note that is played.
As said before, it has the MAG-throw off system that makes it easy to turn the snare off. I love it! The snare sounds very warm when the snare wires aren’t touching the resonant head.
The stock drumheads that come with the drums aren’t great. Horrible? No. But they definitely limit the full sound potential of this kit. So, it would be a smart move to purchase some better drumheads if you get the PDP Concept Maple.
You can see me using an Aquarian set here:
Visuals
The PDP Concept Maple kit has been around for quite a while. It has also gone through a few reinventions, with PDP changing some aspects of its design. I first played this kit, if I remember correctly, back in 2015. It was only after COVID that I bought one for myself.
It comes in a bunch of different finish options. Most of the finish options have one pure color to them, meaning there isn’t any mixture of colors. A few of the finishes have a sparkle that fades one color into another. These finishes all look super sleek and professional.
The round PDP badge on each drum looks great and is very similar to the badges on DW kits.
The toms that mount onto the kick drum gives this kit the impression of an intermediate-level drum set. However, the STM mount looks quite professional. The large rubber feet of the kick drum and floor tom legs also add to that intermediate look.
Overall, I think this kit will look great wherever it’s placed, be that a stage, studio or practice room.
My Verdict
The PDP Concept Maple is definitely one of the best bang for the buck drum kits on the market. It comes with an affordable price tag for beginners and a smooth tone that even pro drummers will appreciate.
The high-quality design, several finish options and durability make these drums a great choice for anyone who’s looking to buy a new kit. The kit that I own is just a 5-piece, but PDP offers a 7-piece version of this kit as well that has an extra rack tom and floor tom.
These kits are very popular, clearly for a good reason. You can walk into most music stores, even those like Guitar Center that carry mostly cheaper, beginner-focused kits more, and see a PDP Concept Maple kit waiting to be tried and bought.
This kit will not only be great for traveling and gigging, but will also work superbly well as your home practice kit. The DW-Inspired quality makes it an easy choice to invest in. And at the risk of stating the obvious, just remember that it only comes as a shell pack, meaning you’ll need to buy hardware and cymbals separately.
I have this kit. I love it. My bandmates’ feedback is that is far superior to a more expensive kit I was playing.
Thank you. I just picked up a white sparkle 6 piece.
I am a life-long drummer, starting at the age of 10 by beating on hardcover books. I’m 72 now. Over the years, I’ve gone through all sorts of drum parts, pieces and kits. Now, these many years later, I’ve settled on this PDP 7 piece Concept Maple kit to which I have added a vintage Rogers snare drum and a bunch of Sabian cymbals. This is the best kit I have owned by far. These PDP drums are surprisingly well-made; being on the level with drums considerably more expensive that I have owned. What really impresses me about these drums is the mounting hardware, which is remarkably well thought out. It isolates each heavy 7-ply drum so that its resonance is pure and uncontaminated by the vibrations of other drum interactions, giving them a pure tonal sound. All in, this is a great set of drums that saved me the money I needed to spend on other stuff…!