Oregon Crusaders...we recieved a full new set of drums this last season ('05). I've played on pearl's all my life, love them and they are amazing. Was a bit skeptical about the dynasty's at first but they're not all too bad. The most prominent thing about them is in general they're solid. If for some reason treated badly or dropped you don't have to worry about a whole drum down the drain--this is also good for reefing heads. Never had any problems with shells, rims, lug supports, etc. snapping off. Sound wise, they are just fine. It's all in the 'ear' of the beholder--can't really be argued...if you tune them right to the way you like, in pretty much all cases they can be set up just fine. Not to mention the drum head variable...pinstripes...suades...emperors..and for snares the combination of heads you use along with dampening and the actual snare strand configuration and tightness. BD clips several inner strands of the snare, hence the dryness everyone keeps talking about. I think sound and sturdyness wise dynasty's get the job done just fine. Pearl may have a slight edge over general sound quality/projection, but not by too much if everything is done right--and hey, it also comes down to if you can actually play clean and correctly ;).
On to the negative sides, well I can't bash too much because they are my corps sponsor, and I in no way represent them really, but there isn't too much to say. My only beef was that many of the 'chrome' steel parts were not as strong or rust protectant as I had hoped. Only a few weeks into the season the lugs and harness connector pieces showed very visible rust. Also the lug supports that the actual lug bolt goes into were rusting...making tuning very tough. The snare throw/release also had rust forming inside the knobs, at one point one of them became rust locked so we had to switch it out with one of our extra snares. This is really the only main problem I see in dynasty's is the rust issue, which can be simply fixed by better protection in manufacturing. Thankfully most of these parts are not too expensive, so with some love and new lugs the drums will be good as new, as there are no further problems. The harnesses feel like butt and have minimal padding and adjustments, but oh well, builds character.
Connor
