Anyone here actually put a CB-700 percussion kit through a controlled, modernized shootout?
I’m tired of the knee-jerk “CB-700 = firewood” response. I’ve put hands on a few over the years that, once de-gunked and set up right, were surprisingly workable. But anecdotes aren’t data, and I’m skeptical of both the hype and the hate. Let’s design a test and settle this with evidence.
What I’m proposing:
- Identify the eras/factories. There are clearly different CB-700 runs (badges, hardware, tom mounts). Some are rumored Pearl-stencil; others aren’t. If the roots vary, the blanket verdict makes no sense.
- Post your badge style, lug type, tom mount diameter (7/8"?), shell thickness/plie count, presence of re-rings, interior sealer, and hoop material. Photos welcome, but hard numbers (mm, counts) matter more.
- Baseline shell quality. Let’s measure instead of eyeballing:
- Roundness: calipers across multiple axes, variance in mm.
- Bearing edges: glass plate + feeler gauge for flat spots; identify factory edge profile.
- Moisture/condition: interior raw vs sealed; delamination.
- Sound under controlled variables. Same room, player, mics, and head combos:
- Toms: Coated G2/Emperor over clear G1/Ambassador; medium tuning and a low tuning.
- Kick: PS3 or EMAD batter with thin reso; no pillow vs small felt strip.
- Mounting: stock tom arm vs RIMS-style vs snare stand.
- A/B/C against a current entry-level shell pack (Rydeen/Centerstage) and a known mid-tier benchmark (Export/Stage Custom). Blind clips, then poll results.
Upgrade ladder with costs, to find the rational cutoff:
- Heads/resos only
- Heads + proper edge re-cut (45/30 or similar)
- Add isolation mounts/spurs
- Snare fixes: new wires, head, light edge touch or snare bed clean-up
- Anything beyond that (hoops, lugs) is probably sunk-cost territory-prove me wrong with receipts and recordings.
Open questions I want answered with data, not folklore:
- Are older CB-700 luan shells really “dead,” or just hamstrung by sloppy edges and choking mounts?
- Do the “Pearl-stencil” CB-700s (if correctly identified) actually measure better on roundness/edges than later runs?
- How much does interior sealing (shellac or thin oil) shift attack/sustain on these soft-wood shells?
- Is the kick the weak link, or can it hang with modern 22s when tuned low with modern heads?
- At what total spend does a hot-rodded CB-700 outperform a clean used Export/Stage Custom in a blind test?
- Hardware survivability: which lug casings and T-rods are known to fail, and are thread pitches compatible with modern replacements?
If you’ve done serious rescues on CB-700 kits, post:
- Shell measurements (thickness, plies, edge profile)
- Before/after clips with exact head/mounting info
- Cost breakdowns and what actually moved the needle sonically
If we crowdsource this right, we can build a simple decision tree: keep, flip, or part out. I’m not interested in nostalgia or trash talk-just repeatable methods and results. Who’s in?