Heads and Symbols upgrade for Mapex Voyager

[JACARUAL]

Hi, I've been reading alot of posts because we were buying a set of drums for our son. He is currently a "Pan" player in a local Steel Drum Band and is in his 4th year now. He has his own Lead Pan and still loves playing Pan. So, he's also played a bit on their drum set which is a older Yamaha set. He has asked for a drum set for Christmas this year. We go into the local Guitar Center and drum shops quite regularly too. He's 13 and we ended up getting a super deal on a Mapex Voyager set, mostly because of it's size and it's reviews. He can always upgrade when he pays for it himself (if you know what I mean). I wanted to get the upgrades ahead of time so he can sit and play Christmas Day. The only problem is, neither my husband or myself knows what to get. We have found that each of the stores here has their own opinion on what to put on it so we wanted to get some other's.

Here's what we got (see pic):

· 18x16in Bass

· 20x9+12x10 Tom Toms

· 14x14 Floor Tom

· 9-ply, 7.2mm basswood shells

· Durable, high gloss wrapped finish

· Double Braced Hardware

· C300A Cymbal stand

· H300A Hihat stand

· P320A Bass dum pedal

· Single-Point contact lugs

· Matching Basswood snare

· 16in crash and 14in. hihats

· Padded drum throne

· Remo Drumheads


Please let me know your thoughts on these upgrades. Should we try used symbols or go with new??? Should we add anything to this kit??? Also, are there tatoo stripes or something we can add to it??? Any info appreciated!

Thank you all!

 

[Elton Bear]

Looks sound to me. Heads probably won't need upgrading, Remo are top notch. As for the cymbals, get some Paiste (400 series+) hi-hats, and a crash/ride, or both crash and ride, depending on what you want to spend, and that should be a nice kit to get going on.

 

[c0r1n]

very nice.

I've gigged with that kit quite a few times. I put remo ebony pinstripes on it, but that's just a personal preference. The stock heads sounded great.

cymbal-wise, if he's a beginner, the sabian b8 or b8-pro packs are pretty great. The xs20 is also an impressive, affordable range. I play Paistes mainly, but Sabian makes some great sounding entry-level stuff.

It's a great kit. Don't let the small sizes fool you. Most sound guys wouldn't even mike the snare when I played out. It'll knock your head off.

 

[mikeh]

I use a Voyager kit for certain small pick-up gigs (I have a couple of much nicer kits - but some gigs/venues just ain't worth hauling out the good stuff). I use to sell drums and even with all the options I had, I selected a Voyager as my choice for a small kit - it has paid for itself, many times over..

The key to making the Voyagers sound thier best is to use 2 ply heads on the batter side of the toms & the kick - to fatten up the sound a little. (I never use the snare that came with the Voyager, but if I did I would use an Evans dry vented head - or in a pinch a standard Remo Ambassador coated head). The stock heads should be fine for the resonant sides of all drums.

Given that I'm more of an Evans fan than a Remo fan - I prefer Evans heads(although Remo makes good heads too).

I suggest an Evans G2 or Remo Pinstripe for the toms and something like the Remo EQ series (I use an EQ3) for the kick.

With cymbals, I always suggest the best you can possibly afford. You can make a $400 kit sound like a $1,000 kit with good heads and correct tuning, but cymbals are what they are and there is no way to make a cheap cymbal sound better. If the kid keeps playing, at some point in his later teens or early 20's he may choose to up grade the drums and he can always move good cymbals to the upgraded kit - but he would have little desire to keep using crap sounding cymbals.

If you can swing the cost, look into the mid line cymbals by any one the big three (Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste) and you can find gear that will last. If possible avoid the entry level lines - they don't sound all that good and a 13 year old drummer will quickly hear that.

 

[Supercreep]

I use a Voyager kit for certain small pick-up gigs (I have a couple of much nicer kits - but some gigs/venues just ain't worth hauling out the good stuff). I use to sell drums and even with all the options I had, I selected a Voyager as my choice for a small kit - it has paid for itself, many times over..

The key to making the Voyagers sound thier best is to use 2 ply heads on the batter side of the toms & the kick - to fatten up the sound a little. (I never use the snare that came with the Voyager, but if I did I would use an Evans dry vented head - or in a pinch a standard Remo Ambassador coated head). The stock heads should be fine for the resonant sides of all drums.

Given that I'm more of an Evans fan than a Remo fan - I prefer Evans heads(although Remo makes good heads too).

I suggest an Evans G2 or Remo Pinstripe for the toms and something like the Remo EQ series (I use an EQ3) for the kick.

With cymbals, I always suggest the best you can possibly afford. You can make a $400 kit sound like a $1,000 kit with good heads and correct tuning, but cymbals are what they are and there is no way to make a cheap cymbal sound better. If the kid keeps playing, at some point in his later teens or early 20's he may choose to up grade the drums and he can always move good cymbals to the upgraded kit - but he would have little desire to keep using crap sounding cymbals.

If you can swing the cost, look into the mid line cymbals by any one the big three (Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste) and you can find gear that will last. If possible avoid the entry level lines - they don't sound all that good and a 13 year old drummer will quickly hear that.

What he said.