mapex opinions please

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg_L
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Greg_L

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I'm looking to get a new kit for regular gigging, and this kit has caught my eye:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mapex-Pro-M-6Piece-PowerDrum-Set-with-Free-Bag-Set?sku=449190

It has the size toms I want, and comes with free gig-bags, which is nice. I'm not personally familiar with mapex sets though, so I'm looking for some feedback. Everything I've seen or read appears to support that theyre pretty good. I want an aggressive and punchy sort of strong sound, and I don't know if this kits maple shells will produce that.

Anyone have any advice or feedback?
 
Yo! Hey I got the Mapex 15th Anniversary kit about a year ago and I love it. I believe the kit I got is basically a Pro-M kit with a few extras. Sounds great for the money! For the price of those you really can't go wrong. Mine has a virgin bass drum as well. Woohoo! The kick is very strong and the toms are as well. I have also tried a few head types on there and it has the capability to produce a variety of tones. If you shop around you can get better deals on them too. massmusic.net and coloradodrum.com both have great service and can work deals. I got mine from coloradodrum.com. :)
 
if it wasn't for the fact I already have 3-4 kits I would've bought a saturn pro kit, I think mapex rule & for double headed toms they punched right through in an un-mic'd situation
 
Awesome. Thanks for the help guys.

One more question - I'm seeing a lot of different info on the difference between birch and maple shells. What kind of difference can one realistically expect?
 
I have a Mapex Mars Pro, which was the precursor to the Pro M series. Let's put it this way - it was soaked in water during a flood in Mississippi and aside from the wrap getting trashed, the shells held up perfectly and still sound awesome. I bought it in 1993, sold it for 2 years (during which the flood incident occured), got it back and replaced some rusted hardware and refinished the shell, and have been using it since.

Birch vs maple - to my ears, birch shells tend to have a lower fundamental pitch and a faster decay, while maple tend to sound brighter and ring longer.
 
I play a lot of birch drums as I prefer a slightly deader sound & they like to be a bit lower in pitch as russtopher said earlier


as it goes my remo masteredge kit is acousticon........compressed cardboard in other words & I love it
 
Birch will sound punchier and more aggressive, maple will still project just fine, but will be warmer and have a longer sustain. I think the Pro M (as well as the force 3005, which are made by sonor in the same factory as the Pro M), are great drums. I would recommend it... and you can also try massmusic.net.
 
So what about maple shells with a heavy head like a pinstripe or hydraulic?
 
Greg_L said:
So what about maple shells with a heavy head like a pinstripe or hydraulic?
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I use Mapex Saturn's (Maple) with Remo Emporer's, and they sound Bad-Ass!!!
Those Mapex Pro-M's are awesome too. I actually like the Birch better than the Maples. But really, a Mapex kit will sound good no matter which you get.
 
woulda been sweet to get those gig bags though, i just bought a set of bags for my drums for like $100, but i would imagine for a 6pc kit with big ol' toms the bags are probably worth more. my toms are puny and weak compared to the ones on the Pro-M kit, haha.
 
zed32 said:
woulda been sweet to get those gig bags though, i just bought a set of bags for my drums for like $100, but i would imagine for a 6pc kit with big ol' toms the bags are probably worth more. my toms are puny and weak compared to the ones on the Pro-M kit, haha.
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Yeah it appears I missed the gig-bag deal, but oh well.
 
Greg_L said:
Yeah those toms won't do.

That kit I'm looking at comes with the free snare too.
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yeah i just noticed, thats a sweet deal dude, very nice looking kit and i bet that kick drum will have plenty of thump. then you could sell me your free snare!
 
zed32 said:
yeah i just noticed, thats a sweet deal dude, very nice looking kit and i bet that kick drum will have plenty of thump. then you could sell me your free snare!
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No, I'll need that snare for my jazz-fusion-folk songs. :p
 
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