To Build or Not To Build...

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NewAgeMuttLange

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I'm looking at Drum Makers and AMDrumParts.com and I'm wondering if it would be more ideal to build my own kit or just go with a Mapex Saturn.. Any thoughts? price wise it'd be about 2-300 more than the saturn to build the kit I'm wanting, just wondering what the opinion of the board members was.

Thanks,
Paul
 
Personally, I have no idea why someone would want to build their own kit. I'd have glue on every article of clothing I owned, each drum would be glued to the next, and I would no longer be interested in playing drums after the year it took to build them.
 
Personally, I have no idea why someone would want to build their own kit. I'd have glue on every article of clothing I owned, each drum would be glued to the next, and I would no longer be interested in playing drums after the year it took to build them.

hehe plus the fact a saturn is just made to go & sound ace............real ace
 
building a drumkit is a lot like building a guitar. you do it for the challenge and fun of it. you do it to enjoy the project and hopefully learn something in the process.

you don't do it to save money or to make money off it in resale (b/c you'll do neither).

that said, you can probably put together a better set than the Mapex by doing it yourself. plus you get to put together the EXACT kit that you want. the bonus being that you get to make sure that the bearing edges are good (where they always seem dodgy on newer kits).


cheers,
wade
 
building a drumkit is a lot like building a guitar. you do it for the challenge and fun of it. you do it to enjoy the project and hopefully learn something in the process.

you don't do it to save money or to make money off it in resale (b/c you'll do neither).

that said, you can probably put together a better set than the Mapex by doing it yourself. plus you get to put together the EXACT kit that you want. the bonus being that you get to make sure that the bearing edges are good (where they always seem dodgy on newer kits).


cheers,
wade


Good info!

I think it also depends on the kit you want to build. Mostly it could be simply a matter of selecting and attaching your own lugs and hardware to a shell that's pre-cut.

No glue involved unless you'd want to use a wrap, which in my opinion would be pointless.

I think there would be a benefit of personal pride to building your own - giving it your own personal detail and making sure every piece fits perfectly together- tightening the screws yourself, etc.

But how important is it to YOU to have an original "Paul the NewAgeMuttLang" kit? Would you play it more often?

On the other hand, Mapex makes great sounding drums. If you're happy with their hardware and the look too, they well worth the price without the extra work.
 
Yup .... it's up to you as to if you'll appreciate the effort of doing it yourself over the instant gratification of a kit ready to go.

I say roll yer own ....
Though, I'm a little biased. :D
 
I built my own 4-piece set about 7 years ago, and played it for a couple years.
I loved the look and sound of some custom DW kits some local band's drummers had but I couldnt afford, so I attempted my own version.
20x18 bass, 12x10 and 14x12 toms on RIMS mounts made from kellar all-maple shells, DW style round lugs, and wrapped in blue sparkle wrap. I paired a DW 5x14 snare with it. That setup looked rock and roll.

But for what I spent back then to build it, I could probably buy a decent level Pacifica set from DW or Gretsch Catalina kit and call it a day. But the sizes I wanted then would have had to been custom ordered so it was kind of a nessesity. I wanted the punchier 20" bass, and my toms mounted off of boom cymbal stands instead of mounted on the bass drum. I could set my drums and cymbals up exactly how I wanted them backstage, and then be carried on by 4 guys, and I was ready to play in under 5 minutes.
 
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