Mapex Saturn Pro

Hi,
I am 15 and live in Australia.
I have been playing fr about 7 years and love it. I take alot of notice of gear and really love it when my kit is sounding good (which is most of the time).


My first drumm kit was a mapex venus kit in rock size's.
after a few years i got in a band and started to play more and more, at this timei was saving for some cymbals as i was using the ones suplied with the kit.
so after about eighteen months of saving i had about $1800 and was ready to by i spoted this kit on ebay.
i bougt it for around 1500 dolars (australian which is around 2000 US.

This kits versatility is really great, In the time Ive owned it My styles and preferances have chnged many times(from pop-rock, prog-rock, blues now to Jazz.)

The tom sing, easy to tune (if you know how to) and have good ranges.

The snear is great, i dont have the money to buy a second snear yet but im starting to thing i dont need to, the doubble snear tightener is a dream, lookd good sounds great.

The Haredware is very versitile I took the toms off the bass drum annd put them onto the cymbal stand so now i have my toms almos level with my snear.

the snear stand gives plenty of hight an is very stable.

hi-hat stand is as good as i could wish for, great construcion very solid good tri-nodle cymbal base, great.

The cymbal stands have bll joint tilters which are cool but dont ofer as large of an angle and conventional type.




The cymbal stand have "dicky" single braced bases, these dont ofer as much stability as doble braced stands and seems like a stupid way to cut corners and bring down the feeling of qulity.

Note; I have two tom toms and a crash "boomed"
on these single braced stands and they dont worrie me.

the ball joints are hard to tighten at first
but i got use to them fast.

I also like the Pearl, DW or PDP and Tama's
I.S.O mounts more than the one found on mapex kits, the Mapex ISO is attched to the under side of the lugs and aouve the plastic couvers. othere have "Less" contact or it is not as close.

I found that the majority of the kit is bulit to really GREAT STANDERDS, shell finish and main hardware.

HOWEVER, some small things in hardware let this kit down.
like stand bases, "power hoops" (for this money I would want die-cast)



This kit didnt sound GREAT untill I bought new skins, I admit that I bought it second hand and it did not have origanal skins.

but now it is awsome and all i want, The walnut is awsome and maple strong.
I have friends who bought kit in similar price range (rrp $3500-$4000 new) new like the pdp LX i think which are all maple bla bla bla and i find my kit far superior.

all in all you will not be let down with this kit nd when it comes down to it i find there are no other brands ofering walnut anywarenear this price, and now ive got it i would not go without.

I belive in Mapex and have recomended the to my friends, those have bought a Pro M (just awsome value and no real fualts besides skins.)

The only kit I fancey abouve this kit are TH gretch USA coustoms and i donthve that money.

Buy this durm kit with cofidence.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Paid: £1029.00, required for upgrade from old pearl Forum kit. Bought from PMT House of drums birmingham.

Excellent!. Arived all boxed (courtesy of jase at PMT!) very securely! Excellent sounding drums, thought would be louder but really no difference from Orion line. Once tuned sound amazing. Walnut does give a slightly deeper tone but they are really outstanding drums for the price. Lacquer shells, mines is twilight stardust. Hardware is all sturdy performing artists 750 series I think (has the ball and socket design). A true classic working drummers kit. It is nice to se a major, smaller company make good drums, it is obvious Mapex care about quality over quantity. Also hats off to Jason at PMT who was just great. Get down there or phone them. A nice non-money grabbing company!

Black panther snare (bought seperately) is a bit hard to tune but apart from that NOTHING!

All shells fully isolated, baering edges complete. Easy to tune and just the usual of a pro kit.

Mapex MARVELLOUS!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased from MusiciansFriend.com for $1550

This kit has a lot of nice touches. Very thin maple/walnut shells. No extraneous holes in any of the shells -- the tom holder mounts on top of the bass drum, tom mounts are attached underneath two lugs on each tom; bass drum spurs are attached underneath tom lugs. All lugs have rubber gaskets to eliminate metal on wood contact. Premium heads are included (Remo ambassadors on both the batter and resonant side; PowerStroke 3 on batter and PowerStroke 3 Resonant on resonant side). Includes Mapex chain drive bass pedal; two cymbal stands that convert between boom and straight stands; snare stand and a snare. The snare contains adjustment knobs on both ends for fine tuning. The finish is smooth and professional. Bass drum hoops are solid wood and nicely finished. The feet on the floor tom are spring loaded. (Seriously) There are memory locks everywhere!


The drums sing!

Cymbal stands are sturdy but only single braced. Cheesey stickers on the metal tom hoops detract from the otherwise professional appearance -- they are easily removed. Ball and socket tom holder requires some arm strength to adjust; toms will move without a lot of tightening.

Very good quality and construction. Shells are very thin, easy to tune and resonate on the ITS mounting system. Tom mounting system is very sturdy. Bearing edges are very smooth and well crafted. Shell interiors are well sanded with no rough spots.

This is a very nice kit for a studio or gigging drummer. The shells are well constructed; very thin; and resonate well. Hardware is adequate for road work. This is an excellent value for the dollar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com