my first brass snare was a 13" Black Panther nickle smoked Brass Master. I've been sold on 13" snares ever since. 13's are the most perfect most versatile easiest to tune quickly than any other size...after discovering the benefits of the 13" snare size the only 14 snare I still love is the Acrolite. like the only 14 I will ever own. I am a die hard Mapex Saturn guy playing a monster 12 piece Saturn kit. Mapex makes awesome drums for the best value.
I agree.. I'm kinda a brand loyalist & I try to find a company with great drums & kick pedal for the $$$. However, when I starting playing different music from rock & gospel to Hip-hop, funk & r&b Ludwig wasnt cutting it anymore especially for more modern sounds. That's when I went to Mapex in 2012. Most churches had Pearl & Tama so I never even considered them cause I wanted to be different. And DW has been way overpriced but my fellow drummers at other churches swore by them & their pedals. Mapex is no joke & they are easier to find parts for as the years go by. I'm sticking with them even though Ludwig seems as if they have come out of the prehistoric era with their atlas pro hardware. It's too late.. I got a taste of Mapex & I'm not going back. I gotta get a Falcon pedal now, cause I took a chance got the Tama Speed cobra & loved it but I'm still on the fence if like there drums or not. Keep shedding & jamming yall!
For everyone that looks for a good affordable allround snaredrum i recomend the Mapex Exterminator. You might think that the Exterminator is a Metal snare but it actaually works for all kinds of music. I personally use it for Jazz and Fusion. It has a nice deep focused tone and sounds good with all tunings. 300€ that you wont regrett
I have a mapex mars kit, and the snare sounds incredible for being so inexpensive. The hardware seeps a bit cheap, but its a 14 x 6.5 inch birch monster. After replacing the batter head and snare wires it sounds as good as any snare I've heard
I have Mapex Horizon kit which is a beginner kit ( bought it used for around 300$ ) but I must say it looks and sounds better than the money I paid for it . I recently bought Evans Onyx heads for the toms and snare and this thing sounds really good . I think I'll stick with Mapex for a long time .
If the backing track thing is there to show how the snare sits in a mix, I think it could have been chosen better - something more like a full band mix would be helpful, as any snare will stand out against a single mono synth line (especially as the backing track is panned hard right... Perhaps get a short edit of some Dorje or Chasinjade track or something with no drums? That aside, another good video - cheers Ben!
I bought a set of waxed hand rubbed finished Mapex Saturn Pro Series back in 2001. My first experience with Mapex at the time. Since then I've built the kit to a 12 piece double bass set up. I've also bought a set of Saturn Pro-M Series. 13"×6 Smoked Nickel plating over Brass Black Panther. 12"×7 Black Panther Cherry/Maple. 13"×5.5 Mapex MPX Maple. I've been playing drums for 35 years now and found Mapex back in 2001. I am SOLD on the quality and SOUND and affordabillity of Mapex Saturns & Orions.
Ben Minal Quick question. Why play a DW drumset and not a DW snare? They make amazing snares and I'm wondering if there's a reason you don't play them.
Mapex drum building philosophy on their Pro Maple and Meridian Maple is a hybrid between 80's era Japanese-made Tama [cross-laminated, diagonally cut, staggered seam drumshell] and USA-made Gretsch thinner shells [5.1mm toms/ 7.2mm bass drum thicknesses.] Absolutely the best bang for the buck. They come stock with 2.3mm Powerhoops for improved tuning and rimshots. Beautiful lacquer finishes. Add heads of your choice and you'll be pleasantly surprised!! I also own several Mapex snare drums, both wood and metal, and they get compliments all the time!! Btw, I'm not endorsed by them and I own several pro drumkits. Nice snare demo!!
i suck at drumming and even though my whole kit is decent it is the Nomad snare that gets positive comments almost every time i play it. IT. FUCKIN. ROCKS. best snare out there.
I recently bought a Nomad 2nd hand for £200, after replacing the heads with Hydraulic Black on top and Hazy 300 on the bottom, the sound was incredible and after seeing this video, it reinforced that I'd made the right decision =] Great video, good advice and also English for once haha
I took the MPX 14×8 and replaced everything on the drum but the shell itself... I used the DW mag throw off with the 3p butt plate, PDP wood hoops top and bottom, new Remo heads, a 42 strand snare wire, and new lugs (just to keep it classy) and for about $350 I got a snare that holds its own with snare 3 times the price! By far the best sounding snare I've ever played....
What I (if I was looking for a Snare ATM) would be missing, would be a statement about the tunability of the shells (with quality heads, of course). I have a DW 14x5 Collectors Maple and she sounds killer from all low-fat to really cranked up. Sanre wires are always awesome to adjust to everything I need. My other kit parts are some pearl-cheapo-spinoff-crap shells that I can tune to exactly one specific note per shell (+/- maybe half a tone and that's it) and every other tuning will instantly choke the drum totally. I think that's the reason you tuned the MPX so deeply? It sounded surprisingly good in that range, though.
Love the Nomad and Rotrosonic.......so much, that I ordered both (couldn't decide between them). Both are great drums! Have a couple older Mapex BP drums (brass and maple), and they don't hold a candle to these (in both build quality and sound). Love the new throw off. Thanks for the great video!
my drummer uses a newer steel mapex that he bought at the same time as his armory kit...it actually sounds really musical while still being able to get that sort of eye blinking crack...I dig it it's gonna take quite a snare for me to ditch the silly little acrolite that I paid $100 for...brass and aluminum are the two classic snare sounds to my ears...very few wooden snares do it for me in quite the same way...there is, however a 13x7 gem that pork pie put out a while back which is maple with a zebrawood, mahogany veneer....it's one of the better snares I've ever heard in my life
I love the way you groove man. Could I bother for a tip to develop that? I have a Mapex Sledgehammer by the way, LOVE IT! I'm thinking on getting a Nomad as well. :) Also saw the Porkpie Rosewood Zebra Maple in a vid. That sounds sweet as well. I'd like to check it out!
Hi Ben, good to see another double Trick Bigfoot user! Did you have any luck finding a hardcase for them? The one from Trick is silly money! Been using an old Pearl Eliminator case but gigging with that is a stress! Cheers fella
Hey Ben do you think you could cover some other snare manufacturers, like the idea you did here, or even with more than one manufacturer in a video? I really do like the look of mapex snares but I don't just want to just stick with one manufacturer when I know there many other great ones out there! Love your videos but, you deserve a bigger fanbase!
Tune the bottom head so you get the lowest tone you can (the bottom head is where you get your resonance from) and keep the top head loose without it sounding flappy. I use two bits of Moongel on the top head to dampen it and sometimes I put a couple of cotton wool balls in the drum either through the air hole or drop them in when I'm changing heads. I also use an Evans EC2 Level 360 head, which sounds sick. Hope that helps!
Ben Minal It also helps that the floor tom and kick are DW drums! LOL! Still, great tips that I'll apply to my tuning and I need to take a look at those Evans 360 heads. Thanks, Ben!
Good video,but the real test of a snare drum is in a pub with a guitarist, who's had a few shandys in the interval, and is now cranked up to 11 and doing his impression of Jimmy Page(and his brother is the bass player.....) And... do you find that Moongel marks the drum heads?
You remind me a lot of Cobus, the way you play (and the faces you make XD) and you're a very talented drummer. Quick question, are you left handed? You seem to be playing the hi-hat without crossing over like most right-handed drummers do, sooo....?
I have a Black Panther Maple 13 x 6. Think I paid 180$ It is my back up snare. I love it. Sometimes when I use moongel...i cut it in half like the shape of a slice of pizza...works for me. I like #2 and #4 in this vid. To me #2 almost sounds as good as #4.
That Black Widow does not sound like a middle of the road snare. I own one, and it is such a good snare. I'm not sure why this drum is considered a mid-level drum; it goes with the Black Panther Black Widow drum kit which is Mapex's high end line of drums.
The nomad and retrosonic sound incredibly high end compared to the others. BTW best sounding audio for demos. If I could make a suggestion could we also hear the sound with the camera or room mic. Thanks for sharing. Was that an audix 5 mic???
Hey, im looking at a 14x8 MPX from them. Would you recommend? Im trying to find a nice big drum and its the cheapest thing i could find. Im not a fan of how you tuned up the mpx in this video so, would you recommend the series?
Hey man, 14 x 8 is pretty deep. I haven't played many snares like that but I would say that any manufacturer is going to sound good with nice heads and well tuned. Just browse RU-vid until you find a drum sound you like and go check out the drum in a store.
It would have been nice if you've had used a little more variety of sizes (e.g. the 14x7 Phat Bob, or the Machete/Sledgehammer), and maybe also given more of a room sound of the drums, rather than just a close mic that made them all sound the same IMO :)
Hey man, I've only just come across your videos and they are great! I'm looking for a snare recommendation, and you really seem to know your stuff, so I though I'd ask you. What sort of snares (Mid price range) would you recommend for metal drumming? I really liked the sound of the black widow snare, I am sort of after one with a similar tone, with a moderately quick cracking sound. Any recommendations?
Hey man, go and spend some time in your local drum shop (if they have a room where you can play the snares!) and try out everything you can in your price range. Tune the top head evenly and put some moongel near the rim to get a consistent tone. Make a decision based on your ears not my recommendation :)
I suspected as much. Thanks for letting me know. Can't wait for some more videos from you! Got an ETA as to when there will be more videos? Now I need to find some low prices on the Brass Cat and the Nomad!
Hey. is this the choice of cymbals you use professionally? all these artists use one company and i feel that i should also, but each brand is different and i need a variety, you know?
Use what makes YOU happy. The important thing is to test out the cymbals in store before you buy if you can, every cymbal has a different character, even 2 of the same model and size.
Great video dude ! I love all the Mapex stuff ! I've been watching you since i saw you with chappers back in the day. Also of course some shamefull self promotion ( i hope you dont mind haha ) The Black Dahlia Murder - Statutory Ape drum cover/jam
as a guitarist i find this video very helpfull to understand my drummer friends better :D but i dont like the electro tune at the end of every snare presentation, i think a guitar, bass track would have been better
Hey, generally I like your helpful videos but have a gripe. Why film what your feet are playing when you're reviewing snare drums or cymbals? I've noticed this in a lot of your videos and I have to wonder why.
