New Mapex BP Blaster Kit

keepitgreen

Senior Member
My new toys:

I bought the 5 pc kit (10", 12", 14", 16", 22") and 2 multi stands, Falcon snare stand, Falcon HH stand, Falcon bass pedal, and a new Tama 1st Chair.

Basically a brand new beginning from the ground up! I'm crazy excited right now, like a little kid on Christmas morning!
 

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Nice looking kit. Love the finish! Never owned a Mapex kit but always wanted one.
 
I love that tobacco burst finish. Sweet.​
 
I'm just in awe of how beautiful it looks in the right light... My iphone photos don't really do it justice, but that finish is really spectacular...

Also, I can't get over how solidly and cleverly engineered the Mapex hardware is... For example, I didn't realize it until this morning, but the floor tom legs have springs in the rubber feet, which act as shocks so the toms kinda "float" when you hit them. The falcon hardware is incredible pro level stuff, with all kinds of neat tricks and adjustments, while still looking very minimal and sleek at the same time... I'm sure that DW, Ludwig, Pearl, etc, all have this level of engineering in their top level hardware, but this is the first time I've owned this kind of quality gear, so I'm pretty blown away!
 
If I was going to buy any Mapex drum set, it would be the Black Panther Blaster kit. I like the sound of their maple shells with re-rings and rounded bearing edges. The only other Mapex drum kit that I liked when I played it was the Velvetone.

Nice sounding and great looking set of drums, have fun with them

Dennis
 
That is really pretty! Make sure you always have your badges pointed in the right direction ;)

Ha! I'm never really sure how much fun you're poking Bo, but it got me thinking... There's a fair bit of OCD going on with most drummers, eh? Looking at the pics, I do have all the badges pointing out/up, and the heads all have to have the logos centered, and the cymbal logos need to be all lined up just right.... setting up the bass pedal last night, I was trying to figure out why it didn't feel right. Then I realized that it was because the beater doesn't strike the exact center of the bass drum, which I know is by design, but still struck a nerve because it wasn't perfectly symmetrical....

Are we all doomed to a life of Woody Allen-like neurosis?
 
Nice kit! I love the black cat badges. Did you get another snare too?

Btw you need more Woody Allen. Your rack toms aren't level and your hi hat stand is in Africa!
 
Nice kit! I love the black cat badges. Did you get another snare too?

Btw you need more Woody Allen. Your rack toms aren't level and your hi hat stand is in Africa!

I've actually sorta accidentally started a black panther snare collection too. I've got the BP Velvetone and the BP Blade.....

Maybe it's not that accidental. I do live in Taiwan, their native land.
 
Noice! Congratulations with those beauties. Time to get comfortable behind them (and to get that hi-hat stand 'out of Africa' ^).
 
WOW...Beautiful kit!!! Imagine they sound just as good as they look. I'm a huge fan of the Black Panther snares and have owned a couple. Waiting for my Phat Bob to come in : )
 
Thanks for the all the confirmation that I made an intelligent purchase guys! I'm seriously obsessed with them right now, and I caught myself just staring at them last night when I came home from work, just admiring the way they look... I've got a lot of work to do tuning them properly, getting the angles/position of the toms just right, etc...

Noice! Congratulations with those beauties. Time to get comfortable behind them (and to get that hi-hat stand 'out of Africa' ^).

Being 100% honest here, am I missing something? You're the second one to mention Africa with the hi-hat stand... I'm confused... What does that mean?
 
My guess would be the hats are sitting far away from your kit. We know you just set it all up for the pic...just move 'em in closer lol. Don't want to strain a tricep muscle reaching ;-)

Steve

Ps...those really are some gorgeous drums! I am waiting on my Saturn IV's to arrive sometime in September. I got the 5 piece natural ash burl which I will compliment with my black panther phat bob snare. I don't care what all the people say about saturns, they are fantastic drums. To each his own ya know. I would never bash their DW's, Gretsch's, Yamaha's, Sonor's etc...
 
My guess would be the hats are sitting far away from your kit. We know you just set it all up for the pic...just move 'em in closer lol. Don't want to strain a tricep muscle reaching ;-)

Steve

Ps...those really are some gorgeous drums! I am waiting on my Saturn IV's to arrive sometime in September. I got the 5 piece natural ash burl which I will compliment with my black panther phat bob snare. I don't care what all the people say about saturns, they are fantastic drums. To each his own ya know. I would never bash their DW's, Gretsch's, Yamaha's, Sonor's etc...

Ah, that makes sense I guess... Ya, those pics were taken as I was assembling the kit... I'm still working on finding the right angles and positions for everything. I've only used a 2up 2down kit once or twice before, so having an extra floor tom is kinda throwing me for a loop right now.... Still trying to figure out how to get that extra tom involved!

I lurked through the majority of the "Saturn Saga", and read back through a lot of the old archived posts... The entire thing made me laugh/shake my head.... I don't think anyone ever really bashed the Saturns, it was more..........................Wait, I really don't need to rehash it all... A good friend of mine here in Taiwan has a Saturn kit in green sparkle, and while i'm not a big fan of sparkle finishes, I gotta say that kit rumbles with a life of its own... It is a big reason why I pulled the trigger on the Blaster kit...

Anyway, nightraider, I can't wait to see pics of your new Saturns when they arrive in September. I spent about two months putting the cash together for my new babies, and that was torture... I can only imagine what you're going through!
 
Ha! I'm never really sure how much fun you're poking Bo, but it got me thinking... There's a fair bit of OCD going on with most drummers, eh? Looking at the pics, I do have all the badges pointing out/up, and the heads all have to have the logos centered, and the cymbal logos need to be all lined up just right.... setting up the bass pedal last night, I was trying to figure out why it didn't feel right. Then I realized that it was because the beater doesn't strike the exact center of the bass drum, which I know is by design, but still struck a nerve because it wasn't perfectly symmetrical....

Are we all doomed to a life of Woody Allen-like neurosis?

As Dennis pointed out, this only applies to Saturns. I am poking fun, but not at you. We had that neurotic Mapex Saturn owner here that just wreaked havoc with other members and was eventually banned. That's why I always make fun of stuff like that.

However, when I think back on all my years of playing, there was never a time my remo logos were not at the top of the drum, facing me, and my badges (regardless of drum) were always facing out the right way. But my excuse is that I grew up playing left-handed on drumsets with actual mounts bolted to the toms, and when set-up, the badges would be on the wrong side. Now, 30 years later, my badges just happen to be where everyone can see them.

I just made sure I could play - and I hope this allows me to be as neurotic as I want ;)
 
I guess being a little OCD comes with the territory. We have to keep great time. We are often the only ones on stage who can count to four8^). I catch myself worrying on where to align my logos when I change heads on my kit. When I mount my 13" in a 1 up 2 down tom setup the logo on the shell is on a different side than when I mount it with it's 12" cousin in a 2 up/2 down. I wonder if other musicians have this problem. After all that time spent evening out my left and right sides and trying to make my rolls sound like a piece of sandpaper being torn it's only natural that I've got this little problem with symmetry. Maybe we should start a support group.
 
Being 100% honest here, am I missing something? You're the second one to mention Africa with the hi-hat stand... I'm confused... What does that mean?
I was referring to the angle of your hihat pedal (the footboard, that is) vis-à-vis your bass drum pedal. Doesn't look comfortable to me.
 
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