Mapex Meridian Maple - the waiting game...

kick sounds great AJ3000!!!!
do you remember what kick drum mic you used?

Now you're asking!!!

From memory, (it was about 9 months ago, and I've done a fair amount of stuff since this one!) it was a Shure Beta 52 (I think) inside the kick, an AKG D112 inside the kick close to the batter head, and an Audix D4 about 2 inches outside the port. Heads were an eMad 1 with the small muffle ring on the batter and a Powerstroke 3 ebony with a 4" holz.

other ambient mics were all Neumann, 2 overhead (high), 2 outfield room (placed about 10 feet away in a 30ft+ room) and one in an adjacent room for ambient reverb stuff. there were no samples or overdubs on the recording, except for samples taken from the kit prior to the takes. EQing is minimal, and there is very little, if any, compression.

hope this helps!
 
Are you selling your previous kit or keeping it also.? If you are selling this would be a good time to tear it apart, clean it up , polish every inch to make it look as good as possible. Time will fly a little faster as well.
 
Are you selling your previous kit or keeping it also.? If you are selling this would be a good time to tear it apart, clean it up , polish every inch to make it look as good as possible. Time will fly a little faster as well.

Well I do intend on stripping it and fixing it up, but I haven't decided what to sell. The kit is a 7 piece kit, so I might keep some essential bits (one kick, a couple of toms).

I am busy this week, with rehearsals tomorrow and Wednesday night (else I'd have booked an earlier delivery!), so no time to dig in to the old rockstars!


Also, just as an update - 3 nights to go!


Does anyone who owns a Meridian have any advise on bags/cases? I know that Saturns have epic mounts that don't go in to normal sized cases. I don't want to shell out much ££ on new cases, as bags with a little lining do the job for me), but need to know if I need oversized or ones designed for rims mounts, etc..?
 
Well I do intend on stripping it and fixing it up, but I haven't decided what to sell. The kit is a 7 piece kit, so I might keep some essential bits (one kick, a couple of toms).

I am busy this week, with rehearsals tomorrow and Wednesday night (else I'd have booked an earlier delivery!), so no time to dig in to the old rockstars!


Also, just as an update - 3 nights to go!


Does anyone who owns a Meridian have any advise on bags/cases? I know that Saturns have epic mounts that don't go in to normal sized cases. I don't want to shell out much ££ on new cases, as bags with a little lining do the job for me), but need to know if I need oversized or ones designed for rims mounts, etc..?

They fit nicely in Hardcases, or the original PR Nutcases (thought the new ones are a bit 'snug'!!!) and they should be fine in proper PR cases. The mounts are not that huge tbh, but the floor Tom brackets do stick out a bit....
 
So you think a regular softcase should be ok on the 14x14? I already have a 16x16 bag for my current kit, so I can try that, but I don't want to then buy a 14 and find it won't go in!
 
So you think a regular softcase should be ok on the 14x14? I already have a 16x16 bag for my current kit, so I can try that, but I don't want to then buy a 14 and find it won't go in!

Mine is a 12x14..... I'm not sure about anything square sized, as I don't think I have used them! (unless my Yamaha is - which I suppose they could be!) I was talking more from the perspective of width. The hardware won't come above or below the hoops of the drum, it's more about the bulk off of the back edge....
 
Mine is a 12x14..... I'm not sure about anything square sized, as I don't think I have used them! (unless my Yamaha is - which I suppose they could be!) I was talking more from the perspective of width. The hardware won't come above or below the hoops of the drum, it's more about the bulk off of the back edge....

Yeah, I wasn't worried about the depth :p

Just added the depth as it's part of the dimensions.

So you don't think I'll have an issue with a 14 soft case, then?
 
Cool, thanks!

The other question I have - the toms have Remo pinstripes as stock heads, but what do the kick and snare come with, and what are the stock resos across the kit?
 
Cool, thanks!

The other question I have - the toms have Remo pinstripes as stock heads, but what do the kick and snare come with, and what are the stock resos across the kit?

They're not 'proper' pinstripes on the batter - the Remo UX or UT or something - Chinese equivalents anyhow. The resos are Chinese Remo single ply. Snare and kick I have no idea, but they're all pretty junk-like (save for the kick reso I guess). I switched all of mine out straight away. From experience, these kits seem to really come alive with single-ply heads. I use Evans G1 top and bottom on the toms, and an eMad1/powerstroke 3 on the kick. The recording was done with a fresh set of Evans EC2 SSTs on top, over G1s. IMHO they actually killed it a little.....
 
I'll have to stick with stock or otherwise pull heads from my other kit, not enough ££ to re-head it right away. I have a set of G1s on resos on the Tama, so I might give them a go as batters on the Meridian over the remo 1 ply heads.

I don't get why they don't get genuine real heads on their kits. They must know everyone switches them out almost immediately!

And what's the difference between a Remo Pinstripe and a Remo UT Pinstripe. Better production, better QC, better materials? All of the above? Seems silly to me!

Either way, they'll serve as spares in case of split heads or anything unexpected.
 
I'll have to stick with stock or otherwise pull heads from my other kit, not enough ££ to re-head it right away. I have a set of G1s on resos on the Tama, so I might give them a go as batters on the Meridian over the remo 1 ply heads.

I don't get why they don't get genuine real heads on their kits. They must know everyone switches them out almost immediately!

And what's the difference between a Remo Pinstripe and a Remo UT Pinstripe. Better production, better QC, better materials? All of the above? Seems silly to me!

Either way, they'll serve as spares in case of split heads or anything unexpected.

UT heads are of lesser quality than USA's. UT's feel more flimsy than USA's as well. Mapex sent me a replacement for my 12" tom but sent a USA instead of the UT. That's when I noticed the big difference in the two. Change them out as soon as you can, IMO.
 
And what's the difference between a Remo Pinstripe and a Remo UT Pinstripe. Better production, better QC, better materials? All of the above? Seems silly to me!

Remo UT heads are made with the exact same film as Remo USA heads, except they're crimped into the flesh hoop instead of gluing. Personally, I prefer crimped heads over glued, and I didn't have any problems with the stock heads on my kit.

Snare batter is a coated Ambassador equivalent, and the resos are probably going to be a Diplomat weight film. My Meridian Birch kit had clear Ambassadors over Diplomats on the toms, but I don't know if Mapex uses a different reso on the maple kits since they have a Pinstripe batter.
 
The film used on UT heads are not the same Dupont Mylar film used on USA heads. It it of lesser quality. At lest that is what I found on another site.
 
5 days?? try waiting 6 months for a kit you've spent £2k on!! lol now that is a wait!
 
Things are now compounded by the fact that (I managed to forget this) we're going out for dinner that night!!! AAGH! The whole time I'll be aware that my new kit will be sat inside its box in my kitchen!

I might take a lug with me, just to be closer to it ='(
 
DIsaster!

FedEx UK "couldn't find my house". Yeah, sure, and they didn't phone my contact number either, so I wonder how hard they looked.

I had a VERY ticked off chat with the operator at FedEx and made them improve the delivery window to before midday, then placed another call with GAK.co.uk (who I bought the kit from). The guy on the line was great and offered me a 'drummer goody bag' and to pressure FedEx to improve to before 10am delivery.

In conclusion:

Me - angry and dissapointed
FedEx - names and words that I believe are banned on this forum
GAK - great service and understanding telephone operators.

DO NOT USE FEDEX UK.
 
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