Mapex Drums

Mapex Drums
Industry	musical instruments
Products	drums, drum hardware
Parent	KHS Musical Instruments
Website	http://www.mapexdrums.com/

Mapex Drums is a drum brand manufactured by KHS Musical Instruments Company of Taiwan. Mapex has been in the drum making industry for over 18 years.

1 Products
2 Drum kits
3 Drum heads
4 Current endorsers
5 Past endorsers
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

Products

Mapex produces seven different lines of drums: the introductory Voyager and Horizon series, the intermediate Meridian Birch and Meridian Maple, and the professional level Saturn and Orion. In years past the V and Pro M series were called the Venus and Mars series, in keeping with the tradition of naming the kits after planets. However, the quality of these series have changed since they dropped the old names. For a short time Mapex also offered the "Deep Forest" line of drums, built entirely out of Walnut or Cherry plies, as well as the Aquiles Priester signature drum kit.^[1]

Mapex is also associated with Falcon pedals, Black Panther snare drums, and Tornado starter kits.

Drum kits

Voyager and Horizon

As of January 2010, the Q and QR series are no longer made, having been replaced by the new Voyager series, while Horizon series has replaced the VX series (VXB for Britain). These entry-level, yet highly regarded kits have improved their lugs, mounts, badges and bass drum claws. The Horizon HZ kit offers a newly mixed birch/basswood drum shell. A newly Mapex cymbal pack is optional with any of these kits. ^[2]^[3]

Meridian Maple, Meridian Birch

As of early 2009, Mapex has replaced the M Birch and Pro-M drums series, with the Meridian Birch and Meridian Maple series. These are considered to be intermediate/semi-pro lines of drums. The Meridian Maple series feature 7-ply, 5.8mm, all maple shells (7.2mm bass drum). They also feature Mapex 2.3mm Steel Powerhoops and Remo UT Pinstripe batter heads. The Meridian Birch features 6-ply, 7.2mm, all birch shells, and also feature Remo UT heads, but not the 2.3mm Powerhoops. These two series are Mapex's most popular series of drums.

Saturn

The Saturn line is constructed of Maple and Walnut (the oldest lines were made of Basswood instead of Walnut). The kit is constructed of 6 plies of wood for a shell thickness of 5.1 millimeters. It shares a number of options with both the Mars and Orion line, but is not available with birdseye maple plies. Saturn kits come in a variety of lacquer and wrap finishes (including bursts, sparkles and fades) and come with the option of black or chrome hardware. The Saturn has become very popular, as the thinner hybrid shells provide a lower/warmer/darker fundamental tone than similar all-maple shells. Although they are priced as midrange drums, they are considered a fully professional kit and used by recording artists such as Chris Adler from Lamb of God. Many drummers actually consider the Saturn line their favorite Mapex drums.

Orion

The Orion Series is an all maple 6.1 millimeter 7 ply setup with an outer layer of Birdseye maple as an option. It is Mapex's flagship series and is also the most versatile kit available from Mapex as each kit can only be ordered by components. No preconfigured kits are available. It is available with gold, black or chrome-plated hardware.

For the duration of 2005 the Orion's inner "plies" were identical to the all maple pro M's inner ply's the difference being the outer "finish" ply. The Orion received Mapex's figured birds eye maple or other such exotic wood finishes, while the pro M received regular North American maple finish ply. With the exception of the 15th Anniversary edition Pro M. with a production run of 300 worldwide this set was given the figured Birdseye Maple finish of the Orion in Autumn or Jade Fade.

The overall shell thicknesses for both the Orion and the early Pro-M's of 2005 - 2006 were identical at 6.1 mm. This was the case only till early 2006 when production changed at the factory in Tianjin. All pro Ms received a changed ply configuration and thickness resulting in an overall shell thickness of 5.8mm, and the Orion kept its 6.1 mm shell thickness. The Orions are actually priced lower than most of their high end market competition. The exotic burl finish is not common with other high end drum companies at the same price point.

Drum heads

Mapex kits also come with Remo drumheads. All of the drums below Saturn come with the UT series, which are made in the Remo factory in China. They are made using the same Dupont Mylar film as is used on the Remo USA WeatherKing head. The difference is in the construction of the head. Whereas the US head is made using a poured channel technique, the China heads are crimped. The aluminum hoop is folded over a steel ring that is inserted in the U-channel to hold the film in place. Starting in 2007, Saturns and Orions come with Remo Emperor heads on the toms and clear ambassadors for the resonant heads. This was put in place to showcase the full sonic capabilities of the drums right when they are in stores.