Best drums that are in the competitive range of like the Mapex Meridian Maples?

[TwoCables]

Edit: My main goal is to basically create like a personal database of all the best 100% maple mid-level drums because I really don't know what's what out there.

I have a thread going right now where I'm asking for help in getting the highest quality drums for up to $1,375 or less. One member recommended the Gretsch Catalina Maples, and another member recommended the Mapex Meridian Maples. Then another mentioned JustDrumsOnline more or less in passing. Well, JustDrumsOnline has a 6pc Catalina Maple shell pack going for $749.95 shipped, and they also have a Meridian Maple Studioease shell pack for $889.95 shipped! This would not only allow me to purchase sooner than I had planned (which is any time after June 4th), but it would also leave me with plenty of money left over for a complete set of heads, maybe some snare wires of my choice, drum cases, and even a double tom stand so I can keep my ride in nice and close.

So what's up with this level of drums? Are they ok? Or, can I do better without breaking the bank while still being able to get heads, cases, and even a double tom stand?

[Artstar]

The Mapex, IMO, is more approaching the Gretsch Renown in it's performance, options of SIZES, COLORS, hardware.. etc.. even though it comes in UNDER Renown pricewise.. Those are some NICE drums. I mean check it out.. These are pro options.. There are TEN kick drum sizes ALONE.... http://usa.mapexdrums.com/drums/meridianmaple/index.asp

Here is a six piece for $780 shipped (bottom of page) : http://www.midwestpercussion.com/drums/acoustic/mapex/m_prom.html

[bryanmurr]

I own a Mapex Meridian Birch set. It is very well made and sounds good to me. The maples are proably even better. I was lucky with my set. It had been used at a festival for a few weekends and had all upgraded evans heads on them. So i got the set with new heads cheaper than it would have costed new..

Gretsch makes some great dums too. I doubt that you will do much better than a Mapex or a Gretsch in the price range you have........... unless you want to look at used kits.

[daredrummer]

Well you've got the Pearl VMX Vision, the Yamaha Tour Custom, the ludwig epic (combo of birch and maple) and epic x over (combo of walnut, maple, and poplar) and centennial, pdp platinum series, and then of course the 2 you mentioned.

Well you said you wanted pure maple, so I guess we can rule the 2 ludwig epic's out. The centennial is probably out of your price range... I've heard great things about the Catalina Maple and the Meridian Maple, and also the Yamaha Tour Custom.
If it was me I'd go with the Mapex Meridian, but it's really up to you.

[bobdadruma]

I got to sample a Meridian Maple kit at a drum shop a while back.
I really liked them. I liked everything about them.
They sure looked and played like pro level drums to me.
I liked the tom mounts and hardware better than the Gretsch.

I have a Mapex Black Panther 5.5x13 maple snare that I really like.

[braincramp]

Hate to sound like a broken record but here is a link and you get to pick your tom sizes for 650

http://www.dalesdrumshop.com/specials/174,sonor-force-3007-maximum-maple-m2-shell-bank/

[TwoCables]

Ha, at this point in time it's beginning to sound like the Meridian Maple Studioease could be destined to be my next drum set! But of course, I still have about 4 whole months to figure this out!

The Mapex, IMO, is more approaching the Gretsch Renown in it's performance, options of SIZES, COLORS, hardware.. etc.. even though it comes in UNDER Renown pricewise.. Those are some NICE drums. I mean check it out.. These are pro options.. There are TEN kick drum sizes ALONE.... http://usa.mapexdrums.com/drums/meridianmaple/index.asp

Here is a six piece for $780 shipped (bottom of page) : http://www.midwestpercussion.com/drums/acoustic/mapex/m_prom.html
Whoa! If I choose the Meridian Maples, then I hope Midwest Percussion still has this price and availability as early as May! I mean, I could order these on April 4th because my monthly saving will cause me to have $825 on that day ($275 on the 4th of every month, starting 2 days ago), but I'll have to wait until May 4th because I need some headroom for heads, cases, and a double tom stand.

So I'm curious: you said that the Meridian Maples lean more towards the performance of the Renown Maples. Can you expand upon that some more? Is this also in comparison to the Catalina Maples?

I own a Mapex Meridian Birch set. It is very well made and sounds good to me. The maples are proably even better. I was lucky with my set. It had been used at a festival for a few weekends and had all upgraded evans heads on them. So i got the set with new heads cheaper than it would have costed new..

Gretsch makes some great dums too. I doubt that you will do much better than a Mapex or a Gretsch in the price range you have........... unless you want to look at used kits.
Thank you!!

Well you've got the Pearl VMX Vision, the Yamaha Tour Custom, the ludwig epic (combo of birch and maple) and epic x over (combo of walnut, maple, and poplar) and centennial, pdp platinum series, and then of course the 2 you mentioned.

Well you said you wanted pure maple, so I guess we can rule the 2 ludwig epic's out. The centennial is probably out of your price range... I've heard great things about the Catalina Maple and the Meridian Maple, and also the Yamaha Tour Custom.
If it was me I'd go with the Mapex Meridian, but it's really up to you.
Thank you! This is exactly what I needed. I mean, I really don't know what's what out there! But I also simply don't know what's out there.

So what is it about the Meridian Maples that would make you choose them over the rest?

I got to sample a Meridian Maple kit at a drum shop a while back.
I really liked them. I liked everything about them.
They sure looked and played like pro level drums to me.
I liked the tom mounts and hardware better than the Gretsch.

I have a Mapex Black Panther 5.5x13 maple snare that I really like.
Thank you!

What was it about the tom mounts and hardware that you liked better as compared to Gretsch's?

Hate to sound like a broken record but here is a link and you get to pick your tom sizes for 650

http://www.dalesdrumshop.com/specials/174,sonor-force-3007-maximum-maple-m2-shell-bank/
Now that is mind-blowing. I could order this on April 4th if it's still available by then! Well, that's provided that I can get 4 toms and 1 bass drum for $650. :)

[Artstar]

So I'm curious: you said that the Meridian Maples lean more towards the performance of the Renown Maples. Can you expand upon that some more? Is this also in comparison to the Catalina Maples?

:)

I think they have an edge above any of those lower priced maple kits... Catalina, Yamaha Tour, TONS of sizes for add on's later, Cat/Tour don't offer close to same amount of sizes. WOOD/LACQUER QUALITY.. The Meridian looks to have many more clear coats. Chrome quality on all metal pieces. This is more in line with what the Gretsch Renown offers. Higher quality metal, wood, lacquer, and many sizes.
The Sonor 3007 is about even since it is the same manufacturer anyway.. Mapex makes the Sonor.

[TwoCables]

I think they have an edge above any of those lower priced maple kits... Catalina, Yamaha Tour, TONS of sizes for add on's later, Cat/Tour don't offer close to same amount of sizes. WOOD/LACQUER QUALITY.. The Meridian looks to have many more clear coats. Chrome quality on all metal pieces. This is more in line with what the Gretsch Renown offers. Higher quality metal, wood, lacquer, and many sizes.
The Sonor 3007 is about even since it is the same manufacturer anyway.. Mapex makes the Sonor.
I have kinda recently realized that I think my main concern is that since I am coming from 14-year old Stage Customs, I'm hoping to get something with enough of an improvement in sound that I can really appreciate. My Stage Customs aren't 100% birch nor do they even have the YESS mounts. Although, I did retro-fit them with RIMS style mounts.

So I mean, I am hoping to get something that doesn't just sound marginally better, but quite noticeably better. I've never played on a high-end set before, so I'm hoping to get something that could fool me into thinking that it's actually high-end.

[braincramp]

Maybe I'm wrong here but I dont believe Mapex makes the Sonor 3007's..I have heard they are made in the same plant.. but this happens with alot of products. I read Sonor sent there engineers over to train the workers on Sonor quality and drum building. I believe the way they are laminated differs , they have true-pitch lugs..ect..Down the road from my place the Herr's factory makes potato chips and pretzels in the same factory.

[Hellwyck]

I own a Mapex Meridian Birch set. It is very well made and sounds good to me.
Mine sound and feel amazing!

[Kenny Allyn]

Yes they are made in the same KHS facility ... but that is about where it ends except to say they are both of very high quality


For me the edge goes to SONOR if for the hardware alone ... the T bar that mounts the rack toms has two independent post one for each tom, if you purchase just one 400 series SONOR cymbal boom stand in addition to the shell pack you can then either mount the tom holder in the conventional manner on the kick drum, or as a hanging tom next to the floor tom (as I do) . All of the SONOR hardware 400 series up works together so you can configure the kit in many ways as in the SQ2 system. The Mapex T bar only works one way.

I like the SONORs so well I now have a set of 3007s and a new Safari kit ...

Here is the blue 3007 kit configured as a 4 piece using just one of the independent tom holders and the neck-down from the 400 series stand ... the other kit is the Safari

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/kennyallyn/Kennys%20Instruments/Classic4-Safari.jpg

[steadypocket]

Pearl's Vision Series drums are the best bang for the buck in my opinion. It boils down to quality (fit and finish) and superior customer service.

[Artstar]

Maybe I'm wrong here but I dont believe Mapex makes the Sonor 3007's..I have heard they are made in the same plant.. but this happens with alot of products. I read Sonor sent there engineers over to train the workers on Sonor quality and drum building. .

Mapex/KHS has been building all of sonor asian drums for a LONG time. There is nothing "Sonor" about the shell build whatsoever. KHS also produces most of the metal parts Sonor uses on just about everything they do.

Current specs (Strangely Identical for some reason ??? ) Sonor chooses to label plies chinese and canadian. Mapex just calls theirs maple and is not concerned.

Meridian Maple : Toms 7 ply, 5.8 mm
Kick 7 ply, 7.2 mm

Sonor Select Maple : Toms 7 ply, 5.8 mm
Kick 7 ply, 7.2 mm

[daredrummer]

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed. I mean, I really don't know what's what out there! But I also simply don't know what's out there.

So what is it about the Meridian Maples that would make you choose them over the rest?

Well I've played a Gretsch Catalina Maple kit, and I didn't really like the sound. Sounded kind of high pitched and whiny. It may just been the heads or tuning, so idk.

I've played the Yamaha Tour Custom's too, and these sound pretty good. But the reason I'd choose the Meridian's is that you can just tell they're more professional. 8 great finishes, 15 different tom sizes, 5 different snare sizes, 2 six piece configs and 6 five piece configs. Compared to the tour custom's which have 5 finishes (only 2 of which are fades), 6 tom sizes, 1 snare size, 1 four piece config, 2 five piece configs, and 0 six piece configs. I think the Catalina's have even less options than that. I haven't heard a Meridian in person, but I've heard great things about them, and they sound great on online videos.

[Homeularis]

+3 on the Sonor Force 3007 maple.

Even if the shells are made by Mapex, all I see is win win here.

There is a difference though and I'll give the edge to Sonor.

They have more lugs, 10 kick, 10 snare vs Mapex 8 kick 8 snare.

Sonor also has "tune safe" which essentially saves you about 2/3 of your time spent tuning vs virtually every other brand.
And yes, the tom mounts, BD and FT legs and 400 Series hardware are Epic for the money.

$735 total (to my door) from Dales Drum Shop.

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac342/Homeularis/SonorForce3007SnareDrum001.jpg


6pc shell pack (without 400 Series hardware pack of course).

The hardware pack came to my door for only $275 more!.

[braincramp]

From sonor's site...Sonor 3007's shells are made with the Tension-free cross lamination of the individual layers of wood (CLTF Cross Laminated Tension Free Process) ...again not sure if this is unique to Sonor vs. Mapex..I know from experience with the 3007's with a set of G2 heads the toms tune up very easy and stay in tune for a very long time...and the sound is incredible for the price..

[Artstar]

From sonor's site...Sonor 3007's shells are made with the Tension-free cross lamination of the individual layers of wood (CLTF Cross Laminated Tension Free Process) ...again not sure if this is unique to Sonor vs. Mapex..I know from experience with the 3007's with a set of G2 heads the toms tune up very easy and stay in tune for a very long time...and the sound is incredible for the price..

Brain.. I know all about that literature. I'm a Sonor guy for many years. The CLTF marketing they use in the Asian lines is what EVERYONE uses. Cross Laminated Tension Free. They are the same horizontal grain shells that Mapex cross laminated are. They are great drums.

The real German Sonor drums are completely different. Undersized shells, Vertical Grain, and stave-fashion plies on inner/outer, also specific resin. None of this is used by Mapex built Sonor's.

3007's are great though. I am not at all knocking them.. I just prefer the Mapex myself because of the things I mentioned in earlier posts.

[Numberonefan]

Here is a good read on the transfer of the force line to china.

http://www.sonormuseum.com/articles/DrumBusiness/drumbiz.html

[Artstar]

Here is a good read on the transfer of the force line to china.

http://www.sonormuseum.com/articles/DrumBusiness/drumbiz.html

This is when they first made some attempts around 2000' I think.. They incorporated minimal attributes.. then KHS/Mapex quickly abandoned them.. and returned to how they (Mapex) knows how to build a quality shell.. Normal horizontal cross laminated just like an Orion or a Voyager.