Mapex Falcon Doublepedal Video & Short Review

Also have a Falcon Double, absolutely love it!

I think the best feature is all the extra "tuning extras" you get with the pedal... They really cater to as many players as possible. Its like buying 25 pedals in one...
 
I tried some today and they were pretty sluggish.. Was it the setting they're on or are they a bit like that?

probably the setting. lots of tuning adjustment you can do to make it feel good. was there a weight in the beater? I find that makes it a bit sluggish. but I jus remove it. I use the weight for warm up and double bass practice.
 
I got in touch with Mapex and they ended up sending me a new pedal. I was really impressed with their customer service. I would definitely recommend checking these pedals out.
 
I tried some today and they were pretty sluggish.. Was it the setting they're on or are they a bit like that?

Imo, it was the direct drive linkages. I found that the linkages add a good amount of weight to the pedal. I own Axis A longboards as well and found that, for me, the mapex dd's are more of a cross between an Axis type pedal and a chain drive. In terms of lightness I've found that the Falcons with the strap drive and pursuit cam most replicates my Axis, but with a bit more omph to the hit. I also feel there a bit more controllable at high speed when trying to keep even strokes. I thinks the Falcon dd linkages were to have some weight shaved off of them that would make for awesome competition to the offerings from Pearl, Axis and the like. Besides Trick, I've never owned a pedal that's so easy to reach all the adjustments from sitting behind the kit.
 
Actually this one has the chain fitted, tried it again today.

I tried changing spring tension, changing beater angle, lowering beater height but none of those things seemed to lighten it up.

It had the double sided plastic/felt beater, which did feel kinda heavy but next to eliminators these things were tanks.

Maybe it was the cam.
 
Did you happen to notice what weights were in the beater head? The 10 gram weight or none installed would lighten up the pedal. i had Dw 9000's when I got my Falcons and felt they felt very similiar with the 20 gram weight installed. Both felt very fast and smooth but had a very heavy feel to them. I'm using iron cobra wood beaters on my falcon at the moment with straps and the pursuit cam and it's almost as quick as my axis with my Falcon beaters installed. I should note that i have the variable drive lever on my axis at the very bottom so there lightening quick.
 
Yep, has 10g weights in it. Wonder why it feels so heavy to me. I can try taking the weight off but maybe a cam is the culprit too.
 
It's possible that the cam is the issue but maybe more likely the chains. I see in your sig photos that you have demon drives. If your comparing the Falcons to those it would be tough for the Falcons to compare in terms of lightness. After following this thread for a bit I reinstalled the direct drives and noticed a big difference in how the pedal felt in regards to weight. I had leg surgery about a month ago so i can't really give them a good test to compare, but i just used my left foot for testing purposes and the straps were immediately reinstalled. Since I'm off work on medical leave and have plenty of time to burn maybe I'll try every option possible to give a better informed opinion.. The practice pads becoming monotonous anyway. For what it's worth I'm using iron cobra beaters at the moment so maybe that's why mine feel light. I don't know the weight difference in the two beaters but I would think it was pretty minimal.
 
How are the falcon owners going?

I played one for an hour today.. Better settings than previously tried, and I can get it cheap as its a closing down sale. Heart was set on a 9000 but I think I really like this thing. Build quality is amazing, it looks really sexy, very powerful snd easy to play, just a tad sluggish with single foot doubles which I think is a good measure of a pedal but maybe I can get used to it.

Falcon vs 9000 thoughts? I know I hate those comparisons but humor me if you can.
 
If you like the way the Falcons felt then I would definitely go that direction. I sold my 9000's when I got my Falcons for the simple reason that they're so much easier to adjust and have more options in regards to chain, strap or direct drive. Not to mention they're half the price. I switched back and forth between the two pedals and found that the 9000 just wasn't that much smoother of faster. I also prefer the slightly longer footboard and shorter heel plate.
 
Well I snapped them up today, for what I paid I can't really complain but I did kinda rush the decision. I'll have a good play with the settings over teh weekend.
 
So what settings do you guys use?

So far I've got the strap with the black cams and no beater weights, but I still find the stroke a little bit awkward.

The delivery itself is so much better than my demon drives - no half volume mis-hits, every hit is big and powerful, and it's definitely easier to play constantly. I'm still in two minds about these pedals and wondering whether I should sell them while I can recoup my money or if I just need to give myself a chance to get used to them.

I haven't had very much time to experiment but I was thinking of playing with the footboard height and cam angle.
 
So what settings do you guys use?

So far I've got the strap with the black cams and no beater weights, but I still find the stroke a little bit awkward.

The delivery itself is so much better than my demon drives - no half volume mis-hits, every hit is big and powerful, and it's definitely easier to play constantly. I'm still in two minds about these pedals and wondering whether I should sell them while I can recoup my money or if I just need to give myself a chance to get used to them.

I haven't had very much time to experiment but I was thinking of playing with the footboard height and cam angle.

I use the silver cams with the 10g weights and medium/light spring tension. Was using the chains but now use the straps. Am not a fan of the black cams but that's just me.
 
On one kit I have two singles set up with with chains, med tension, heavy weights. On another kit I have a falcon double, on straps, med/light weight tension, and light beater weights. I actually like somewhere In between the two settings. The nice thing with theses pedals is you can change just about every setting on them. Take the time and find what works for you.
 
So I A/B'd them with my demon drives and made the decision to sell the demon drives.

Speaking of the Falcons - while the stroke is slightly awkward for me (so far), the power and consistency is as good as it gets, and somehow they're also very fast. I am getting more comfortable with them as time goes on.

I never thought my demon drives felt "cheap" but these things feel a notch higher quality wise too.

The slim design actually comes in handy fitting between the lugs on my little 20" kick, and my sonor hi-hat stand which doesn't allow much room, and the shorter centre piece of the drive shaft is actually useful as it allows you to bring your hats in as close as you would if you were just playing single pedal. I guess the pearls were a bit nicer to look at but that's all they had on the mapex.

I got $350 for the demon drives... they were really pretty and nicely engineered and I felt kinda sad to sell them but they didn't really do the job... they weren't powerful, it was too easy to play a weak hit and I don't really agree with direct drive. I need 2 double pedals and I think I'm going to put this money towards a dw9002.
 
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