Moldy's Final Final Revised Final Mapex Saturn Kit

Moldy

Silver Member
Updated setup from this thread: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55376

Stats really quick:

4 piece Mapex Saturn Kit in Mango Burst (22x18, 12x9, 14x14, 16x16)
14x5.5 Mapex Solid Steel Snare (3mm to 5mm cast steel)

14" Paiste 2002 Sound Edge Hats
14" Paiste Signature Fast Crash
18" Paiste Signature Full Crash
20" Paiste Signature Full Crash
20" Paiste 2002 Ride

Sound Percussion Throne with cloth top
Pearl snare stand
Tama RoadPro cymbal stands
Pearl Eliminator Hihat stand and single bass pedal

Heads are all Remo. Snare has a coated Ambassador over a clear snareside Ambassador. Toms have clear Emperors over clear Ambassadors. Bass drum has clear Powerstroke 3 over coated Powerstroke 3 with no stuffing.

Lighting wasn't optimal, but this is the best I could manage in the middle of winter up here in the Seattle area.

I was really trying to go for full on classiness this time, as my tastes in music have settled somewhere in the wide genre that is "alternative rock". I wanted the set to be able to play anything from soft, mellow grooves to hard, big rock sounds; from Foo Fighters to Flyleaf. Maybe I'm traditional grip at heart? I'd definitely opt more for complexity and layers of sound rather than sheer speed.

I can't think of a single thing I want to change, add or subtract to this kit now. It's the perfect medium between large enough to have options and small enough to still fit in a room and transport easily. Plus, I don't think I can sustain this swap mania anymore, financially Toungue

And yes, I really do love my new Paistes a thousand times more than the Zildjians I owned.

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I love the colour of your kit Moldy. Just shows you can have stunning colour without resorting to a wrap. Love the grain sneaking through. The whole kit looks set up for fit & function. Really nice.
 
Beautiful kit, and yeah those 2002 Rides sound amazing!
But your snare... that can't be the angle you play it at, right?
 
Beautiful kit, and yeah those 2002 Rides sound amazing!
But your snare... that can't be the angle you play it at, right?
That's almost exactly the angle I play my snare at. Tilted away by about 5 degrees. Perhaps Moldy tilts his snare a tiny bit more than me but not by much. This setup is typical of players who use or used traditional grip or players who like the snare low and regularly exploit the rim. I'm a bit of all those rolled into one. Although almost certainly coincidence, every time I see a setup with the snare like that, the player is very likely to be good. By comparison, most times I see a setup with the snare tilted sharply sowards the player, the player isn't that hot. I'm sure there's no real relationship but funny it seems to work out that way.
 
The snare was something I was experimenting with at the time. I decided against it and switched back to a more normal angle/height yesterday. Like KIS said, I was trying it out to exploit the rim more easily but eh.

If there are any other weird angles in my kit, I definitely don't see them. :)
 
If there are any other weird angles in my kit, I definitely don't see them. :)

I think the 12" tom is tilted to the left quite a lot, if it was my kit and I had to play on it, I would put it more straight. But if you like it, you should keep it like this.

Bram
 
The tilt lets me transition to the floor toms a lot easier. Just for me, though. When I had it low and flat, it was a stretch to hit and when I had it tilted more directly to me, I found I had to do extra arm movements to avoid hitting its rim on the way out.
 
And how do you like the sound of this kit? Is it possible to get them tuned easily to various pitches? I'm asking, because I have to choose either Saturns or MMXes for my next kit and don;t know which one to choose :p Btw, Nice kit
 
I love the sound of this kit. It's very punchy like birch but deep and full, like you'd expect from bubinga. And yet it sounds anything but dead (which is my big complaint with the Tama Starclassic B/Bs). The Mapex Saturns sound great for any use! I used to have everything tuned low and it was very boomy, but now I have it to a more medium tension, which gives the more traditional rock tom sound. I haven't tried a very high tuning, like what is used for jazz, so I can't review that range.
 
That sounds nice. I think I'm ging to get either Sautrns or Orions as I can buy them for the same price.
 
Oh hey, it's the bruford set-up.

I saw some stuff about snare angles earlier and I've found having the snare completely flat is the most versatile position, especially since you can do gravity rolls with it pretty easily.

How's the bruford set working for you?
 
Nice kit. The only thing I would add are some of my own stick marks on those heads.
 
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