Mapex M series?

The M Series was short for Mars Birch
The Pro M Series was short for Mars Maple
This line has been discontinued and replaced with Meridian Birch and Meridian Maple.
The new hardware on Meridian drums are much better and Mapex's new patented lugs are really impressive too and secure. Not to say the M Pro series weren't that safe, I have a Meridian Maple and the hardware is really light, the only problem is the cymbal stand weight. People say it's really heavy though for someone quite weak as myself I find it really light and I wish it could be heavier as I have a mounted 8" and 13" and sometimes they fall over. But the Mapex M series were really good and they are a hard find now. So I'd take them :)
if you don't like them then you could exchange them for a Meridian or a Saturn.

I'd also like to go into Saturns. Saturns are REALLY unique, the older Saturns were Birch/Walnut interiors, and walnut shells are pretty unusual. People prefer the Saturns to the Orions as the Maple kits (Meridian Maple or Pro M's) are basically the same shells as Orion only the Orion has top of the range remo heads and top of the line hardware. Saturn drums are now Maple/Walnut and they have some really nice finishes and shell configurations. Saturns are Mapex's most popular series I believe, mainly because the shells are hard and the price is really good and not much more than the Meridian Maples.

Cheers
Chris
 
The regular M-Series, which I have owned now for about 7 or 8 years, was a basswood shell with a maple outer ply. Then Mapex produced an all maple version briefly before switching to the M-Pro series, which does come in birch or maple. Now they have switched to the Meridian name for this general quality kit, and there seem to be several ply configurations available throughout the years. If the badge simply says M-Series, odds are the shells are the basswood/maple.

Anyway, for the money they are very good drums. The basswood shells have a fairly mellow, low sound, closer to maple than birch IMO. Bearing edges are great, and the hardware has proven very sturdy. I've used mine for 100+ gigs a year on average, and they have held up well. I am often complimented on my drum sound.

Hope that helps with your decision!
 
i believe that would be what you'd call an intermediate kit. i notice it comes with mostly B8 cymbals. those are more like entry level cymbals.
 
This is a much better deal than the Vision you were on about the other day. Mapex are decent-sounding drums (I just played an older Mars Pro set at church yesterday, great sound actually). You're getting just as much, even slightly more, drums for just over half what that shop was going to charge you. You can take what you saved and upgrade the cymbals when you feel the need. I'd try to talk him down a couple hundred just on principle... $1200 would be a great price to fight for.
 
i would agree with everything others are saying. i own a mapex meridian maple kit i bought about a year ago. it's great! i really don't think you can do better than mapex when it comes to how much quality you're getting for the money.
 
Alright, thanks guys.

Yeah, the shells are Birch and there is no visible damage. They have only been transported with this guy about 4 times. Once snare is broken, but he uses it just like another tom (which is kind of cool).
 
Hello again.

It looks like I won't get the price down, he says he has a pocket full of other people interested, but I'm going to head up on Saturday and check it out. I hope it's good, don't want to make a trip for nothing.

Do you guys think I will be able to fit this into the back of a 1996 Toyota 4runner? If not I can take my Sierra 2500HD and just put a tarp over the the drums.
 
I am on here looking for some information on Mapex hi hat stand and found this thread. I researched my Mapex M set I bought last year. If your badges are screwed on they are the birch drums. In 2004 they had the same badges but were glued on. They also had solid lacquer finish (mine are black). The transparent lacquers are birch. The one I have is indeed made of maple. Just adding this for informational purposes really.

Here is the badge.
 

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For what its worth I play a Mapex Tornado beginners set and I'm constantly being asked to play quieter cause the tone is cutting thru people like a knife, sounds really organic if tuned low

Hardwares ok and its a good kit.
 
Here are the facts about he confusing Mapex M series

1- Up until 2004 the Mapex M series was an all maple shell kit

2- In 2005 Mapex changed the M series to an all birch shell

3- in 2006 Mapex changed the M series to an all birch shell with an outer Maple ply ... this configuration remained until 2008 when the series was dropped

4- Throughout the line the Mapex Pro M remained an all Maple shell

5- in 2009 Mapex replaced the Mapex M and Pro M with the Meridian line both Meridian Birch (old M) and Meridian Maple (old Pro M)

This thread is from 2011; he's probably not looking for this information any longer, but that's a neat rundown.
 
The regular M-Series, which I have owned now for about 7 or 8 years, was a basswood shell with a maple outer ply. Then Mapex produced an all maple version briefly before switching to the M-Pro series, which does come in birch or maple. Now they have switched to the Meridian name for this general quality kit, and there seem to be several ply configurations available throughout the years. If the badge simply says M-Series, odds are the shells are the basswood/maple.

Anyway, for the money they are very good drums. The basswood shells have a fairly mellow, low sound, closer to maple than birch IMO. Bearing edges are great, and the hardware has proven very sturdy. I've used mine for 100+ gigs a year on average, and they have held up well. I am often complimented on my drum sound.

Hope that helps with your decision!
 

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I am about to pull the trigger on an M series kit(8,10,12,13,16,18, 24) I didn't want the snare or stands. He's willing to sell for $650, they're in VG condition, and as of now we're not 100% sure if they're all maple of basswood / maple because the badges DO appear silvery(meaning all maple). So.....great deal?
 

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I am about to pull the trigger on an M series kit(8,10,12,13,16,18, 24) I didn't want the snare or stands. He's willing to sell for $650, they're in VG condition, and as of now we're not 100% sure if they're all maple of basswood / maple because the badges DO appear silvery(meaning all maple). So.....great deal?
Any replies, info and advice is much appreciated.
 
M Series were birch, Pro M were maple. It's an ok deal. You are getting large set but there is not a lot of value with that series. There is a guy near me selling a 5 piece M series kit for $175.
 
I agree. It's a fair deal, but if you like the color and want those sizes they should sound good and perform well. One upside is that set has almost every size you might possibly want. If you ever do decide you want to add on, Cherry Red finishes from all of Mapex' various series are a 95% or better match to each other, which opens up the chance you might ever find another drum to go with the set.
 
This is my ProM. It was purple trans but the kit was not well taken care of. I traded a 12 gauge for it. I sanded the original finish & stained them natural. It was a cool kit for gigging. I have this kit and another kit I bought so it's 22/20 kicks 14/16 fl toms 8/10/12/13 toms. It's all torn apart now. I wanna paint it piano black & then sell it.
 

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No one will pay top dollar for a refinished kit unless it's a Gretsch & it's done properly. I have more in them than I can get back for the shells.
 
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