My Mapex Progression

[BrainTheDrummer]

I just wanted to document and keep track of the changes I keep doing to my Pro M's. I am new so any expert advice on things I might be doing wrong (or extremely noob) would be GREATLY appreciated. I have learned so much from you guys and girls and I can't thank you enough. I have even been asked to play drums at my church. I have practiced with them for about a month now and they can't believe I have only been playing for less than a year. It is very humbling..... Well anyway, here goes......

They have gone through three different setups (I know only three...)

When I bought them new. ( I think I had them set up in a weird way)





Then I added a new cymbal, double pedals, and adjusted everything to a more comfortable set up.





Now I removed the toms from the bass and got everything lowered down where I like it. This feels WAY more comfortable to me. It's still a work in progress because I need more hardware to mount my other cymbal. The bass and toms sound so much different now (especially the bass.... way deeper and louder). ME LIKEY!










Hopefully with Father's Day coming up I will have my new hardware, a Roc N Soc throne, some Aquarian heads, and maybe a new splash cymbal. Oh and a cowbell too

:)

Thanks for looking and please speak up if you see any problems with my set up.

Brian

[Drumsword]

I love the look of the low flat toms.............. Very nice, Sweet looking set.

[BrainTheDrummer]

Originally Posted by Drumsword

I love the look of the low flat toms.............. Very nice, Sweet looking set.

WOW that was a quick response..... Thank You!

Great looking kit, nice color too. I like the way you changed the setup. Will you do anything about the holes from removing the tom mount on the bass? I like the virgin bass look better. Nice job.

[BrainTheDrummer]

Originally Posted by TFITTING942

Great looking kit, nice color too. I like the way you changed the setup. Will you do anything about the holes from removing the tom mount on the bass? I like the virgin bass look better. Nice job.

Thanks a lot.... I was hoping that when I removed it that the rubber grommets would be able to stay but they were part of the assembly. I am on the lookout for some rubber to fit and leave them open for venting or maybe something cool and unique to put in them like spikes or something LOL! Any suggestions? I totally love the virgin look too. If I had known better when I bought these I would have held out for a kit with one up two down (Bohnam style) with a virgin bass. Oh well, it's part of the learning curve I guess. Thanks for the nice comments.

Brian

[kmbop40]

That is one nice setup you've arrived at.

I quite like it.

[frank0072]

there is nothing like changing your setup :-P. Recently I am practising on a four piece and I might actually like that more than the six piece I normally play.

Great that you can play in church too! There is nothing like playing with other people and playing lots of different styles.

Could you post a video of yourself playing? I am very curious.

Have fun!

[BrainTheDrummer]

Thanks for the comments. Here is a picture of me practicing with the band at church.... We goof around a lot and have lots of fun. The bassist took this picture and Facebooked it right then LOL! The kit is a Taye. The Cymbals are a mixture of different mutts. The best sounding one is an HHX that's bent up pretty bad, 18 inch. Anyway, I have updated pics of my kit from my Father's Day goodies I will post in a few.... Thanks again!

Brian

Sorry for the small picture....

[BrainTheDrummer]

Here is my latest setup. Not much different, just got the hardware to finish mounting my toms and 16" Zildjian crash, Rock N Soc Nitro throne, Vic Firth headphones. Rock cowbell and bass drum mount, and a new to me Ludwig Acrolite I scored off craigslist for 90 bucks. The Acrolite is awesome and blows the Mapex maple snare out of the water IMO. Anyways, this setup feels great for me so far. New heads and a Sabian AAXplosion splash cymbal next....... Thanks for looking!

Another thing you might notice is that I removed the rings from my toms and snare and re-tuned them to sing un-muffled and WOW do they sound good without being choked down!

Brian

New setup with Mapex snare sitting sadly to the side watching the action......


New to me 80's Ludwig Acrolite snare and giant cowbell peeking out......


Here you can see my new throne, cowbell, Vic Firth headphones, snare and new clamps...


Another, notice the sad Mapex snare in the background :( sorry dude you have been replaced for a while....


Another of the Acrolite, sorry I just LOVE it even with the crappy head from my Mapex. Still sounds awesome. New skins coming soon for all of them......

[Fallout33]

@brainthedrummer could you tell me how you made your bass drum look like a virgin bass after you stopped using the Tom mount?

[TheAnalogKid]

Use the Mapex snare as an aux. snare. Might be fun...

[spantney]

Originally Posted by Fallout33

@brainthedrummer could you tell me how you made your bass drum look like a virgin bass after you stopped using the Tom mount?

I can answer this as I did the exact same thing with my Pro-M's. The Pro-M tom mount is of a non-penetrating variety and basically is clamped to the shell by two screws on one side, and sits underneath the lug gaskets on the other side. You can see this in the first set of pictures.

All you need to do is unscrew the lugs, the screws and remove the tom mount. Then screw the lugs back on. You will be left with 2 small holes in the bass drum however I filled these in with the screws and a bolt.

[mrbling]

hmmm i like it very similar set up to mine, 1 up 2 down, double bass pedal, low toms, even got the same ride and crash.

only thing im not a fan of is the height of you crashes.

[Fiery]

Don't you find the floor tom uncomfortable all the way behind you like that? Have you tried placing it more off to the side?