Mapex Saturn - heads are a tight fit!

I do the same thing Zambizzi does with his Saturns with my Yamaha Oaks: the YESS mount is not L-rod, but I still insert as little of the YESS rod into the YESS receiver as possible, to increase the tom resonance. The more of the rod you insert into the YESS receiver, the more "control" the mount exerts on the drum's vibration.

Gatzen's experiment only works on larger diameter drums, according to his video, so I guess we are still stuck with experimenting for the average tom resonance--meaning 10" and 12" toms.
 
I few years ago, I bought some left over Saturn drums from my local drum shop: a bass drum 10" tom and a 14" tom. The bass drum and the 14" tom were "rose" (pink) and the 10" tom was blue-green. I recovered them red with plastic from Jammin' Sam's. I put the covering right over the stained wood. After I was finished, they looked great, and heads went on them fine, even though they were a tad bigger around. I eventually bought a 12" red tom, and they all looked 98% the same. Peace and goodwill.
 
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zambizzi said:
Hanging the tom at the very end of the post allows it to sustain the most. Hanging it further down toward the base cuts the sustain even further. .
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Same with the more horizontal/penetration type like Pearl/Yamaha and older Sonor.. I pulled my older Hilite and German Force kits posts ALMOST entirely out of the drum so the bracket was clamped down on the VERY end.. and they sang almost identical to any Rims I tried on the same drums.
 
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you guys know I was un-boxing my new saturn kit and noticed a Made is USA sticker on a plastic bag that was holding my 16" Remo emperor/ambassador and also noticed that same thing on my powerstroke 3 bass drum head as well.

I'm excited!!!!!
 
Tight or heads or not. You said that you like the kit.
If its good to ya, Its got to be good for ya!
Meaning,
Drums are subjective. If they sound good then play them and have fun!
Don't sweat about minor details!
 
kettles said:
I'd like to know if anyone has experimented with the mounts on Saturn floor toms. Such as moving them to the top end of the drum, pointing the other direction etc.
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I have done everything you can possibly do to a Saturn mount. They are very versatile. I have made floor toms into hanging toms, and visa versa. Made floor toms into bass drums. Floor toms into gong drums. Rotated toms on their mounts so badges are showing up better. All this without ever having to drill a hole in a shell. What would you like to know?
 
Ok :) Well most importantly, is there any change in sound with mounting the floor toms 'upside down' (mounts at the top end of the shell) ?

And if you remove a mount, I assume you need to buy two new lugs per mount as they are slightly different. Do you get them directly through Mapex or an online store?

My drums have the chrome parts (unlike your black chrome), with the black plate connecting the mount and the bracket on the drum. With longer bolts, you could easily put a slab of rubber between the black plate and the bracket, have you tried that?

With rack toms, have you noticed any difference between using the standard mount and mounting loosely on a snare stand?
 
There should be no difference in sound when having the tom mount either at the top or the bottom of the shell. You still have the same mount contact area. I have all my drums hung on one mount, except for the 18" that is up on an angle like a gong drum. It is mounted on two tom mounts. I find hanging toms resonate better than floor toms.
The less contact from mounts on the drum the better. If you don't want to order new lugs from Mapex you can just file down the threaded collar and alignment pin. I did this in the beginning when I converted my floor toms to hanging toms. As far as rubber, I am not sure you need it. I find my drums resonate great. I have them all mounted at the end of each L-rod.
 
I was thinking it may make a difference (for better or worse) by having longer legs, making the drum a little more wobbly but less rigid and more able to vibrate. Also the extra mass of the mounts may influence whichever head they are closest to. Of course none of this is likely to make much difference but it could be worth a shot.

I like your idea of moving the black plates to the inside of the bridge, hadn't thought of that!
 
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