Mapex Pro M Rock Kit Reviews 
1 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI've been playing drums for six years. My style is heavy on Classic Rock, with influences of Blues and Jazz as well. I like almost any kind of music except rap. Yes, that's right...I like Country and Classical. They're not at all bad. Get over it.
I have had 2 Mapex kits from a Tucson Arizona shop, the first about six years ago when I started, and the second about three years ago. They were around $3500 together.
It's something to hit, and it makes noise.
How many pages can I go? Well, in my experience...everything. The hardware is crap, the pedal is hopelessly beyond what any true drummer would ever call crap, the heads are a joke, and so on. Without a doubt, the worst set I've ever played, and I have played lower end sets.
IF you should happen to chance upon Mapex's web site, you shall be bombarded with praises such as "Mapex: Own the Stage" or "Mapex: Not Just What's New, But What's Better." Pinocchio would gag on that whopper. Unbalanced tom stands, hardware that's about as interchangable as a wet hot dog, and sales reps who give their new Mapex owners frosty receptions when they come seeking aid. The bass pedal is the worst I've ever seen. It is impossible to adjust, and it literally makes you pay for every attempted adjustment. Everything about their set ups are hopelessly clumsy and you'll find yourself knocking everything over and denting your drums right and left. The drums themselves are made-to-order targets for your hatred. They are trashy, pingy, IMPOSSIBLE to tune, and exhibit little to no actual qualities of "Drums". Complete with accesories that change every month, uneven snare drum rims, and...get this...a drum throne that is impossible to adjust. That's right, there is no way to move my throne up or down. It even has a top screw with no hole for it; it's just grated a deep circle over the years. I literally had to move every single one of my drums down just so I could reach them, only to be rewarded with a snare drum that sounds like a bizarre, alien, radio feedback. Oh and for those of you who are drummers, perhaps Mapex's biggest endorser ever, Carmine Appice, recently switched drum companies, not to Pearl, not DW, or Yamaha or Taye, but Slingerland. Think about what I've just told you, Carmine Appice, who got John Bonham his deal with Ludwig, has switched to a drum company, now owned by a guitar company, that has about 8 total drum sets to offer on their site. Slingerland's golden age ended when ball room swing was replaced by rock, that was ages ago. That tells you an awful lot about what HE thinks of a company he used to call the best, and he has played on just about every brand there is.
So what's the verdict on Mapex; atrocious drums, devious service, confounding hardware and a sound that could make your teeth explode. And yet they continue to prosper. You see, Mapex is that most rare company that sells crap for outrageously high prices. YOUNG DRUMMERS BEWARE, THIS IS HOW THEY GET YOU!! It worked on me too, but you can still save yourself. My opinion on drums; Pearl or Yamaha, they are the best. Period. Don't make the mistake I did, get yourself a proper drum kit that will last and make you happy.
Brett K. rated this unit
on
2006-03-18.
