NDD

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
My oldest son and his wife came to visit last week. While visiting, he mentioned that he would love to have a drum kit up here so he can play and record when he comes to visit. Normally, his mother wouldn't be too keen on the idea, but if it would cause him to come and visit more often, she's all in!

So, today, I came home with this kit that I found on FB Marketplace. I had him check it out (because I know almost nothing about drums). He said this was too good a deal to pass up, so I picked it up this afternoon. I have to use this stock photo because, being a shell kit, it didn't come with a snare or cymbals and it's also packed in soft cases and probably will be until I make enough room to put the kit together in my music room. Who knows? I might even make an attempt to learn enough to get by at a jam... Stranger things have happened.

DrumKit.jpg
 

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
Mapex are pretty good drums.

But if it's a six piece, why doesn't the snare come with it?
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Mapex are pretty good drums.
But if it's a six piece, why doesn't the snare come with it?
I don't know. It probably did when it was new. The guy I bought it from advertised it without the snare and he didn't have a Mapex snare. I don't know enough about the snare drums he had to know either the quality or price/value of the snares he offered for sale. My son wasn't concerned about it. He said the price was good for just the kit. The kicker (pun intended) is that it came with a very clean DW 3000 double pedal. My son said the pedal alone is worth a third of what we paid for the kit. He will have to pick up a snare and cymbals as well. He did all the spec checking on the drums, as I know almost nothing about them. All I did was inspect them to verify they were as advertised, pay for them and tote them home.
This is what they look like right now and probably will for a while.
DrumsInTheCorner.jpg
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
I can smell a set up 2,750 miles away (more or less). You and your son cooked this up so you could get a drum kit dincha?! :Beer::Beer:
It didn't start out that way. My first thought was, "I don't have room for a drum kit in here."
My second thought was, "He had a drum kit in our living room in Florida for five years (because he lives in a condo) and he might have played them 4 or 5 times."
Then I thought, "His mother will do anything to get him to come up and visit more often... How do I best leverage this situation?"
So in the end, yeah, there was a lot of collusion.
 

Shodai

Blues Junior
You, er... Um... I mean, "your son";) should really like those. Mapex has come a long way, and that particular model has a unique total quality owing to the blending of the birch and maple shells.

Nice score on the double pedal too. Hard to beat DW. I've been using DW 5000 series pedals since the 80's and they're awesome.

You may have dodged a bullet with the missing snare. The one that originally came with that kit was a thin steel shell and had a lot of hard to control overtones. Almost impossible to get a good sound out of it without a lot of moon gel.

If you check CL you should be able to find a Ludwig Acrolite fairly cheap. I have three of those and run all of them with no muffling, and no overtones. Killer snare drums.

There's something to be said about having drums at the house after a bad day. Come home and just beat the bejesus out of them. Just can't do that with my Les Paul... Well, maybe I could do it onceo_O

I'll bet a dollar you'll have them out before the next time you're son visits. :Beer:
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
If you check CL you should be able to find a Ludwig Acrolite fairly cheap.
There is one blessing in that. Ludwig's US manufacturing plant is in Monroe, NC, our nearest town. There is a lot of Ludwig gear around here.

I'll bet a dollar you'll have them out before the next time you're son visits.
Without a snare or cymbals, I kinda doubt it. I'll have to have another chat with him. What I would be willing to contribute to the kit and what he will want are likely several hundred dollars apart... as in I would be willing to get a set of Zildjian ZBTs and he will probably want A Customs (what he has on his kit that is still in storage in Florida). Maybe I can convince him to send up his cymbals and snare. Then the kit would definitely get set up in short order!
 

Shodai

Blues Junior
Big difference between ZBTs and A Custom's, both on terms of sound and price!

I've been playing a lot of jazz lately, using A Custom's. Looking to put together a set of K's. I have a lot of cymbals, A's, A Custom's and a full set of Paiste 2002's, but always wanted a set of K's.
 
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