written by on 15/05/2011
Bought a mapex saturn LA rock kit in white with black hardware for my 18th birthday. 12 x 9 and 16 x 14 toms and the 22 x 20 bass drum.
The finish is absolutely magnificent, i'm not a big fan of any other of hardware except silver or brass but the black looks really great on this kit, looks really great with the white.
I replaced the black resonant head on the bass drum with a "Remo powerstroke 3 coated white" head with the black "mapex" printed logo, put a black "bass drum o' " on it and not only did this make the bass drum sound better but it looks amazing.
When buying this kit i was torn between the "Gretsch Renowned maple" and the "Mapex Saturn" but for me, the sound of the Saturn had no comparison, it totally stole the show.
The bass drum has great tone and sounds just right, not clicky and not too bassy, just the perfect balance for me, you would need to hear it to understand what i'm talking about.
The toms are great as well, the only problem i am having is tuning them because i'm not used to there sizes. I keep the bottom heads moderately low and tune the batter heads accordingly, anyway. the tone is incredible, it resonates perfect as well, which most people would dampen the sh*t out of, but it sounds great when playing with a band or other musicians so i don't see the reason to.
if you are planning on buying the saturn, don't just buy it because it looks great and its affordable, go in and compare it with other kits you may like. but i would strongly recommend this to anyone.