Mapex Pro M 5-Piece Rock Drum Set with Free Snare  

I live in Hungary/Europe, and I'm a full-time drummer. I bought my first Pro M kit in 2002 for a secondary kit. That was the maple/basswood/maple shell-version, and became my main set so fast (a real workhorse, in the best aspect of the word) and I used it 3,5 years long without any problem - I have 120-150 concerts per year... And when I bought my second - all maple - Pro M kit, I knew at first glance, that this is a true professional series now, except those factory heads. But heads are come and go, so don't hesitate spending some money for new heads, and you will have a heavenly sound! Now I bought my third Pro M set, with 20x22" kick drum, and this is real killer. The 7x14" snare does not sound as good as my Hammered Black Panther does, but still a nice snare drum. And the hardware items are perfect for rehearsal/spare purposes, I still use my first stands from 2002 in the rehearsal room. Pro M rulez!

Let me start out by saying that I'm not a drummer. I can play a little, but it's not my forte. I am a recording engineer with a great ear for drum tones. When my friend brought his Mapex kit into my studio, I quickly mic'd it up and got to work. What I found in this kit is consistent, quality tones that work for just about any kind of music. The kick drum was my absolute favorite. I've mic'd up a lot of kick drums, but this one stood out as top notch. It was the perfect combination of punchy and thumpy. If you've heard a great kick drum, you know what I mean. It hits you right in the chest, but the attack is good enough to cut right through the mix - with very little equalization. Every drum in this kit high quality. Put some decent heads on the shells, and you'll have a real killer. Guaranteed. Go to a music store, sit down at this set, and give it a try. You will not be disappointed.

This is a great kit folks. I've been playing on it for several months now and am very pleased. You will need to change heads ASAP! The kit is very hard to tune with stock heads. However this kit is a great kit overall for a great price.

I've been playing drums for around 25 years now.  I've owned everything from Pearl Masters kits to Yamaha Recording Custom.  I debated for a couple months what I wanted to try next.  I finally settled on a Pro M kit from Mapex.  To be honest, I really can't complain.  The first thing you'll need to do however is put some good heads on these drums.  The stock heads are absolutely horrible. I threw some remo coated emperors on the toms and a coated ambassador on the snare and it warmed this kit up 100 percent.  The 12" mounted tom and 16" floor tom now sound as good as any "high end" kit I've ever owned.  The maple snare that comes with the kit "14" x "7" is OK.  With the new head, proper tuning, and a tiny bit of muting, it's really not that bad.  I still prefer a brass snare drum, but this one will definitely get you by.  The 22 x 20 bass drum sounds great.  Cut a hole in your resonant head, throw a small blanket in there and play away.  The hardware I am pleased with as well.  I don't think it's quite the quality of Yamaha but for the money you can't go wrong. The free side snare that comes with it sounds pretty cool actually.  I sold mine however, because I just don't use a side snare.  Overall, I would recommend this kit for anyone who wants a very good sounding kit that looks very nice as well.  You will not get booed off of any stages when you set this up I promise ya.  However, I would compare this kit to Yamaha Tour Custom or Pearl Session SMX series.  Go to your music store and listen and I think you'll like this kit.  Good luck !

Before I purchased this set I had been shopping for close to a year (this is my 5th set ) and I must say this is my best find for quality, and sound for the price. While there are a few Cons let me start with the Pros: the bass drum is is big and powerful and plenty loud for any small to medium sized gig, the Black Panther snare is off the hook and very sharp sounding when tuned right. The other drums are decent. Cons: the Drum heads are terrible, the overtones are very bad, the double pedal is not good but its better than I expected, but overall this set is a great buy for the money.