While Mapex has never been as popular as brands like Tama and Pearl, the company has released some amazing drum sets over the years.
The kits do particularly well in the area of hybrid creation, meaning a lot of them have mixed woods for the shells.
The kit we’re going to look at is the Mapex Saturn Evolution Workhorse. It’s one of Mapex’s top drum kits for professionals, so let’s see what it’s all about.
The first thing to note about this kit is that the shells are a mixture of maple and walnut wood. That gives it quite specific tones, which we’ll get to later.
The kit includes a bunch of hardware features pulled from Mapex’s Design Lab system. These features used to only come on the top-tier Black Panther kits, so it’s great that they’re here. The hoops, lugs, tension rods, and bearing edges all form part of it.
The last big feature to mention are the Halo tom mounts. They’re specific to this kit, and they make setting the rack toms up really easy.
You’ll find three big qualities from the hybrid maple/walnut shells – projection, resonance, and sustain.
These drums project much better than standard maple shells. That basically means they’re louder, providing more punch behind each stroke.
They also ring for fairly long, with the overtones sounding very musical. The overall tone you get from the drums is seriously professional, even with the stock heads equipped.
Most Mapex drum sets include the SONIClear bearing edges, but we still need to say just how good they are. They really lock the tuning in, keeping the tones as even as possible for long periods.
Another great feature is the Sonic Saver hoops. These are placed on each tom, and they allow the shells to resonate freely with open tones.
The last hardware feature that we need to highlight is the Halo mount design. These mounts hold the rack toms in place, and they further add to the free resonance idea. So, none of the hardware stifles the tone of any drum, which is sometimes what you find with other kits.
Overall, we’d say this kit is pretty versatile. It tunes up relatively easily, and the wide-open tones work well for most styles. If you want a tighter sound from the kit, you just need to add a bit of muffling.
Again, we found that it’s slightly louder than a pure maple kit, which makes it an even better option to use on a gigging stage.
You’ll see plenty of professional drummers using the Evolution Workhorse for gigs, as it’s just so reliable in that sort of environment.
This kit costs a bit over $3000 for the shell pack. It doesn’t come with a snare drum, so that needs to be purchased separately.
Honestly, that’s quite pricey for a gigging kit for most people. However, we’d say that this set offers much better features than most options that cost between $2000 and $3000.
So, we’d argue that the value is well worth the price. We don’t think it’s overpriced at all. With that said, many drummers may find it too expensive, and there are plenty of other good options out there.
A good example would be the Mapex Armory. It’s a much cheaper kit, but it still includes many of the great design features.
We highly recommend getting the Mapex Saturn Evolution Workhorse if you’re able. It’s such an incredible kit, and we’d say all of the Design Lab hardware features are the highlight.
If you’re used to playing full maple drum sets, something like this with hybrid shells may be a good alternative to experience tones that are slightly different.
Again, it’s quite pricey, but we’d say it’s worth investing in a professional drum set that you may end up using for decades!
Just make sure to pair a good snare drum with it.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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