Mapex Snare Question

[veafer]

I was at work today, and we happen to be having a yard sale for "Relay For Life" that we are setting up this weekend. So, you say, just what does this have to do with Drum Chat?

In walked a co-worker with a black case. A case that happened to say Mapex on the side.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh...... My mind started racing. I know that there isn't anyone in the plant that I work has one bit of knowledge with anything having to do with drums except that they are something you see some crazed person beating with pieces of wood!

Man,could it be? Black Panther?........They marked a price on it! My heart was racing! $20.00!!!!!!!! What I thought at that moment can't be printed in this family friendly forum.

Well, to make this short, It WAS NOT a Black Panther. And this is where I need the expert experience of all you wise Drum Chat members.

What I have now is a Mapex Venus Series steel 10 lug snare. In decent shape, needs a good cleaning and actually has good heads. (Actually, it has been muffled with what looks like an old, torn Tee-shirt!) What I figure is that it's a student model snare.

I paid the $20.00, hoping that I didn't overpay, of course.

Does anyone have any info on this drum? I have looked a bit on the net, and can't find much. Any help with a bit of history on this drum would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Also, as always, pics to be done soon!

[MattDrums]

Venus series are entry level, but it's pretty hard to mess up a steel snare drum. If you got a 10 lugger, then you got a slightly older drum that's IMO, better than the current incarnation. $20 with good heads and a case is a great deal. Enjoy

[weezy]

Worst case scenario: there's more than $20 in donor parts there.

[almostmatt1]

Worst case scenario: there's more than $20 in donor parts there.

And a case.

[drumsetsnide]

You certainly didn't over-pay. As you know, most entry level drums can be made to sound good with good heads and proper tuning.

[Digital]

You can't beat $20 for a working snare drum with good heads that comes with a case, no matter what the brand is

[BigFatDrummer]

I have the wood version of this snare. It is also 10 lugged and I purchased it as a shell pack in 2001. The whole set was a 10, 12, 14 and 22 plus the 14 snare.

It was then Mapex's entry level kit, I believe but better than their current entry level version.

I don't think you over paid - the case and heads are worth that, I'd say. Any snare can be made to sound at least reasonable, in my view.

If it still has the stock heads on it then you'll want to change those as well as the truly awful snare wires. I've since switched to a Black Panther snare but I used Evans HD Dry batter, hazy 300 reso and a set of Puresound snares. I then added a little moongel when I felt the situation required it.

I wonder if this was part of the student set Mapex put together with a case, stand and sticks? Now I come to think of it, I don't recall Mapex selling Venus kits with anything other than matched wood snares. I could, very easily, be wrong on this though. If I'm right, it could be a relatively modern (last decade) snare.

This is an example of the current model of snare Mapex sell in this type of bundle:



The throw-off is identical to the wood Venus snare I still have. Basic but functional.

[WEe]

I actually have a Venus Series snare. It's 14" and I think it has 10 lugs. It sounds very good actually. Some clear ambassador reso and a reverse power dot as batter. Old heads but snare still is quite the beast and sounds very good in my opinion.

[Zeta]

Mapex doesn't really make anything bad imo. and 10 lugs usually is a sign of quality. You'll be able to tune that thing nicely.

for the price you cant go wrong.

[veafer]

A picture of the new Mapex 10 lug and a pic of all 3 of my Metal Snares.