Powered by the Black Panther Design Lab
Common-sense artist and engineer input throughout the design process equips every Mapex Black Panther Design Lab kit and shell pack to surpass the tests of time and tone and endure the horrors of the road. The Black Panther Design Lab is comprised of Mapex’s own artist endorsers, producers, clinicians, and instructors, alongside an elite team of shell makers and engineers, all with one goal in mind: to put the drummer’s experience above all else. It’s called the Concept Hybrid approach. Mapex begins each kit with a sound concept, then reverse engineers the shell and hardware to make that tone a reality. If you’re skeptical, just check out the insane level of detail and design wizardry Mapex’s Black Panther Design Lab has put into the Cherry Bomb and Versatus shell packs.
SONIClear: The Path to Better Tone & Tuning
The latest game changer to emerge from Mapex’s higher-end kits, snares, and shell packs is the SONIClear Bearing Edge. This specialized edge allows heads to sit flatter and more evenly, promoting better contact between the shell and head. This results in a deeper, beefier fundamental, a wider tuning range, and significantly better intonation from lug to lug. Even at just finger tight, heads stretched across Mapex’s SONIClear edges sustain effortlessly and allow the true character of the shell to shine — onstage or in the studio.
“Sound First” Shell Design: The Concept Hybrid Approach
Most drum shells today are built materials first, with different wood combinations, edges, re-rings, hoops, hardware, heads, and even finishes sought out and assembled to yield a particular tone and response. According to Mapex’s Concept Hybrid approach, this is completely backward. That’s why its crack team of artists and engineers begins every flagship shell design with the desired sound quality — deep, focused, brilliant, punchy, warm, dry, organic, singing, etc. — in mind, then draws on its own 30 years of shell-making expertise and the latest sound technologies to find out how to transform that tone into a reality.
Celebrating 30 Years of Drum Excellence
Sweetwater is proud to partner with Mapex in bringing its Unique and Fearless drum and hardware designs — its core curricula since 1989 — to drum customers everywhere. Mapex’s proven track record of innovation and artistry in the drum market continues to break new ground for what the instrument is capable of. And we can’t wait to see what the next 30 have in store.
