Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hi Dan,

There are many pads you can buy, but first you need to
decide if you want new or used ones.  You can get used
pads (if you are careful) that still are in very good
shape.  I also will assume for this discussion that
you are in the US, and the prices I use will be US
prices.

Lets talk about used pads first.  The main choices you
have are eBay, classified ads on the web, people that
offer them on forums - I have used all of these, and
sometimes I have ended up paying almost as much as for
new items - sometimes I have found great deals.  The
risks with these methods are encountering dishonest
people who either do not send you a product, or send
you one that is not as it was described.  To minimize
the potential for this, there are services that will
hold the buyer's money until the buyer is satisfied
with the transaction.  One more way to prevent this is
to go to a used drum dealer.  Ed at www.drumbalaya.com
(I've been there so many times that I can actually
spell drumbalaya right the first time - that's
progress Ed!) offers pretested used edrum components
(and new), and has what must be the biggest selection
of them that I've seen.  He tests everything he buys,
and let's you know what you can expect before you buy.
 His frustration at using the methods mentioned above
for his own edrum kit led him to create the company.

Now for new Yamaha pads, which Ed doesn't carry,
midwestpercussion.com is one place that is usually a
few dollars cheaper than other places.  There are also
local music shops that are Yamaha dealers - sometimes
their prices can be better than ones on the web,
especially when shipping is considered.

By the way, when you said you wanted a pad with a rim,
I assumed that you want to be able to make two sounds
with this pad, one from the main part of the head, and
another when you hit the rim, which can be called a
dual trigger, stereo or dual zone pad.  Let's not get
into the differences here - there have been many posts
to the group on that topic that you can find by using
the search tool.  

Now, what pads work with the DTXpress, for less than
$100 (new)?  Yamaha TP80S, Pintech CC102 or SE102 -
those are what comes to my mind.  All of them will
need some mounting mechanism, it it not usually
included with the pad.  Also, don't forget about
shipping, unless you buy locally.

A word of advice from someone that has asked himself
this same question before - I would spend more money
on your snare than on a tom pad, as it tends to be the
one we hit the most, and expect the most from.  I
would take the pad you use for your main snare
(especially if it is a TP60 or other single zone pad),
and make it your second snare and buy one of the pads
listed above to use as your main snare.  There are
people in this group who have all of these models of
pads hooked to the DTXpress, and all of them trigger
just fine.   Walt     

 
--- Plastic <luigishoulddie@...> wrote:
> I am buying a snare with rim on Friday.  I need to
> know for the money what is the best that works with
> the DTXPRESS.  I am willing to spend 100.  I just
> need the pad and maybe mounting if i need it.  Do I?
>  I would like to have my extra snare pad as a cymbal
> (I would just set it as one) so I would need another
> mounting thing right?  Thanx in advance.            
>                                                     
>                                                     
>                                                     
>                                                     
>                                        
> 
> Dan
> 


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