Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "S - E - A" 
<sonicenergyauthority@c...> wrote:
> Future projects:
> New rack - as mine is the Mk1 there's a lack of bracing that you 
get with
> the revised DTXpress kits. So it tends to wobble a bit while in use.
> I scan ebay almost daily, but funds are tight. A know Gibraltar 
hardware is
> compatible, any other brands fit Yamaha clamps?
> 
> Might be tempted to get a mesh headed snare at some time - 
suggestions
> welcome - but I live in the UK which limits my options.
> If I see one on ebay - perhaps a DTXpress Mk 2 module - are there 
any
> 'sonic' differences or are they basically the same?
> Might also be tempted to get a cymbal shaped cymbal pad - the 
Yamaha pads
> are useable, but 'it don't mean a thing if they ain't got that 
swing..'

I remember some pretty valuable information coming from the dark and 
mysterious S-E-A in the past. The main differences between the 
XpressI and II are the two-rim snare, cymbals/pads of a slightly 
different texture, and a more user-friendly rack. I think that the 
trigger menu may have a couple of different setup options for pad 
types, or at least different wording. But my impression is that the 
new wrinkles aren't the kind to make owners of a I run out to buy a 
II. Maybe someone would dispute me on that. 

Pintech ConcertCasts are good, reasonably priced mesh-heads, and they 
do business in the UK. Their website has a link to their European 
staff. Besides possibly having an attenuated signal through the 
Yamaha module (especially the rim), the Roland meshes are simply too 
expensive for what they are, and the Harts don't necessarily mate all 
that well, if you can even find them. A UK company that has almost no 
presence in the US but has begun to manufacture woven head pads is 
Koby. Apparently, their products are compatible with Yamaha 
electronics. I have their website address if you're interested. 
Pintech also makes 14-inch swinging gum-rubber cymbals that have gone 
over well here. Stephen likes them; I like them; and others do too. 
Run a search in the archives under Zenbal.

So far as hardware goes, Gibralter seems to be the company of choice 
for bracing and stronger mounts. Pintech makes some better-quality 
(read metal) clamps, stands, and braces as well. The Yamaha hardware 
is generally standard in size. Metal clamps would have been far 
better than the plastic ones, but it would have raised the price of 
the kit considerably. The flimsiness of the aluminum tubing after a 
point, no matter what you do to it, tends to be the ultimate limiting 
factor in rack stability. I moved to a Pearl DR-80 rack, the longest-
lived and least expensive in the Pearl line. It's solid as a rock, 
but the drawback is that it's square rather than round, requiring 
Pearl clamps exclusively, and not adjustable for height, although 
mounts are available to compensate. Some of the group's members have 
constructed their own racks (Scott?).

Ed