Building the Mapex “Billy Cobham 20th Anniversary Custom Kit” Part Two

 

In my earlier blogs, I talked about first building a replica of drummer Billy Cobham's Yamaha Signature Snare, and then a replica of his 1990's Mapex kit that ultimately became the “Billy Cobham 20th Anniversary Custom Kit”.  I then decided to make this version a more contemporary version, one that would replicate his current Tama Star drum set. His current Tama kit features a 15”, 13”, 14”, 12”, 10” and 8" toms with a 16” and 18” floor tom. Additionally he had a two 24" kick drums, 14" x 5.5" and a 12” x 5.5 snare. I was able to find used Mapex drums all of those sizes except for the 15" tom and 12" snare. Those I had to make from scratch with wraps from Jammin' Sam and 6 ply Maple shells from the folks at Drummaker and locating used Mapex Venus and Voyager, single point lugs from ebay and Reverb. I'm using Mapex Falcon kick pedals and hi-hat stand, and instead of Cobham's Tama racks, I used all Gibraltar arms and racks. 


Doc with Billy Cobham at Yoshi's in Oakland, CA

As fate would have it, 3 of my friends and fellow musicians, guitarist Fareed Haque, bassoonist Paul Hanson and keyboardist Oz Ezzelin were touring with Cobham's "Crosswinds Project",  and so I got to sit front row for multiple shows and even picked Cobham's brain after the shows. Cobham talked about his "tonal palette", where he arranged all his rack toms in a unique order from left to right: 15"- 13"- 14"- 12"- 10", with the 12" snare at the end, and the 8" tom resting above and between the 14" and the 12" toms. Cobham said that he does it to avoid the cliched ascending or descending tom fills and creates an interesting musical, rhythmic motif. I took me awhile to get used to playing the kit that way, but once I saw the benefit of playing that way,  (I've always played open handed and left hand leading like Cobham),  I absolutely love it. I should mention that the heart of Cobham's setup is basically a double kick drum rock kit with the 12" and 13" toms in the middle and the 16" and 18" floor toms on the right. At first I didn't realize that, but after I did, I discovered the typical drum fills are still there whenever I wanted it. I've watched Cobham more times than I can count, and he'll roll on those 4 toms too, if the music calls for it.  


Cobham currently tours with this set-up, using either a monster Tama rack, or as many as 8 tom/cymbal stands, depending on where in the world he happens to be performing. Personally, I prefer the monster rack. You set it up the same way every time, no muss, no fuss and no bother. Now my Mapex kit isn't Tama. They are mostly a combination of Maple and Basswood, however with my Evans Blue Hydraulic heads, and microphones placed in the optimum spots, I can get a decent sound out of them and have used this entire kit in multiple live performances and recording sessions. So here are photos of my completed Mapex replica kit at my home studio in Northern California. It's a beast to bring out, but it's been wonderful to use for my home projects and recording sessions. Thanks to covid, I've been able to spend a lot of time with it, getting to know how it resonates and behaves in a variety of musical settings. I hope you enjoy it! 







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